[Avodah] Holiness of Israel

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, November 21, 2006 10:15 am, Kohn, R Shalom wrote:
:> Not so Poshut. See Rambam Bais HaBechira 6:14-16 and the Ra'avad there. It
:> is at least a Machlokes Rishonim, and I'd like to see a source for a clear
:> P'sak B'zman Hazeh.
:
: Although I'm not sure how relevant any of this is to the question of whether
: Israel is a Jewish country, which seemed to be the issue under discussion, the
: Rambam cited by R. MYG sets forth his view that the kedusha of yerushalayim
: and the mikdash was by the kedusha rishona, because it was done by Hashem, and
: the Ra'avad disagrees...

There are two issues:

1- The Jewishness of the Medinah. This involves question of whether Jews
having sovereignty makes the state Jewish. More specifically, what criteria
must a government meet in order to qualify as "Jewish". Must it be a melekh
mibeis David, a court navi, the kehunah and Sanhedrin running the country or
else it has no religious value? The Rambam, Hil Chanukah 1:1, seems to
indicate that even a tzeduqi Hasmonian rule is something with religious
siginificance to celebrate.

2- Qedushas ha'aretz. This is where it's appropriate to discuss qedushah
rishonah qidshah lesha'atah veqidshah le'asid lavo.

  The Rambam is clear that the kedusha done by Ezra was
: via chazaka and where Ezra's settlements occurred, the kedusha she-niya
: continues, hence the obligation for teruma and ma'aser....

Actually, the Rambam only says this about qedushas haaretz (Beis haBechirah
6:16). Yerusalayim is mi

It's also interesting to compare R' Chaim's well-known understanding of the
Rambam with Meshekh Chokhmah on Devarim 1:8. As the MC notes, the Sifri seems
to imply a machloqes tana'im. See MmD Devarim, pg 1
<http://www.aishdas.org/mesukim/5764/devarim.pdf>.


These are two very interesting but very different topics.

Tir'u baTov!
-mi

-- 
Micha Berger             Spirituality is like a bird: if you tighten
micha at aishdas.org        your grip on it, it chokes; slacken your grip,
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