Holy Land

For other uses, see Holy Land (disambiguation).

The Holy Land (Hebrew: ארץ הקודש‎; Eretz HaQodesh ; Arabic: الأرض المقدسة Al-Ard Al-Muqaddasah) is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel. The term "Holy Land" is also used by Muslims and Christians to refer to the whole area in between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea.

Part of the significance of the land stems from the religious significance of Jerusalem, the holiest city to Judaism, the assumed place of Jesus's ministry, and the Isra and Mi'raj event in Islam. The perceived holiness of the land to Christianity was one of the motivational factors behind the efforts of the Crusades, which sought to win the Holy Land back from the Muslim Suljuq Turks that had conquered it from the Muslim Arabs, who had in turn conquered it from the Christian Byzantine Empire.

Many sites in the Holy Land have been destinations for religious pilgrimages since biblical times, by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. According to a Stockholm University study in 2011, these pilgrims visit the Holy Land to touch and see physical manifestations of their faith, confirm their beliefs in the holy context with collective excitation, and connect personally to the Holy Land.

Judaism

The Holy Land, or Palestine

While the Tanakh does not refer to the Land of Israel as the "holy land", this is implied by being the Land given to the Israelites by God, and commonly referred to as the "promised land". In the Torah many mitzvot commanded to the Israelites and their descendants can only be performed in the Land of Israel using produce grown on the land owned by a Jew, which serves to differentiate it from other lands. One of the mitzvot says "And no land shall be sold permanently." (Lev. 25:23), and is explained at the end of Talmud tractate Arakhin 29a. Based on this Mishnah in tractate Avodah Zarah 19b, "expressly forbids the sale of real estate in Israel to non-Jews." The Gemara explains that this prohibition is derived from the Biblical injunction "to tehanem" in Deuteronomy 7:2, which, according to rabbinic exegesis, is to be understood as meaning "You shall not grant them permanent encampment" (haniyah). Rambam in his Hilkhot Avodah Zarah 10:4, amplifies this statement with the explanation, "For if they will not own land, their inhabitance will be temporary.", while Ramban, in his commentary on Leviticus 25:23, finds that conveyance of land to a non-Jew involves yet another transgression of not allowing all fields to revert to their original owners in the jubilee year. Even when the land is not worked during the Shmita year, it may not be sold to a non-Jew, even through an agent. Ramban however points out that the verse in Leviticus concludes with "for the land is Mine," explaining that in actuality the land given to the People of Israel is the possession of God, and that they are permitted to dwell in, and derive enjoyment from it, only by virtue of its gift.

Accordingly, this passage gives expression to the divine will that Israel be the homeland of the Jewish people and that they not be displaced by foreign land-owners. According to Ramban, the purchase of land in Israel from a non-Jew constitutes a fulfillment of the commandment "You shall give a redemption unto the land" (Lev.25:24).

Rabbi Bakshi-Duran argues that, according to Ramban, another verse "And you shall inherit the land and dwell therein" (Deut. 11:31) is another source against the sale of dwellings or fields in Israel to a non-Jew. According to Ramban, this verse is not just a prophetic prognostication, or a divine promise, but constitutes a positive commandment.

This differentiation of the Land in Israel and all other lands includes the difference in observance of many holy days that are observed an extra day in the Jewish diaspora.

According to Eliezer Schweid:

"The uniqueness of the Land of Israel is thus 'geo-theological' and not merely climatic. This is the land which faces the entrance of the spiritual world, that sphere of existence that lies beyond the physical world known to us through our senses. This is the key to the land's unique status with regard to prophecy and prayer, and also with regard to the commandments"

Some cities of ancient Israel, are imbued with even greater holiness for the Jews, and according to the list of "Four Holy Cities", Jerusalem, Hebron, Tzfat and Tiberias are regarded as Judaism's holiest cities. Jerusalem, as the site of the Temple, has been the spiritual focus of Judaism.

