Jerusalem in Judaism
Encyclopedia
Since the 10th century BCE Jerusalem has been the holiest city
, focus and spiritual center of the Jewish people:
, the first man, was created from the same place where in future the Altar would stand in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. After he was ejected from the Garden of Eden
, he returned to this spot to offer a sacrifice to God. Cain and Abel
also brought their offerings on this Altar. It is believed that Adam lived in Jerusalem for all of his life. The Altar in Jerusalem remained as a permanent shrine where all people could worship God until it was destroyed by the Flood. After the Flood, Noah
rebuilt it. The Bible records that Noah blessed his son Shem
, which indicated that Jerusalem would be included in Shem's inheritance. Shem and his progeny lived in Jerusalem and set up an academy there where the word of God was taught. When the city became large enough to require government, Shem was crowned king and given the title "Malchi-Tzedek". Tzedek, meaning righteousness, a name used to refer to Jerusalem.
In ancient times the city was divided, with the “Lower City” to the east and the “Upper City” on a higher elevation to the west. The eastern section was referred to as Salem, while the upper section which included the place of the Altar was called the Land of Moriah
. 340 years after the Flood, Canaanite
tribes began to invade the Holy Land
and the Amorites occupied the western Upper City and subsequently destroyed the Altar. Shem and his people retained control of the Lower City and maintained the academy there. Some legends tell that Abraham
went to Jerusalem as a young child to study the tradition with Noah and Shem. God later instructed Abraham to leave Mesopotamia
and return to the Promised Land
. After he was victorious in a war he got caught up in, he was blessed by Shem. Shortly after, eastern Jerusalem – Salem – began to come under the domination of the Philistines
who were occupying the area. In order to make peace with them, Abraham went to negotiate with their king Abimelech
who assured him safety of Shem's academy. When Abraham’s son and heir Isaac
was born, Abimelech approached Abraham in order to make a covenant between them. The treaty stipulated that as long as a descendant of Abimelech dwelt in the land, no descendant of Abraham would wage war against them. This covenant was later to be the reason why the Israelites would not capture the eastern part of Jerusalem.
When Abraham was told to sacrifice his son
, God directed them to Moriah. When the spot where the Altar had stood became apparent to Abraham he rebuilt it and prepared to sacrifice Isaac on it. It was after he passed this last test, he took Shem’s place as the Priest of the Altar on Mount Moriah. Abraham named the place “Yirah” or Yiru (Jeru), meaning awe. When this was united with the name of the eastern part of the city, the city got its present name JeruSalem, implying “complete awe of God." Straight after this Abraham purchased the Cave of Machpela in Hebron from Ephron the Hittite who made a treaty with Abraham that his descendants would not take the city of Jerusalem away from the Hittites
by force. As a result the western part of the city was eventually purchased from Ephron’s descendants by the Israelites.
669 times, it is not mentioned in the Pentateuch. Instead when referring to Jerusalem, the term "the place that God will choose" is used. Maimonides
cites various reasons why this is so, the first being that if the nations of the world had learned that this place was destined to become the centre of the highest religious ideals they would have occupied it to prevent the Jews from ever controlling it.
New research from Tel Aviv University (Avraham Tal and Moshe Florentin) suggests that the Samaritans believed in the sanctity of Mount Gerizim, not Jerusalem, "the commandment to worship the God of Israel, as described in Deuteronomy, conveys no hint of Jerusalem; and whereas Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Torah, there is a reference to Mount Gerizim (Deuteronomy 27:12: "These shall stand upon Mount Gerizim to bless the people" )." This is the reason the Jerusalem is not mentioned Pentateuch.
In Judaism it is considered the Written Law, the basis for the Oral Law
(Mishnah
, Talmud
and Shulkhan Arukh) studied, practiced and treasured by Jews and Judaism
for three millennia (list of Jewish prayers and blessings). The Talmud elaborates in great depth the Jewish connection with the city.
For example, the book of Psalms
, which has been frequently recited and memorized by Jews for centuries, says:
. The Sanhedrin
, which governed the nation, was located in the Temple precincts. The Temple service was at the heart of the Rosh Hashanah
and Yom Kippur
proceedings. The Temple was central to the Three pilgrim festivals
, namely Passover
, Shavuot
and Sukkot
, when all Jews were incumbent to gather in Jerusalem. Every seven years all Jews were required to assemble at the Temple for the Hakhel
reading. The forty-nine day Counting of the Omer
recalls the Omer offering which was offered at the Temple every day between Passover and Shavuot. The eight-day festival of Hanukkah
celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple
after its desecration by Antiochus IV. A number of fast days including the Ninth of Av
, the Tenth of Tevet
and the Seventeenth of Tammuz
, all recall the destruction of the Temple.
