The Heart of it All Jerusalem and Our Connection

Author: Michael L Weiss

It’s hard to put in words the emotional bonds the Jewish people have with Jerusalem, home to King David’s City, and the location of the sacred Temple. While our Christian friends who we have traveled with on this study tour are excited to see the city, and I recognize the importance of Jerusalem in their faith, it is not the same. Is it our pride as Jewish people, our years of struggle and tragic loss, the fact that we as a people still exist after all this time? Yes, maybe but that is only part of it and not the whole story. Over the last few days, as our group has been traveling and touring the religious sites for both of our faiths, I have been trying to put down on paper what I am feeling and describe what is this bond that we as Jews have with this Jerusalem and the Land of Israel. Then sitting alone early this morning overlooking the walls of the old city, slowly, like a fog that is starting to lift it starts clear in my mind. I recall what was written in the Tanach, by the Prophet Isaiah 

“The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.” 

Isaiah 49:15-16

We are drawn to this land with open hearts and a deep sense of responsibility, admiration, respect, and reverence. We are its caretaker, and the land is our caretaker. We are the children of Abraham, the benefactors of the Covenant with God and with that a responsibility from the beginning of time to the end of time.  We are the people of Abraham.

“And God said to him, Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojourning, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

Genesis 17:3-8

To see the sun come up over the old city is specular, it glistens off all the shapes found in a 5,000-year-old city. Shadows turn to life as you begin to see towers, walls, gates, glimmering domes, and people. Jerusalem is as magnificent as it is complex in every way. To the west is the new modern city born after 1948 to the east rolling hills leading to deserts and the Dead Sea. It is magical, especially in the still of the morning or late in the evening when the sun goes down and the temperatures begin to fall, and the city lights up. Jerusalem is complex, around every turn is another story to be uncovered, after all, it is one of the most prized and contested places that ever existed on this planet. From the earliest of times, people have fought over who controlled this land. Israel and in time Jerusalem as the focal point was known as the “land in-between”. In the early times, the world was like a three-bladed fan with Europe, Asia, and Africa representing the blades and what we know now as Israel (specifically Jerusalem) as the center. All trade, military campaigns, or travel came through this Land in Between. 

You could not find a more contested place connected to so many groups of people than here. Just look at the lineage and cultural implications that have occurred over time:

• Antiquity Period- Mesopotamia (Babylon) and then Egypt were the controlling civilizations that exerted control and it was here in this period that God revealed himself to Abraham and Covenant between the Jewish People and God began. 

“Go from your country and your kindred and father’s house to the land (Canaan) that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed”

Genesis 12:1-4

From that point on Israel was transformed and controlled time after time

For your reference and not complete a short timeline of Controlling Entities:

• The Twelve Tribes of Israel 1200-1050 BC
• Kingdom of Saul, David, and Solomon 1043- 931 BC
• The Assyrians
• The Babylonians
• The Seleucid Kingdom (Greece)
• Roman Empire
• Byzantine Empire
• Islamic Period
• Crusades
• Mongol Empire
• Ottoman Empire
• WWI
• British Mandate
• WWII
• 1948 Creation of Modern Israel

The Jewish people have persevered through more than 4000 years, in seven alien civilizations and countless hostile cultures. Since 70 AD and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman Army under Titus, most of the Jewish people were scattered into the four winds, known as the Diaspora and in 1948 we began the return and restoration to the promised land.

As I drink my coffee writing this blog, the sun begins to shine on the city and its beauty, along with its scars comes to life, its calling begins to be heard, and you could not find a more magical place and this is why it’s hard to put into words exactly what I feel and this is why we the Jewish People will never give her up and chant with pride never again.

A Poem by written by  Neil Zier

Jerusalem

City of David, City of Gold. 
How many nations have ruled you, have trampled your holy streets? 
How many swords have pierced your aching soul? 
Men have thought to control your future, to destroy your Golden Temple, 
to burn your fields of grain, to seal Your Eastern Gate. 

No longer would you be a City of the Jews, 
no longer would the Shofar be blown, 
Now the Jews should find a new land, 
this City was no longer their home. 

You were left without music – only with dark, 
No songs were heard singing – no candles gave light, 
You were left without joy, 
Only the crying of the mourners was heard. 

For two thousand years, you sat there, alone, 
Waiting, waiting – forgotten, forlorn, 
Weeping tears of despair, lamenting, 
“Where have all My children gone?” 

From the great Temple in Heaven, an awesome Voice was heard, 
“Oh Jerusalem, oh Jerusalem, no longer shall I wait; 
Now, stand back and see what I shall do! I am bringing your children Home, 
they shall again possess their land; 
Watch them build Your cities strong, 
Taste their sweet new wine, 
Listen to their voices shouting My Song, 
‘This is the City of God.’

Again, their music will fill your ears, their dancing will make you glad, 
My People shall remain there forever, Jerusalem, 
For I have restored their land.”