The Land of Israel: Its Theological Dimensions [Paperback]

This book explores the relationship between God, the Jewish people, and the Land of Israel, bringing clarity to issues of great moment - both in the past and in our time. The author's analyses are rooted in Biblical and rabbinic texts themselves, in addition to other scholarly disciplines that relate.The claim of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel is long established - and long challenged. Most Jews, and non-Jews, asked to explain their relationship with the actual physical territory of Israel, will offer some vague reference to God's promise, or historical right, or the place as 'Holy Land.' Even the Bible and some of its commentaries often present varied and contradictory perspectives about Israel and the Land. This fact, added to the confusion that accompanies conflicting theological and political perceptions, results in the claims and counterclaims that have led to continuing tension and confrontation among current peoples. In this book, Dr. Shechter steps forth into the ideological quicksand that surrounds the entire question of the relationship between God, the Jewish people, and the Land of Israel. This is a matter that Christians and Muslims, as well, are deeply preoccupied with as it relates to their own domains. The author explores in detail the perplexing issues that flow from the triad of God, Israel, and the Land. His analyses are rooted in the Biblical and rabbinic texts themselves, in addition to other scholarly disciplines impinging on the subject. Among others, the basic questions wrestled within this work include: -What are the theological and historical prisms through which the land of Israel is viewed? -What are the ramifications implicit in the notion that the land was 'promised'? -What does a tradition have in mind when it designates a place - and Israel's place - as 'holy'? -What has all this to do with the claims, conflicts, and confrontations that roil the Middle East in our time? A set of pointed questions prompted by the explorations l%