Maimonides
records a list of bylaws which applied to Jerusalem during the Temple period: A corpse must not be left within the city overnight; human remains must not be brought inside the city; its houses are not to be rented out; residence for a ger toshav
was not granted; burial plots are not maintained, other than those of the House of David and Huldah which existed from ancient times; the planting of gardens and orchards is forbidden; sowing and plowing is forbidden due to the possibility of decaying produce; trees are not planted, except for rose gardens which existed in ancient times; garbage heaps are forbidden due to infestation; girders and balconies may not overhang the public domain; pressure ovens are forbidden due to the smoke; it is forbidden to raise chickens.
service and the Passover Seder
the words "Next Year in Jerusalem" are recited. When consoling a mourner, Jews recite "May God comfort you among all the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem."
prayer, which is recited three times on regular weekdays, must be said facing towards Jerusalem. The following supplication is contained in it:
In the Grace After Meals which is recited after partaking of a meal eaten with bread, the following is said:
After partaking of a light meal, the thanksgiving blessing states:
. This symbolically reminds him not to allow his own rejoicing to be "greater" than the ongoing need to recall Jerusalem's destruction. The well-known custom of the groom breaking a glass with the heel of his shoe after the wedding ceremony is also related to the subject of mourning for Jerusalem. It is a custom for some that the groom recites the sentence from Psalms, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget [her cunning]." (Psalms 137:5).
Another ancient custom is to leave a patch of interior wall opposite the door to one's home unpainted, as a remembrance of the destruction (zecher lechurban), of the Temples and city of Jerusalem.
According to Jewish law, as an expression of mourning for Jerusalem, it is forbidden to listen to any form of music, other than on holidays and at celebrations such as weddings and inaugurations of new Torah scrolls. This prohibition, however, while codified in the Shulchan Aruch
, is not followed by the vast majority of Orthodox and even Haredi Jews nowadays.
The Western Wall
(kotel hama'aravi), in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem, is one of the holiest sites in modern Judaism. This is because it is the closest point to the original site of the Holy of Holies which is currently inaccessible to Jews. Until 1967, it was generally considered to be the only surviving remnant of the Second Temple
from the era of the Roman conquests; there are said to be esoteric texts in Midrash
that mention God's promise to keep this one remnant of the outer temple wall standing as a memorial and reminder of the past. Hence also the name "Wailing Wall", used by non-Jews because many Jews would traditionally cry when they came before it.
However, the capture of Eastern Jerusalem in the Six-Day War
revealed that the retaining wall of the Temple Mount in fact survived in all places.
records that the rabbinical leader Yohanan ben Zakkai (c. 70 C.E.) urged a peaceful surrender, in order to save Jerusalem from destruction, but was not heeded as the city was under the control of the Zealots.
An early expression of the Jewish desire to "return to Zion" is the journey of Yehuda Halevi
, who died in about 1140. Jewish legend relates that as he came near Jerusalem, overpowered by the sight of the Holy City, he sang his most beautiful elegy, the celebrated "Zionide" Tzion ha-lo Tish'ali and that at that instant he was ridden down and killed by an Arab.
He was followed by Nahmanides
, the Ramban, who, in 1267 emigrated to the land of Israel, and came for a short stay to live in Jerusalem. He wrote that he found barely ten Jews, as it had been desolated by the Crusades
, nevertheless, together they built a synagogue
that is the oldest that still stands to this day, known as the Ramban Synagogue
.
Both Elijah ben Solomon (d. 1797) known as the Vilna Gaon, and Israel ben Eliezer (d. 1760) known as the Ba'al Shem Tov instructed and sent small successive waves of their disciples to settle in Jerusalem then under Turkish
Ottoman
rule. They created a Jewish religious infrastructure that remains the core of the Haredi Jewish community in Jerusalem to this day, currently led by the Edah HaChareidis. Some of the descendants of the Vilna Gaon's students established the extremely anti-Zionist Neturei Karta
movement.
and Sephardic Jews with central offices in Jerusalem. Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook
(d. 1935) moved to Jerusalem to set up this office, associated with the "Religious Zionist" Mafdal group, becoming the first modern Chief Rabbi together with Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yaakov Meir. The official structure housing the Chief Rabbinate was completed in 1958 and is known as Heichal Shlomo.
In contrast, the Haredi Jews of Jerusalem formed the anti-Zionist Edah HaChareidis, an umbrella organization for all Haredi Jews, who were not Zionists and fiercely opposed the activities of the (Religious) Zionist movement. The first Chief Rabbi of the Edah HaChareidis was Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld
. Several groups formerly aligned with the Edah gradually broke away from it; these include the Hasidic movements Belz
and Skver
. The Hasidic group Ger
was never part of the Edah. Aside from the more famous Ashkenazi Edah, there is also a lesser known Sephardi Edah HaChareidit.
Jerusalem is also home to a number of the world's largest yeshivot
(Talmudical and Rabbinical schools), and has become the undisputed capital of Jewish scholarly, religious and spiritual life for most of world Jewry. Examples of major yeshivos in Jerusalem are the Mir yeshiva
and the Brisk yeshiva.
