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Editorial
Rijk, Cornelis A.

This issue of Sidic discusses the bond between the people of the Covenant and the land of their fathers. For all members of the historical, monotheistic religions one fact is fundamental yet shacking: the revelation of God is not merely doctrine, it is the history of -salvation, a salvation realized in the concrete of people 'and places. The implications of this are numerous. If it is true that Gad reveals Himself to a specific people in a specific place, then the salvation of the world goes out from a person, a people, towards others, creating a bond among them. Man himself engages in this history, and by this fact receives an extraordinary vocation and responsibility. The history of these men, of this people, is integrated into the historical development of salvation. God needs men, yet He is transcendant and free. Nevertheless, it is true that revealed salvation cannot !be -spoken of without touching the concrete history of those who are His partners in this revelation. Salvation is only understood in and by the unfolding of the events of human history; there are the signs of Gad.
If the special revelation of God ended at the death of the last apostle, the history of the people who live with vand in this revelation continues and is important for the understanding of His word. The Hebrew Scriptures are treasured by bath Jews and Christians. Pope Paul VI in his speech to the Congress of the International Organization for Old Testament Studies, April 19, 1968, said, "The three families, Jewish, Protestant and Catholic, all hold it equally in honor. They can then study and venerate together these holy books... It is good that the initiative has been taken to study them in common... Here is an authentic and fertile form of ecumenism" (Osservatore Romano, April 20). Such a study presupposes an open and respectful attitude towards the Bible, to the meaning of the text, a readiness to learn from and listen to the opinion of another in order better to discover the depths
of revelation. Furthermore, the life and the experience of the people who received this revelation and, most particularly, who formed and gave inspired expression to the history of salvation, are of great importance. Those who interpret the self-understanding of this people must be heard along with the exegetes. It is possible that they will bring necessary elements to a full comprehension of salvation history.
Jews and Christians recognize that the revelation of God is a history of salvation. The country in which this history developed has hence been called the Holy Land. This land has been especially chosen by God, creator of heaven and earth. For all three historical religions this country holds a ~special place; one speaks of the holy places of Jews, Christians, and Moslems. A link exists, then, between this land and monotheistic believers. However, this does not mean that the same value is placed in this fact. Most Jewish interpretations are widely different from Christian. Although the existential biblical roots are being re-established, for the majority of Christians the association between the land and revelation is an accidental aspect of their faith, while for most Jews the bond with the land of their Fathers is an essential part of their existence as a people.
It is not at all the intention of Sidic to mix in political questions. What it wishes is to follow the directives of Vatican II, which encouraged and recommended "knowledge and mutual esteem" between Jews and Christians. The study of the bond between the Jewish people and the land can open up for us an essential dimension of their life, unknown, or little known. Nevertheless, it is one to be recognized with great respect. In knowing better the other, may we come to a better knowledge of our own faith in this wonderful historic revelation.