The Land as a Preservative

… The food growing in the fields around each city was placed inside (the city).        Genesis 41:48 Every district preserves its own produce, therefore the grain was stored with earth from the place in which it grows, and this prevents it decaying.             Rashi, quoting Breishit Rabba

            According to Rashi’s explanation, every land has special qualities which positively influence the preservation of the grain grown within it.

            This approach explains the special aspect of burial within the Holy Land. Regardless of where a Jew was physically born, the Land of Israel is his natural habitat. Thus, the Land has the unique quality of helping preserve the physical remains of a Jew who has departed this life, in Rashi’s words, the Land “prevents its decaying” while awaiting resurrection.