What Is The Holy Land?
(Hebrew: ארץ הקודש; Eretz HaQodesh ; Arabic: الأرض المقدسة Al-Ard Al-Muqaddasah) is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel.
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The term "Holy Land" is also used by Muslims and Christians to refer to the whole area in between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea.
Part of the significance of the land stems from the religious significance of Jerusalem, the holiest city to Judaism, the assumed place of Jesus's ministry, and the Isra and Mi'raj event in Islam..
The perceived holiness of the land to Christianity was one of the motivational factors behind the efforts of the Crusades, which sought to win the Holy Land back from the Muslim Suljuq Turks that had conquered it from the Muslim Arabs, who had in turn conquered it from the Christian Byzantine Empire.
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Many sites in the Holy Land have been destinations for religious pilgrimages since biblical times, by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. According to a Stockholm University study in 2011, these pilgrims visit the Holy Land to touch and see physical manifestations of their faith, confirm their beliefs in the holy context with collective excitation, and connect personally to the Holy Land.
History-Judaism
The land of Israel and in particular the city of Jerusalem are main components of Judaism. Many believe that the Jews were delivered by God onto the land of Canaan, also called "the promised land," and that this land was to serve as a home after the liberation from slavery under the Pharaoh of Egypt. Jerusalem was the political and spiritual center of the ancient Jewish kingdom. It was, in particular, the site of the Temple, which was the holiest place in Judaism while it stood; a small portion of the historical Temple, the Western Wall, still stands in a part of Jerusalem called the Temple Mount, which is perhaps the most hotly contested area in the Holy Land.
History-Christianity
In addition to the belief that the Holy Land was marked out to be the home of God's "chosen people," Christians attach importance to Jerusalem because of the many events in the narrative of Jesus's life that took place there. These include chasing moneylenders from the Temple when visiting Jerusalem in his youth, as well as the events leading up to and including the crucifixion. The "Via Dolorosa" (Latin for "Painful Path"), a reconstruction of the path Jesus took to the cross, is a central pilgrimage for Christians. It was the importance to Christians of the Holy Land that sparked the Crusades, a series of conquests that began in 1096 to capture the Holy Land from the Muslims who then lived there.