Editing Holy Land (section)

==Judaism==
[[File:المسجد الاقصى.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|[[:Commons:Category:Olea europaea in Israel|Olive trees]], like this one in Jerusalem, have intrinsic symbolism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.<ref name=Angus2014>{{cite book |last=Angus |first=Julie |title=Olive Odyssey: Searching for the Secrets of the Fruit That Seduced the World |date= 2014 |publisher= Greystone Books |isbn=978-1-77100-006-2 |pages=127–129 |quote= The Olive Tree flourishes throughout Judaism, Islam and Christianity as a symbol of peace and prosperity, its oils cherished and its growers respected. |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=U0BgBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA128 |access-date=8 October 2020}}</ref>]]

[[File: 4 011.Cemetery of East Jerusalem with view to the City with Moshee2.jpg|thumb|Jewish cemetery on the [[Mount of Olives]], Jerusalem. The holiness of Israel attracted Jews to be buried in its holy soil. The sage Rabbi Anan said "To be buried in Israel is like being buried under the altar."<ref name=first>[[Ketubot (tractate)]] 111, quoted in [https://books.google.com/books?id=GGaTLhHBpwIC&pg=PA392 Ein Yaakov]</ref><ref name=Transl2010>{{cite book |author= Rodkinson, Michael L. (translator) |title=The Babylonian Talmud: all 20 volumes (Mobi Classics) |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1vpQgnDJLzUC&pg=PT2234 |year=2010 |publisher=MobileReference |isbn=978-1-60778-618-4 |page= 2234}}</ref><ref name=Gil1997>{{cite book|author=Gil, Moshe |title=A history of Palestine, 634–1099|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M0wUKoMJeccC&pg=PA632|year=1997|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-59984-9|page=632}}</ref>]]

Researchers consider that the concept of a land made holy by being the "earthly dwelling of the [[God in Judaism|God of Israel]]" was present in Judaism at the latest by the time of [[Zechariah (Hebrew prophet)|Zechariah]] (6th century BCE).<ref name=Magna>{{cite journal |last= Magness |first= Jodi |author-link= Jodi Magness |title= Purity Observance among Diaspora Jews in the Roman World |pages= 39–65 |journal= Archaeology and Text |publisher=[[Ariel University]] and [[Lehigh University]] |volume= 1 |year= 2017 |doi= 10.21461/AT012017.39-66 |issn= 2521-8034 |url= https://www.ariel.ac.il/wp/archaeology-and-text/wp-content/uploads/sites/139/2019/03/39-65.pdf |access-date= 16 July 2021}}</ref>

Jews commonly refer to the [[Land of Israel]] as "The Holy Land" ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: {{lang|he|אֶרֶץ הַקוֹדֵשׁ}} {{transliteration|he|Eretz HaKodesh}}).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Troen |first1=Ilan |last2=Troen |first2=Carol |title=Indigeneity |journal=Israel Studies |date=2019 |volume=24 |issue=2 |page=17 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.24.2.02 |publisher=Israel Studies, Vol. 24, No. 2 |doi=10.2979/israelstudies.24.2.02 |jstor=10.2979/israelstudies.24.2.02 |s2cid=262013035 |access-date=24 September 2023 |quote=For Jews, Christians, and Muslims, the land between the Jordan and the Mediterranean is not just a place. It is the Holy Land or Eretz HaKodesh, Terra Sancta, and Al-Ard. Al-Muqaddasah.| issn = 1084-9513}}</ref> The [[Tanakh]] explicitly refers to it as "holy land" in Zechariah 2:16.<ref>{{bibleverse|Zechariah|2:16|HE}}</ref> The term "holy land" is further used twice in the [[deuterocanonical books]] (Wisdom 12:3,<ref>{{bibleverse|Wisdom|12:3|NRSV}}</ref> 2 Maccabees 1:7).<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Maccabees|1:7|NRSV}}</ref> The holiness of the Land of Israel is generally implied by the Tanakh's claim that the Land was given to the [[Israelites]] by God, that is, it is the "[[Promised Land]]", an integral part of [[Covenant (biblical)|God's covenant]].{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

In the [[Torah]], many [[mitzvot]] commanded to the Israelites can only be performed in the Land of Israel,<ref name=Ziegler>{{cite book |last= Ziegler |first= Aharon |title= Halakhic positions of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik |page= 173 |publisher=[[KTAV Publishing House]] |location= New York |volume= 4 |year= 2007 |isbn= 978-0-88125-937-7 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=XDzlvJ5zsfsC |access-date=21 April 2011}}</ref> which serves to differentiate it from other lands. For example, in the Land of Israel, "no land shall be sold permanently" (Leviticus 25:23).<ref>{{Bibleverse|Leviticus|25:23|HE}}</ref> [[Shmita]] is only observed with respect to the Land of Israel, and the observance of many [[Jewish holiday|holy]] days is different, as [[Yom tov sheni shel galuyot|an extra day is observed]] in the [[Jewish diaspora]].

