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The Land of Israel (Hebrew: אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל, Eretz Yisrael, also the Promised Land) is the region of land given to the Jewish people, according to the Bible.
Etymology and biblical roots
The term "Land of Israel" is a direct translation of the Hebrew phrase "ארץ ישראל" (Eretz Yisrael), which is found in the Hebrew Bible. Anita Shapira says the term "Eretz Israel" was 'a holy term, vague as far as the exact boundaries of the territories are concerned but clearly defining ownership'.
The name "Israel" refers to the Jewish people, as descendants of the biblical patriarchJacob, who was later known as Israel, literally meaning "struggled with God/he struggles with God". According to the account in the Book of Genesis, Jacob wrestled with an angel at a river fjord and won through perseverance. God then changed Jacob's name to Israel signifying that he had been successful in human and divine hardships.
Jacob's descendants were known as the "Children of Israel" (often translated as "Israelites") and the land which they won from the Canaanites eventually became known as the Land of Israel. The modern State of Israel "מדינת ישראל," Medinat Yisrael) also uses this historical name.
According to the Bible, particularly in Genesis, the Land of Israel was promised as an everlasting possession to the "descendants" of the patriarchAbraham, by God, making it the Promised Land. The three descendants of Abraham mentioned in Genesis are Ishmael, Isaac and Jacob.
Land of Canaan vs. Land of Israel
The name Land of Canaan is frequently used in the Bible for the same region, and seems interchangeable with Land of Israel, as e.g. in Genesis 17:8. The classical Jewish view, as explained by Schweid, is that Canaan is the geographical name, and Israel the spiritual name of the same land: 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 . Thus, the re-naming of this land marks a change in religious status, the origin of the Holy Land concept.
Dimensions according to the Bible
Kingdom of Israel at the time of King David's death. It is probably similar to the Greater Israel as defined in Genesis 15.Hypothetical map of the Land of Israel derived from the definitions in Numbers 34 and Ezekiel 47.
The Hebrew Bible contains several descriptions of the borders of the land. The three classical passages are Genesis 15:18-21, Numbers 34:1-15 and Ezekiel 47:13-20.
Genesis 15
Genesis 15:18-21 describes what is referred to in Jewish tradition as Gevulot Ha-aretz ("Borders of the Land") regarded as the full extent of the land promised to Abraham.
Numbers 34
Numbers 34:1-15 describes the land allocated to the Israelite tribes after the Exodus. The tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh received land east of the Jordan as explained in Numbers 34:14-15. Numbers 34:1-13 provides a detailed description of the borders of the land allocated to the remaining tribes. The region is called "the Land of Canaan" (Eretz Kna'an) in Numbers 34:2 and the borders are known in Jewish tradition as the "borders for those coming out of Egypt". The English expression "Promised Land" can denote either the land promised to Abraham in Genesis or the land of Canaan, although the latter meaning is more common.
Ezekiel 47
Ezekiel 47:13-20 provides a post-exilic definition of borders. The definition in Ezekiel describes the Land of Israel which, according to Ezekiel's prophecy, is a repeat of the promised land with tribal allocations for Israel to return to after their captivity (Ezekiel was during the Babylonian captivity after the fall of Jerusalem in 597 and 586 BC by Nebuchadnezzar). The definition is a reminder that both God's promise and desire for Israel was not canceled completely by the situation that led to captivity. The borders of the land described by the text in Ezekiel include the northern border of modern Lebanon, eastwards (the way of Hethlon) to Zedad and Hazar-enan in modern Syria; south by southwest to the area of Busra on the Syrian border (area of Hauran in Ezekiel); follows the Jordan River between the West Bank and the land of Gilead to Tamar (Ein gedi) on the West shore of the Dead sea; From Tamar to Meribah Kadesh (Kadesh Barnea), then then along the brook of Egypt (see debate below) to the Mediterranean Sea.
Hence, Numbers 34 and Ezekiel 47 define different but similar borders which include the whole of contemporary Lebanon, both the West Bank and the Gaza strip and Israel except for the South Negev and Eilat. Small parts of Syria are also included.
