Jewish efforts to obtain a foothold in the holy places in Jerusalem ans it’s surroundings in the late Othman period 1840-1918
/ Dotan Goren
Along the twentieth century and until today the holy places in Jerusalem have stimulated a repeated discussion, in an attempt to reach a political agreement, which will solve the Jewish-Arabic conflict over these places. This is why it is so important to investigate this issue from a Jewish point of view.
The period which has contributed most to the understanding of this issue is the late Othman period (1840-1918), when Jewish efforts to obtain a foothold in the holy places in Eretz-Israel as a whole and in Jerusalem in particular were at their peak. Prior
research has already shown such efforts in other contexts, but I feel that not enough has been done to understand this phenomenon in a broader sense and that much about this issue is still unknown.
Choosing Jerusalem as the object of this research is not incidental. First, the city is a sacred place for all three religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Second, Jerusalem has been a lodestone for pilgrims. In addition, Jerusalem is considered a major destination for both Jewish and Christian pilgrims because this is the place where they can experience the most intensive religious experience. One can claim that for the people of Israel there is a symbolic duality about the "Holy Place". This duality is expressed in the pilgrimage to "the remainder of our Temple", the Western Wall, which is a religious duty, as opposed to the pilgrimage, or the "Aliya", to holy places such as the Tomb of Shimon Hatzadik, Rachel's Tomb or The Tomb of Samuel the Prophet, which is a popular tradition.
In my work I claim that the symbolic significance of the holy places had an important role in the development of the Jewish neighborhoods in the "new Jerusalem" and in the Jewish efforts to settle in the agricultural rear of the city (Hinterland) during that time. I will also discuss the reasons why Jewish figures and Jewish institutions were eager to get hold of the holy places in this area and will look into the possibility of cooperation among them. In addition, I will locate Jewish initiatives that have evaded prior investigators of these issues, in order to show as accurately as possible the
historical developments in this research. It seems to me, that the Jewish initiative for the redemption of the sites, which symbolizes the connection between the people of Israel and their "ancestors' land", has not been properly investigated. The goal of this work is to give a small contribution to the Geographical-Historical and Geographical-Cultural research of Eretz-Israel in the new era.
The conclusions of this research show that the efforts of the Jews centered around five circular holy spaces:
The central part- the holiest of all, the Temple place (Temple Mount); An internal circle- the remainder of the Temple, the Western Wall and the Jewish settlement in the Old City; the external circle- Jewish settlements in the holy places of the "new" city, which can be divided into two major blocks: a. South-East Jerusalem- including David's Tomb on Mount Zion and "the City of the Dead" on the slopes of the Moriah Mountain, Kidron Vally and Olive Mount, b. North-West Jerusalem- which encircles sacred burial systems, such as Kalba-Savoa's cave (Tomb of The Kings), The Tomb of Simon Hatzadik and Sanhedrin Tombs; an intermediate circle- the agricultural rear of Jerusalem, which includes two major spots: a. The Tomb of Samuel the Prophet next to the Arab village Nebi-Samwil and b. Rachel's Tomb on the Jerusalem-Hebron route, close to Bethlehem; and a peripheral circle- historical sites in Eretz-Israel as a whole.
An analysis of the historical sources does not point to the existence of an organized Jewish plan to get hold of the holy places in Jerusalem and around it in the late Othman period. In other words, it is impossible to identify a single comprehensive Jestrategy to redeem the holy places in the period discussed.
The initiatives for redemption were made mostly by public institutions or by private people that popped up according to circumstances and did not work in coordination with each other. The Jews at that period focused on the preservation of the holy places, which included rehabilitating, developing and making the holy places accessible, while trying to place them under Jewish supervision and to settle around them. The major reason for this preservation was the attempts by the Arab population nearby to cause damage to the holy places and to prevent Jews from visiting them, attempts which continued despite the high protection fees they were paid by the Jewish community in Jerusalem. In addition, the Agrarian legislation made it possible for non-Islamic Othman subjects to purchase land. This legislation lead to a tough "competition" between the Jews and the Christian institutions for buying lands of political, religious and historical significance. Another reason was the beginning of the archeological research in the Holy Land, which caused the sacrilege of tomb-caves in Jerusalem and aroused resent among Jews in Eretz-Israel and the Diaspora. In addition to all of the above, the development of the "Jewish Jerusalem" outside the walls of the historical city was a highly important factor on this issue.