According to [[Eliezer Schweid]]:

{{blockquote|The uniqueness of the Land of Israel is...'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.<ref>Schweid, Eliezer (1985). ''The Land of Israel: National Home Or Land of Destiny''. Translated by Deborah Greniman. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ. Press, {{ISBN|978-0-8386-3234-5}}, p. 56.</ref>}}

From the perspective of the 1906 [[Jewish Encyclopedia]], the holiness of Israel had been concentrated since the sixteenth century, especially for burial, in the "[[Four Holy Cities]]": [[Jerusalem]], [[Hebron]], [[Safed]] and [[Tiberias]] – as [[Judaism]]'s holiest cities. Jerusalem, as the site of the [[Temple in Jerusalem|Temple]], is considered especially significant.<ref name=1000BCE>Feintuch, Yossi (1987). ''U.S. Policy on Jerusalem'', Greenwood Publishing Group, p. 1. {{ISBN|978-0-313-25700-1}}. Quote: "For the Jews the city has been the pre-eminent focus of their spiritual, cultural, and national life throughout three millennia [i.e. since the 10th century BCE.]."</ref> Sacred burials are still undertaken for diaspora Jews who wish to lie buried in the holy soil of Israel.<ref name=JewEnc>{{cite encyclopedia |last1= Jacobs |first1= Joseph |last2= Eisenstein |first2= Judah David |author-link2= Julius Eisenstein |title= Palestine, holiness of |encyclopedia=[[The Jewish Encyclopedia]] |year= 1906 |via= JewishEncyclopedia.com |url= http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11867-palestine-holiness-of |access-date=30 July 2021}}</ref>

According to Jewish tradition, Jerusalem is Mount [[Moriah]], the location of the [[binding of Isaac]]. The [[Hebrew Bible]] mentions the name "[[Jerusalem]]" 669 times, often because many mitzvot can only be performed within its environs. The name "[[Zion]]", which usually refers to Jerusalem, but sometimes the Land of Israel, appears in the Hebrew Bible 154 times.

The [[Talmud]] mentions the religious duty of populating Israel.<ref name=Herzog1967>{{cite book|author=Herzog, Isaac|title=The Main Institutions of Jewish Law: The law of obligations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eq3XAAAAMAAJ|year=1967|publisher=Soncino Press|page=51}}</ref> So significant in Judaism is the act of purchasing land in Israel, the Talmud allows for the lifting of certain religious restrictions of [[Shabbat|Sabbath]] observance to further its acquisition and settlement.<ref name=Zahavi1962>{{cite book|last=Zahavi|first=Yosef|title=Eretz Israel in rabbinic lore (Midreshei Eretz Israel): an anthology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yK7hAAAAMAAJ|year=1962|publisher=Tehilla Institute|page=28|quote=If one buys a house from a non-Jew in Israel, the title deed may be written for him even on the Sabbath. On the Sabbath!? Is that possible? But as Rava explained, he may order a non-Jew to write it, even though instructing a non-Jew to do a work prohibited to Jews on the Sabbath is forbidden by rabbinic ordination, the rabbis waived their decree on account of the settlement of Palestine.}}</ref> Rabbi Johanan said that "Whoever walks four [[cubit]]s in Eretz Yisrael [the Land of Israel] is guaranteed entrance to the [[World to come|World to Come]]".<ref name=Slavin>{{cite book |author= Rabbi Nathan Shapira |title= Chapter Eleven, Part 1: Footsteps in the Land |work= Tuv Ha'aretz ["The Goodness of the Land", translation & commentary by David Slavin] |location= Venice |via= chabad.org |year= 1655 |url= https://www.chabad.org/kabbalah/article_cdo/aid/380830/jewish/Footsteps-in-the-Land-111.htm |access-date= 30 October 2018 }}</ref><ref name=JewEnc/> A story says that when R. Eleazar b. Shammua' and R. [[Johanan HaSandlar]] left Israel to study from R. [[Judah ben Bathyra]], they only managed to reach [[Sidon]] when "the thought of the sanctity of Palestine overcame their resolution, and they shed tears, rent their garments, and turned back".<ref name=JewEnc/> Due to the Jewish population being concentrated in Israel, emigration was generally prevented, which resulted in a limiting of the amount of space available for Jewish learning. However, after suffering persecutions in Israel for centuries after the destruction of the Temple, Rabbis who had found it very difficult to retain their position moved to [[Babylon]], which offered them better protection. Many Jews wanted Israel to be the place where they died, in order to be buried there. The sage Rabbi Anan said "To be buried in Israel is like being buried under the altar."<ref name=first/><ref name=Transl2010/><ref name=Gil1997/> The saying "His land will absolve His people" implies that burial in Israel will cause one to be absolved of all one's sins.<ref name=JewEnc/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3364937/jewish/Why-Do-Jews-Fly-Their-Dead-to-Israel-for-Burial.htm|title=Why Do Jews Fly Their Dead to Israel for Burial?|website=www.chabad.org|access-date=2018-10-30}}</ref>