The common Biblical phrase used to refer to the territories actually settled by Israelites (as opposed to military expansions) is "from Dan to Beersheba" (or its variant "from Beersheba to Dan"), which occurs in the Biblical verses Judges 20:1, 1 Samuel 3:20, 2 Samuel 3:10, 2 Samuel 17:11, 2 Samuel 24:2, 2 Samuel 24:15, 1 Kings 4:25, 1 Chronicles 21:2, and 2 Chronicles 30:5.
Points of debate
Brook of Egypt
The border with Egypt is given as the Nachal Mitzrayim (Brook of Egypt) in Numbers and Deuteronomy, as well as in Ezekiel. The traditional Jewish understanding of the term (as expressed in the commentaries of Rashi and Yehuda Halevi, as well as the Aramaic Targums,) is that it refers to the Nile, more precisely the Pelusian branch of the Nile Delta according to Halevi, a view supported by Egyptian and Assyrian texts. Later commentators identified it with the Wadi El-Arish, and the Besor has also been suggested in recent times. Genesis, however, gives the border with Egypt as Nahar Miztrayim. This is generally understood to be the Nile, nahar denoting a large river. If different from Nachal Mitzrayim, the Genesis verse includes a larger area of land westwards. A minority interpret Nahar Mitzrayim, together with Nachal Miztrayim, as a wadi as well.
Southern border
The precise southern and eastern borders of the Land of Israel are also a subject of debate. Only the Red Sea and Euphrates are mentioned, which can be understood to mean that the whole Arabian peninsula is included as well. More reticent interpretations take the southern border to be a line from the mouth of the Euphrates to Eilat or a line of latitude from the mouth of the Gulf of Eilat. Still another view is that the Euphrates forms only a northern border and that the southern and eastern border extends from Eilat to an undetermined point on the Euphrates.
Land of Hittites
Another point of debate for some religious scholars is the consistent reference to the inclusion of "the Land of the Hittites" within the borders. Some view the Hittites as one of the tribes that had settled in Canaan and was conquered by Joshua, while others refer to a greater empire that encompassed most of central Turkey.
Land of Israel and State of Israel
During the British Mandate of Palestine, the name Eretz Yisrael (abbreviated א״י Aleph-Yod), was part of the official name of the territory, when written in Hebrew. The official name "(פלשתינה (א״י" (Palestina E"Y) was also minted on the mandate coins. Some in the government of the British Mandate of Palestine wanted the name to be פלשתינה (Palestina) while the Yishuv wanted ארץ ישראל (Eretz Yisrael). The compromise eventually achieved was that the initials א"י would be written in brackets whenever פלשתינה is written. Consequently, in 20th century political usage, the term "Land of Israel" usually denotes only those parts of the land which came under the British mandate, i.e. the land currently controlled by the State of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, and sometimes also Transjordan (now the Kingdom of Jordan).
The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.
Satellite image of the Land of Israel in January 2003.
After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom.
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On the 29th November, 1947, the United NationsGeneral Assembly passed a resolution calling for the establishment of a Jewish State in Eretz-Israel; the General Assembly required the inhabitants of Eretz-Israel to take such steps as were necessary on their part for the implementation of that resolution. This recognition by the United Nations of the right of the Jewish people to establish their State is irrevocable.
According to Jewish law (halakha), some religious laws only apply to Jews living in the Land of Israel and some areas in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria (which are thought to be part of Biblical Israel). These include agricultural laws such as the Shmita (Sabbatical year); tithing laws such as the Maaser Rishon (Levite tithe), Maaser sheni, and Maaser ani (poor tithe); charitable practices during farming, such as pe'ah; and laws regarding taxation. One popular source lists 26 of the 613 mitzvot as contingent upon the Land of Israel.
Many of the laws which applied in ancient times are applied in the modern State of Israel; others have not been revived, since the State of Israel does not adhere to traditional Jewish law. However, certain parts of the current territory of the State of Israel, such as the Araba valley, are considered by some authorities to be outside the Land of Israel for purposes of Jewish law. According to these authorities, the religious laws do not apply there.
