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Monday, March 21, 2005

CHRISTIAN PILGRIMS had their annual procession from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem yesterday to celebrate Palm Sunday. This AP article has an aside I'd never heard about before:
A discovery of Jewish graves in 1954 has caused biblical scholars to reconsider the route Jesus would have followed into Jerusalem as a "ruler of peace." Jewish tradition holds that Jesus would not have brought his followers through a Jewish cemetery. However, since 330, the ritual procession has passed within 100 feet of a Jewish burial site archaeologists and scholars believe existed before the time of Jesus, said archaeologist Joe Zias.

This doesn't seem to be written very clearly and I'm not sure what's at stake. True, Jesus probably would not have gone through a Jewish cemetery, but I don't see the problem with him going past one 100 feet away. Cemeteries had to be at least 50 cubits away from inhabited areas (m. Baba Bathra 2.9), which is less than 75 feet. Can someone explain to me what the issue is here?

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