In the Book of Genesis, the area of Jerusalem is called Mount Moriah, the location of the binding of Isaac, and is believed by many to be the Temple Mount on which the Third Temple is expected to be rebuilt. Jerusalem is mentioned 669 times in the Hebrew Bible, in part because many mitzvot can only be performed within its environs, including some that can be performed only in the Third Temple. Zion, which usually means Jerusalem, but sometimes the Land of Israel, appears in the Hebrew Bible 154 times.

In the Hebrew Bible, Jerusalem and the Land of Israel are considered inseparable parts of a divine gift, part of several covenants. Jerusalem has long been embedded into Jewish religious consciousness in part due to the commandments, such as the bringing of the Omer to the Temple during the period between Pesakh and Shavuot. Jews have studied and personalized the struggle by King David to capture Jerusalem in his desire to build the Jewish temple there, as described in the Book of Samuel and the Book of Psalms, in part because offerings for the Temple were brought from the lands nearest to Jerusalem, mostly located in the portion of the Tribe of Judah.

The concept of the land being holy is especially prominent in the Book of Numbers. Some commentators also regard the land to be holy because God's "holy people" settled there. At the end of Joshua, the land was distributed among the Israelite tribes and the promise to Abraham is fulfilled and the land becomes the Holy Land. Since the Roman retribution for several Jewish revolts culminating with the Bar Kokhba's revolt following their occupation of Judaea, Jews have sought to remain in, or return to this land for over 1,600 years.

Christianity

See also: Jerusalem in Christianity and List of Christian holy sites in the Holy Land

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Christianity.

For Christians, the Land of Israel is considered holy because of its association with the birth, ministry, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, whom Christians regard as the Savior or Messiah, rather than anything that intrinsically differentiates it from other lands, or that is required for Christian religious observance. Outside of the places traditionally associated with Christian personalities, the territory or the land of the Holy Land bears no mention in Christianity.

Islam

See also: Jerusalem in Islam

In the Qur'an, the term الأرض المقدسة (Al-Ard Al-Muqaddasah, English: "Holy Land") is mentioned at least seven times, once when Moses proclaims to the Children of Israel: "O my people! Enter the holy land which Allah hath assigned unto you, and turn not back ignominiously, for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin." (Surah 5:21)

Muslims traditionally do not call Jerusalem by the common name, as the name "Jerusalem" is said by some to derive from the name of a Canaanite deity, Shalim; Urshalim, meaning City of Shalim (the Canaanite God.) Neither Israel nor Jerusalem are mentioned in the Qua'ran with relevance to Muslim religious observance, although the Children of Israel (Bani Israil) are mentioned several times. Muslims consider the land of the Mount Sinai (Tuur) located traditionally in the Sinai, to be sacred, as mentioned in the Qur'an (sura 7:143). Jerusalem was Islam's first Qibla (direction of prayer), however, this was later changed to the Kaaba in Mecca following what Muslims believe was a revelation to the Prophet Muhammad by the Archangel Gabriel.

There are other mentions of "Holy" or "Blessed" land in the Qur'an, however there is much dispute amongst scholars as to the exact whereabouts of those places. For instance, the "Blessed Land" referred to in verse [21:71] has been interpreted very differently by various scholars: Abdullah Yusuf Ali likens it to a wide land range including, Syria, Palestine and the cities of Tyre and Sidon; Az-Zujaj describes it as, "Damascus, Palestine, and a bit of Jordan"; Qatada claims it to be, "the Levant"; Muadh ibn Jabal as, "the area between al-Arish and the Euphrates"; and Ibn Abbas as, "the land of Jericho".

In Arabic, the city of Jerusalem is known as Al-Quds or "the Holy", however, just as the land around it, it has no role or function in Muslim observance. Since the 7th century building, and 11th century rebuilding of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, it is considered to be sacred in Islam.

See also

• Abrahamic religion
• Archaeological sites in Israel
• History of the Jews in the Land of Israel
• Holiest sites in Islam
• Holy places
• List of Christian holy sites in the Holy Land
• List of significant religious sites
• Laws and customs of the Land of Israel in Judaism
• Religious significance of Jerusalem in Islam

External links

• American Travelers to the Holy Land in the 19th Century Shapell Manuscript Foundation