Additionally according to some poskim, every Jew has an obligation to dwell in the Land of Israel, and may not leave except for specifically permitted reasons (e.g., to get married).
There are also many laws dealing with how to treat the Land itself.
The Land of Israel: According to the Covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and Jacob, By Alexander Keith, Published 1844, W. Whyte & Co.
The Land of Israel, By Robert Laird Stewart, Published 1899, Revell.
This Land of Israel, By Andreĭ Sedykh, Published 1967, Macmillan.
The Land of Israel: National Home Or Land of Destiny, By Eliezer Schweid, Translated by Deborah Greniman, Published 1985 Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, ISBN 0838632343.
Anita Shapira, 1992, 'Land and Power', ISBN 0-19-506104-7, p. ix
The Land of Israel: National Home Or Land of Destiny, By Eliezer Schweid, Translated by Deborah Greniman, Published 1985 Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, ISBN 0838632343, p.56.
p.xxxv, R. Yisrael Meir haKohen (Chofetz Chayim), The Concise Book of Mitzvoth. This version of the list was prepared in 1968.
And I will set thy border from the Red Sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness unto the River; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.
And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: ‘Command the children of Israel, and say unto them: When ye come into the land of Canaan, this shall be the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to the borders thereof. Thus your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin close by the side of Edom, and your south border shall begin at the end of the Salt Sea eastward; and your border shall turn about southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass along to Zin; and the goings out thereof shall be southward of Kadesh-barnea; and it shall go forth to Hazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon; and the border shall turn about from Azmon unto the Brook of Egypt, and the goings out thereof shall be at the Sea. And for the western border, ye shall have the Great Sea for a border; this shall be your west border. And this shall be your north border: from the Great Sea ye shall mark out your line unto mount Hor; from mount Hor ye shall mark out a line unto the entrance to Hamath; and the goings out of the border shall be at Zedad; and the border shall go forth to Ziphron, and the goings out thereof shall be at Hazar-enan; this shall be your north border. And ye shall mark out your line for the east border from Hazar-enan to Shepham; and the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall go down, and shall strike upon the slope of the sea of Chinnereth eastward; and the border shall go down to the Jordan, and the goings out thereof shall be at the Salt Sea; this shall be your land according to the borders thereof round about.’ And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying: ‘This is the land wherein ye shall receive inheritance by lot, which the LORD hath commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the half-tribe; for the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their fathers’ houses, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to their fathers’ houses, have received, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received, their inheritance; the two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sun-rising.’
The LORD our God spoke unto us in Horeb, saying: ‘Ye have dwelt long enough in this mountain; turn you, and take your journey, and go to the hill-country of the Amorites and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the Arabah, in the hill-country, and in the Lowland, and in the South, and by the sea-shore; the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.’
Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness, and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the hinder sea shall be your border.
From the wilderness, and this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border.
A sequence from the Book of Ezekiel provides a vision of borders in end times of a smaller region allocated to the 12 tribes in equal divisions west of the Jordan.
Thus saith the Lord GOD: ‘This shall be the border, whereby ye shall divide the land for inheritance according to the twelve tribes of Israel, Joseph receiving two portions. And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another, concerning which I lifted up My hand to give it unto your fathers; and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance. And this shall be the border of the land: on the north side, from the Great Sea, by the way of Hethlon, unto the entrance of Zedad; Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazer-hatticon, which is by the border of Hauran. And the border from the sea shall be Hazar-enon at the border of Damascus, and on the north northward is the border of Hamath. This is the north side. And the east side, between Hauran and Damascus and Gilead, and the land of Israel, by the Jordan, from the border unto the east sea shall ye measure. This is the east side. And the south side southward shall be from Tamar as far as the waters of Meriboth-kadesh, to the Brook, unto the Great Sea. This is the south side southward. And the west side shall be the Great Sea, from the border as far as over against the entrance of Hamath. This is the west side.
