[1] Tiferes Yisrael, chapter 22.

[2] Likewise, we see by Aharon who was the Kohen Gadol, the head of all the Kohanim.א  is the head of all the letters. In math, there are ones, tens and hundreds.ה , which has Gematria of 5, is the middle of the ones. Next isר , 200, the middle of the hundreds, asת , 400, is the highest letter. Last is the נ, 50, the middle of the tens.

[3] שו"ת חתם סופר, Yoreh Deah, 233.

[4] R’ Amram Chasida was a Rav in Hungary and was known for his piety and righteousness, earning him the title ‘Chassida.’ At the age of 36 he settled in Tzefas where he lived for four years until his death. He devoted himself to developing the community there, which had 1,000 Jews. R’ Amram’s daughter was one of the casualties in the earthquake in Tzefas. The Rabbis of Eretz Yisrael wrote that he literally died from grief over the exile of the Shechina. In his eulogy for R' Amram, the Chassam Sofer said not only was he a great person, a Torah sage and a Tzadik even when he was in the Diaspora, but in Eretz Yisrael he became as great as two of us. 

[5] In the eulogy the Chassam Sofer (Drashos Chassam Sofer, p. שצ, s.v. אך) gave on those that died in the earthquake in Tzefas on the second of Iyar in the year תקצ"ז (1837), he writes the reason for the earthquake was because of the jealousy of Yerushalayim (מקנאת ירושלים) since there is the gate to heaven (Breishis 28:17), it is עיר שחברה לה יחדיו, a city that is united together (Tehillim 122:3), there was Har Hamoriya where עקידת יצחק was (Breishis 22:14), there Yaakov slept and had his dream (28:11-12), there is the mountain of Hashem and a hill towards which all mouths turn (Brachos 30a) and the Shechina doesn’t move from the Kosel (Shemos Rabba 2:2). And behold Yerushalayim was completely forgotten for nearly 100 years as people put their faces towards (שמו פניהם) Tzefas because R’ Shimon Bar Yochai is buried in Meiron and the Arizal in Tzefas and those who go to Eretz Yisrael just pay attention to Tzefas and Tevarya while Yerushalayim is forgotten completely. 

[6] Let us cite the incredible words of the Chassam Sofer elsewhere (Chidushai Chassam Sofer, Succa in Perek לולב הגזול, s.v. דומה and Toras Moshe, Parshas Shoftim, s.v. מי): The Gemara (Brachos 35b) relates that R’ Yishmael teaches that the study of Torah is to be accompanied by earning a livelihood, as it says ואספת דגנך, you will gather in your grain (Devarim 11:14). R’ Shimon bar Yochai says that one should devote himself to Torah, and Hashem will make certain that his needs are provided for. Abaye remarked that many followed the R’ Yishmael approach and succeeded in both working and learning, while others who followed R’ Shimon bar Yochai’s way weren’t successful. The Chassam Sofer says that one should ideally follow R’ Shimon bar Yochai, dedicating himself solely to Torah. When Abaye commented that people didn’t succeed following that path, that was because they didn't devote themselves properly. However, one who is truly dedicated to Torah will succeed in this way. The Chassam Sofer says that we follow R’ Nehorai (Kidushin 82a) who said, “I put aside every trade and I only each my son Torah.” This is only true in the Diaspora where there is no reason to work at a trade except to earn a living. If one can truly dedicate himself to Torah and succeed that way, there is no reason to work. This is what R’ Shimon bar Yochai was referring to and even R’ Yishmael would agree. In Eretz Yisrael, however, one doesn’t only work the fields in order to make a living, as there is also the Mitzva of ישוב הארץ, settling the land. Just as one stops learning Torah to put on Tefillin, one stops learning Torah to farm the land, which is the Mitzva of ישוב הארץ (ישוב הארץ doesn’t just mean living in Eretz Yisrael; it means developing it). This doesn’t just apply to farming, but to all industries and professions as this is part of ישוב הארץ and giving it honor. It would be a deficiency in the honor of Eretz Yisrael if a certain profession doesn’t exist there, requiring products to be imported from abroad.

[7] R’ Amram’s opinion was that Yerushalayim is greater only when there is a Beis Hamikdash.

[8] This can be compared to one who sits closer to the radiator in that he is warmer. 

[9] In the next Teshuva (Yoreh Deah, 234, s.v. והנה), the Chassam Sofer writes that Yerushalayim, which is where the gates to heaven are, has supreme Kedusha—even when the different nations lived there. The Shechina never moved and never will move from the Kosel—even when Yerushalayim is in ruins.  

[10] Yoreh Deah, 234, s.v. ומה.