FROM THE THOUGHT OF RABBI SACKS
THE LOVE OF A PEOPLE FOR THEIR CITY
Yearning for Jerusalem has been cemented in Jewish practice and ritual through halakha and many customs. Three times a day we turn in the direction of Jerusalem and pray to God, because we believe that God has a stronger presence there, and because we have hope that someday we will return and re-establish the Temple as the focal point of Jewish worship. We always conclude the services on Yom Kippur and Seder night (the annual times when almost all Jews of all backgrounds come together, in synagogues and with family) with the words “Next year in Jerusalem.” In our happiest moments we remember Jerusalem (such as breaking the glass and singing Im Eshkaḥekh Yerushalayim at weddings), and in our saddest moments we remember Jerusalem too (visiting mourners at a shiva, we ask that God comfort them “among the mourners of Jerusalem”). We build remembrance of the destroyed Jerusalem into our very homes, always leaving one cubit undecorated, because how can we have a complete home when God’s home in this world has been destroyed? Through these examples and many others, we have maintained a love and yearning for Jerusalem for two thousand years.
JERUSALEM: THE CITY OF PARADOXES
While Jerusalem is a city of conflict, it is also a paradigm of peace, religious diversity, and tolerance. The city itself is a mix of ancient and modern, with the ancient worship found in the Old City and Me’a She’arim next to the high-tech hub of Har Ḥotzvim. Jerusalem has the most diverse population of any city in Israel, including religious and secular, Jewish and Arab. These dichotomies and paradoxes surely add to its complex beauty and are a reflection of humanity as a whole. These elements seem fitting for the city where God chose to make His earthly home.
WE NEVER FORGET JERUSALEM
Jews never lost hope. They never gave up believing that God would bring them back to their homeland one day. So generation after generation, they transmitted a love of Jerusalem to their children, and an active hope that they would be the generation to return.
JERUSALEM OF TODAY CRIES OUT: “AM YISRAEL HAI!”
Jerusalem tells the story of Jewish history. The kingdoms of David and Shlomo, with Jerusalem as their capital and seat of political, military, and religious power, tell of the origins of the Jewish people and their land. The destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE at the hands of the Roman army signifies the beginning of a two-thousand-year exile and dispersion. Jews lost their home, but never stopped longing for her. Modern-day Jerusalem testifies to the miracle of the return and the fulfilment of the ancient prophecies that spoke of the day when the sound of children playing in the streets of Jerusalem would be heard once again, as it is today.
ḤIDON ON THE ḤAG (A QUICK QUIZ)
Yehuda.
Mount Moria.
Akeidat Yitzḥak (the Binding of Isaac).
A lion.
Shlomo HaMelekh.
Suleiman the Magnificent (1538).
Mishkenot Shaananim.
December 5, 1949 (by David Ben-Gurion).
Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Armenian quarters.
Jaffa Gate, Lions’ Gate, Damascus Gate, New Gate, Zion Gate, Dung Gate, Herod’s Gate, and Golden Gate.