Jerusalem the Temple and the Jewish people are so intertwined that telling the over 3000 history of one is telling the history of the other.

Jerusalem the Temple and the Jewish people are so intertwined that telling

the over 3000 history of one is telling the history of the other. 

For more than 3,000 years, Jerusalem has played a central role in the history

of the Jews, culturally, politically, and spiritually, a role first

documented in the Scriptures. All through the 2,000 years of the

Diaspora, Jews have called Jerusalem their ancestral home. This

sharply contrasts the relationship between Jerusalem and those

who inflate Islam’s links to the city.

The Arab rulers who controlled Jerusalem through the 1950's

and 1960's demonstrated no religious tolerance in a city that gave

birth to two major Western religions. That changed after the Six-

Day War in 1967 2nd war of liberation, when Israel regained control of the whole city.

One of Israel's first steps was to officially recognize

and respect all religious interests in Jerusalem. But the battles for

control of Jerusalem and its religious sites continues.

Palestinian Arab terrorism has targeted Jerusalem particularly in

an attempt to gain control of the city from Israel. The result is

that they have turned Jerusalem, the City of Peace, into a bloody

battleground and have thus forfeited their claim to share in the

city’s destiny. The Arab continued terror and violence in Jerusalem and elsewhere in greater Israel will force

Israel to prohibit Arabs from living in Jerusalem.

I implore upon the masses that more people will be motivated to actively engage

in the defense of the legal stances of the Jewish Nation regarding

Jerusalem as the eternal capital of the Jewish people. Thereby helping Israel bring peace, tranquility and mutual coexistence.

Jerusalem’s Jewish Link: Historic, Religious, Political

Jerusalem, wrote historian Martin Gilbert, is not a ‘mere’ city. “It

holds the central spiritual and physical place in the history of the

Jews as a people.”

For more than 3,000 years, the Jewish people have looked to

Jerusalem as their spiritual, political, and historical capital, even

when they did not physically rule over the city. Throughout its

long history, Jerusalem has served, and still serves, as the political

capital of only one nation – the one belonging to the Jews. Its

prominence in Jewish history began in 1004 BCE, when King

David declared the city the capital of the first Jewish kingdom.

David’s successor and son, King Solomon, built the First Temple

there, according to the Bible, as a holy place to worship the

Almighty. Unfortunately, history would not be kind to the Jewish

people. Four hundred and ten years after King Solomon completed

construction of Jerusalem, the Babylonians (early ancestors to

today’s Iraqis) seized and destroyed the city, forcing the Jews

into exile.

Fifty years later, the Jews, or Israelites as they were called, were

permitted to return after Persia (present-day Iran) conquered

Babylon. The Jews’ first order of business was to reclaim Jerusalem

as their capital and rebuild the Holy Temple, recorded in history

as the Second Temple.

Jerusalem was more than the Jewish kingdom’s political capital

– it was a spiritual beacon. During the First and Second Temple

periods, Jews throughout the kingdom would travel to Jerusalem

three times yearly for the pilgrimages of the Jewish holy days of

Sukkoth, Passover, and Shavuot, until the Roman Empire destroyed

the Second Temple in 70 CE and ended Jewish sovereignty over

Jerusalem for nearly 2,000 years. Despite that fate, Jews never

relinquished their bond to Jerusalem or, for that matter, to Eretz

Yisrael, the Land of Israel.

No matter where Jews lived throughout the world for those two

millennia, their thoughts and prayers were directed toward

Jerusalem. Even today, whether in Israel, the United States or

elsewhere, Jewish ritual practice, holiday celebration and life-cycle

events include recognition of Jerusalem as a core element of the

Jewish experience. Consider that:

• Jews in prayer always turn toward Jerusalem.

• Arks (the sacred chests) that hold Torah scrolls in synagogues

throughout the world face Jerusalem.

• Jews end Passover Seders each year with the words: “Next year

in Jerusalem.” The same words are pronounced at the end of

Yom Kippur, the most solemn day of the Jewish year.

• A three-week moratorium on weddings in the summer recalls

the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem by the Babylonian

army in 586 BCE. That period culminates in a special day of

mourning – Tisha B’Av (the 9th day of the Hebrew month

Av) – commemorating the destruction of both the First and

Second Temples.

• Jewish wedding ceremonies – joyous occasions – are marked

by sorrow over the loss of Jerusalem. The groom recites a

biblical verse from the Babylonian Exile: “If I forget thee, O

Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning,” and breaks

a glass in commemoration of the destruction of the Temples.

Even body language, often said to tell volumes about a person,

reflects the importance of Jerusalem to Jews as a people and,

arguably, the lower priority the city holds for Muslims:

• When Jews pray they face Jerusalem; in Jerusalem Israelis

pray facing the Temple Mount.

• When Muslims pray, they face Mecca; in Jerusalem Muslims

pray with their backs to the city.

• Even at burial, a Muslim face, is turned toward Mecca.

Finally, consider the number of times “Jerusalem” is mentioned in

the two religions' holy books:

• The Old Testament mentions “Jerusalem” 349 times. “Zion,”

another name for “Jerusalem,” is mentioned 108 times.

• The Quran never mentions Jerusalem – not even once.

Even when others controlled Jerusalem, Jews maintained a physical

presence in the city, despite being persecuted and impoverished.

Before the advent of modern Zionism in the 1880's, Jews were

moved by a form of religious Zionism to live in the Holy Land,

settling particularly in four holy cities: Safed, Tiberius, Hebron,

and most importantly – Jerusalem. Consequently, Jews constituted

a majority of the city’s population for generations. In 1898, “In

this City of the Jews, where the Jewish population outnumbers

all others three to one … ” Jews constituted 75 percent of the

Old City population in what the former UN Secretary-General

called “East Jerusalem.” In 1914, when the Ottoman

Turks ruled the city, 47,000 Jews made up a majority of the 65,000

residents. And at the time of Israeli statehood in 1948, 110,000

Jews lived in the city, compared to only 61,000 Arabs. Prior to the liberation and unification, Jordanian-controlled “East Jerusalem” was a mere 6 square kilometers, compared to 38 square kilometers on the “Jewish side.”

The San Remo Treaty of 1920 designated The Mandate for Palestine for the Jewish people which included both sides of the Jordan river, all of Jerusalem and Gaza. The San Remo Treaty terms are in affect in perpetuity. Only a signed treaty executed by Israel and another State can modify the terms of the treaty, and not the U.N. or any other country or entity.