Table Of ContentSANCTITY OF TIME AND SPACE
IN TRADITION AND MODERNITY
JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN
PERSPECTIVES SERIES
Editorial Board
MARcELj.H.M. PooRTHUis, JosHuA SCHWARTZ,
FREEK VAN DER STEEN
Advisory Board
PHILIP S. ALEXANDER - YVONNE FRIEDMAN - JUDITH FRISHMAN
w.
MARTIN GOODMAN - PIETER VAN DER HORST
J.
ANroN W HouTEPEN - GERARD AM. RouwHORST
ZE'Ev SAFRAI - LAWRENCE H. SCHIFFMAN
L.
GUNTER STEMBERGER - ROBERT WILKEN - DAPHNA YIZRAELI
VOLUME I
SANCTITY OF TIME AND SPACE
IN TRADITION AND MODERNITY
EDITED BY
A. HOUTMAN
MJ.H.M. POORTHUIS
J. SCHWARTZ
BRILL
LEIDEN BOSTON KOLN
1998
Bar-Ilan Universiry, Israel
- Catholic Universiry of Utrecht, The Netherlands
This book is published with the financial support of
The R.ennert Center far Jerusa/,em Studies,
Faculty ofJ ewish Studies, Bar-Dan University, Israel
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme
Sanctity of time and space in tradition and modernity / ed. by A.
Houtman - Leiden ; Boston; Koln Brill, 1998
Qewish and Christian perspectives seiies; Vol. I)
ISBN 90-04-11233-2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is also available
ISSN 1388-2074
ISBN 90 04 I 1233 2
© Copyright 1998 by Koninklijk Brill NV, Leiden, 7he Netherlands
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CONTENTS
PREFACE VII
PROLEGOMENA IX
EDITORIAL ST AT EMENT X
ALBERDINA HOUTMAN, MARCEL POORTHUIS & JOSHUA
SCHWARTZ
Introduction
PART ONE
STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF
SACRED TIME AND SPACE
BARUCH J. SCHWARTZ
Torah from Zion: Isaiah's Temple Vision (Isaiah 2:1-4) 11
PANCRATIUS C. BEENTJES
Transformations of Space and Time: Nathan's Oracle
and David's Prayer in 1 Chronicles 17 27
BART J. KOET
Holy Place and Hannah's Prayer: A Comparison of
a
LAB 50-51 and Luke 2:22-39 Propos 1 Samuel 1-2 45
MARTIEN PARMENTIER
The Lasting Sanctity of Bethesda 73
LAWRENCE H. SCHIFFMAN
Ir Ha-Miqdash and its Meaning in the Temple Scroll
and Other Qumran Texts 95
VI CONTENTS
PART TWO
POSTBIBLICAL PERIOD
Judaism
LIEVE TEUGELS
Holiness and Mysticism at Sinai According to the
Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael 113
SHMUEL SAFRAI
Jerusalem and the Temple in the Tannaitic Literature
of the First Generation after the Destruction of the
Temple 135
ALBERDINA HOUTMAN
'They Direct Their Hearts to Jerusalem': References
to Jerusalem and Temple in Mishnah and Tosefta
Berakhot 153
JOSHUA SCHWARTZ, 'To Stand-Perhaps to Sit': Sitting
and Standing in the Azarah in the Second Temple Period 167
Christianity
ZE'EV SAFRAI
The Institutionalization of the Cult of Saints in
Christian Society 193
HILLEL ISAAC NEWMAN
Between Jerusalem and Bethlehem: Jerome and the
Holy Places of Palestine 215
Judaism and Christianity
MARCEL POORTHUIS
Moses' Rod in Zipporah's Garden 231
GERARD ROUWHORST
Liturgical Time and Space in Early Christianity
In Light of Their Jewish Background 265
AARON DEMSKY
Holy City and Holy Land as Viewed by Jews and
CONTENTS VII
Christians in the Byzantine Period: A Conceptual
Approach to Sacred Space 285
PART THREE
MODERN PERIOD
PAUL POST
Post-modern Pilgrimage: Christian Ritual Between
Liturgy and 'Topolatry' 299
OPHIR YARDEN
The Sanctity of Mount Herzl and Independence
Day in Israel's Civil Religion 317
AMOS RON
A Rachel for Everyone: The Kinneret Cemetery
as a Site of Civil Pilgrimage 349
Appendix: Translation of the 29 line Re}:iob Inscription 361
Maps and Illustrations 364
Index of Names and Subjects 369
Index of Ancient Sources 374
PREFACE
In June of 1993, scholars from Israel, the United States and the
Netherlands met at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat-Gan, Israel for a
conference devoted to 'The Centrality of Jerusalem' The confer
ence was organized by the Department of Land of Israel Studies
of Bar-Ilan University and the Catholic Theological University of
Utrecht. This was the beginning of a fruitful discussion and ex
change between these two institutions, a Jewish and a Catholic
University, examining issues of supreme importance to each re
ligion, searching for what unites them while at the same time
pointing out what is unique to each. The results of that conference
were published by M. Poorthuis and Ch. Safrai as The Centrality
ofJ erusalem: Historical Perspectives (Kampen, 1996).
Three years later, in August of 1996, a second conference was
held once again at Bar-Ilan University, this time under the aus
pices of the Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies at
Bar-Ilan (founded in 1995) and the continued auspices of Catholic
Theological University of Utrecht and its research project "Re
latie Jodendom Christendom" This conference was devoted to
the theme 'Sanctity of Time and Space in Tradition and Moder
nity', a direct outgrowth of the study of Jerusalem at the first con
ference and once again studied both that which unites as well as
which divides Judaism and Christianity regarding issues of sanc
tity at the very core of their individual existences. The present
volume represents the fruits of that conference and proves once
again that peaceful scholarly discussion can well bridge gaps cre
ated by centuries of tension and often much worse. At the con
clusion of the proceedings, an agreement of cooperation was
signed between Bar-Ilan University and the Catholic Theological
University expressing a desire for continued dialogue and ex
change in order to tackle the study of even the thorniest of issues
important to both religions. This discussion will be continued at
the next conference to take place at the Catholic Theological Uni-
X PREFACE
versity in Utrecht, June-July 1998, and will be devoted to the
study of 'Purity and Holiness' in Judaism and Christianity.
The present volume, as well as the one to be published based
on the proceedings of the 'Purity and Holiness' conference appear
or will appear as part of a new series of E.J. Brill in Leyden enti
tled: Jewish and Christian Perspectives to be published in co
operation with the Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies
of Bar-Ilan University and the Catholic Theological University of
Utrecht. The series in general will attempt to present findings
relative to both Jewish and Christian tradition to a broad audience
of scholars. It is our hope that this first volume of the new series
will represent both increased dialogue and study.
Thanks are due to the editor, Mr. Freek van der Steen, whose in
defatigable efforts were indispensable for the realization of this
volume and of the series at large. Thanks are due also to our pub
lisher Brill in Leiden for the confidence in this project.
Utrecht and Ramat-Gan, May 1998
Alberdina Houtman
Marcel Poorthuis
Joshua Schwartz
Dr Alberdina Houtman is research fellow at the Theological Uni
versity of Kampen, The Netherlands.
Dr Marcel Poorthuis is Coordinator of the research project "Re
latie Jodendom Christendom" (RJC) at the Catholic Theological
University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Prof. Dr Joshua Schwartz is Director of the Ingeborg Rennert
Center for Jerusalem Studies and Professor of Historical Geogra
phy of Ancient Israel at Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
