קדושת ירושלים ב’מקצת מעשי התורה’: עיון חוזר

In the Miqsat Ma'aseh Ha-Torah Scroll a few paragraphs are devoted to the question of the status of Jerusalem and the matter was addressed by the present author in a previous article ('The Sanctity of Jerusalem: The Sages and Sectarian Halakhah', Tarbiz,, LXVII (1997), pp. 5-28). In the light of Prof. Menahem Kister's recent article on the Scroll ('Studies in 4QMiqsat Ma'ase Ha-Torah and Related Texts: Law, Theology, Language and Calendar' Tarbiz, LXVIII [1999], pp. 317-371) the present article discusses again the solution proposed for the statements in the Scroll. The author of the Scroll believed that certain laws of the Torah were meant to apply specifically in Jerusalem. The term חוץ למחנה , i.e., 'outside the camp', i.e., the camp in the desert, refers to the area adjacent to Jerusalem, to which the ritual law applying in the city also applied. In the course of the discussion an explanation of the addition in the Septuagint and other sources to Leviticus 17:3 is also proposed.