| dc.description.abstract | The presence of the small Jewish Community of Hebron in the southern West Bank, counting approximately 500 members amid a city inhabited by some 120,000 Palestinians, is highly disputed. Based on data collected through interviews with members of the community, in addition to their publications, this thesis strives towards an understanding of the fundamental incentive for the very presence of the community. The primary question posed is whether the presence and the consequent actions of the Jewish Community of Hebron is based on an assumption of obligations towards Hebron as a sacred place; is the community a consequence of something as a perceived obligation in order to protect the sanctity of Hebron?
The Jewish Community of Hebron answers to these questions by maintaining that Hebron embraces the roots of the Jewish people and that Hebron additionally is the second holiest city within their interpretation of Jewish theology. These claims are supported with references to elements in the religious scriptures of both the Tanakh and the Zohar.
The Jewish Community of Hebron was first attempted founded in 1968 by a group of radical religious Zionists, who were representatives of a religious Zionist movement that came to the fore in the wake of the Six-Day War and advocated active settlement in the West Bank. Since then, the Jewish Community of Hebron has expanded both territorially and demographically. Today, this nationalist, religious Zionist community has ramified into embracing several radical groups, including groups endorsing explicit anti-Arab sentiment, and condoning violence.
The religious worldview of the Jewish Community of Hebron is at large within a messianic framework, based on the three fundamental assumptions; firstly, the intrinsic sanctity of the Land of Israel, secondly, the sanctity of the Jewish People, and thirdly, that current times is the Age of Redemption. Within the Age of Redemption, the people and the land must be united. As man plays an active part in God s divine scheme, they are obliged to settle in their divinely given land. The Jewish People is thus acting as part of the divine scheme leading to the ultimate re-establishment of the messianic kingdom on earth. They are obliged to push forward the Age of Redemption. Therefore, all gate-openers as well as obstacles are added their own metaphysical value. | nor |