Major Hasidic dynasties headquartered in Jerusalem include Toldos Aharon
, Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok
, Dushinsky
, Ger
, Belz
, Breslov
, Karlin-Stolin
, and Rachmastrivka
. Most of these groups have a membership ranging from circa one thousand to tens of thousands. There are also several smaller groups, not mentioned here. (See also: :Category:Hasidic dynasties headquartered in Jerusalem.)
, in Jerusalem. He wrote: As a religious Jew who is also a Zionist I believe Jerusalem is not simply important as the city of God, but as the capital of the State of Israel, a state which, as distinct from you, I value as a part of my religious life. As a committed Zionist, I believe the citizens of our country need unifying symbols around which to construct our shared collective life. Jerusalem, one of the few remaining unifying concepts in our deeply divided Jewish world, may serve as precisely such as symbol. The meaning of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is that it is a city which belongs to all citizens of the State of Israel. While you and I may observe Shabbat in similar ways, my fellow citizens of Israel observe it very differently. While you want to preserve the city, I want to preserve our people."
Four Holy Cities
The Four Holy Cities , is the collective term in Jewish tradition applied to the cities of Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias, and Safed: "Since the sixteenth century the holiness of Palestine, especially for burial, has been almost wholly transferred to four cities—Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias, and...
, focus and spiritual center of the Jewish people:
- "Israel was first forged into a unified nation from Jerusalem some three thousand years ago, when King David seized the crown and united the twelve tribes from this city... For a thousand years Jerusalem was the seat of Jewish sovereignty, the household site of kings, the location of its legislative councils and courts. In exile, the Jewish nation came to be identified with the city that had been the site of its ancient capital. Jews, wherever they were, prayed for its restoration." Roger Friedland, Richard D. Hecht. To Rule Jerusalem, University of California Press, 2000, p. 8. ISBN 0-520-22092-7
- "The Jewish bond to Jerusalem was never broken. For three milennia, Jerusalem has been the center of the Jewish faith, retaining its symbolic value throughout the generations." Jerusalem- the Holy City, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, February 23, 2003. Accessed March 24, 2007.
- "The centrality of Jerusalem to Judaism is so strong that even secular Jews express their devotion and attachment to the city and cannot conceive of a modern State of Israel without it... For Jews Jerusalem is sacred simply because it exists... Though Jerusalem's sacred character goes back three millennia...". Leslie J. Hoppe. The Holy City:Jerusalem in the theology of the Old Testament, Liturgical Press, 2000, p. 6. ISBN 0-8146-5081-3
- "Ever since King David made Jerusalem the capital of Israel 3,000 years ago, the city has played a central role in Jewish existence." Mitchell Geoffrey Bard, The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Middle East Conflict, Alpha Books, 2002, p. 330. ISBN 0-02-864410-7
- "For Jews the city has been the pre-eminent focus of their spiritual, cultural, and national life throughout three millennia." Yossi Feintuch, U.S. Policy on Jerusalem, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1987, p. 1. ISBN 0-313-25700-0
- "Jerusalem became the center of the Jewish people some 3,000 years ago" Moshe Maʻoz, Sari Nusseibeh, Jerusalem: Points of Friction - And Beyond, Brill Academic Publishers, 2000, p. 1. ISBN 90-411-8843-6
- "The Jewish people are inextricably bound to the city of Jerusalem. No other city has played such a dominant role in the history, politics, culture, religion, national life and consciousness of a people as has Jerusalem in the life of Jewry and Judaism. Since King David established the city as the capital of the Jewish state circa 1000 BCE, it has served as the symbol and most profound expression of the Jewish people's identity as a nation." Jerusalem has long been embedded into Jewish religious consciousness and Jews have always studied and personalized the struggle by King DavidDavidDavid was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
to capture Jerusalem and his desire to build the Jewish temple there, as described in the Book of Samuel and the Book of Psalms. Many of King David's yearnings about Jerusalem have been adapted into popular prayers and songs. Jews believe that in the future Jerusalem will become the center of worship and instruction for all mankind and consequently become the spiritual capital of the world.
Early traditions
The earliest tradition regarding Jerusalem states that AdamAdam in rabbinic literature
Allusions in rabbinic literature to the Biblical character of Adam, created according to the Book of Genesis by God in the Garden of Eden as the first man, expand and elaborate and draw inferences from what is presented in the text of the Bible itself....
, the first man, was created from the same place where in future the Altar would stand in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. After he was ejected from the Garden of Eden
Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden is in the Bible's Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived after they were created by God. Literally, the Bible speaks about a garden in Eden...
, he returned to this spot to offer a sacrifice to God. Cain and Abel
Cain and Abel
In the Hebrew Bible, Cain and Abel are two sons of Adam and Eve. The Qur'an mentions the story, calling them the two sons of Adam only....
also brought their offerings on this Altar. It is believed that Adam lived in Jerusalem for all of his life. The Altar in Jerusalem remained as a permanent shrine where all people could worship God until it was destroyed by the Flood. After the Flood, Noah
Noah
Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
rebuilt it. The Bible records that Noah blessed his son Shem
Shem
Shem was one of the sons of Noah in the Hebrew Bible as well as in Islamic literature. He is most popularly regarded as the eldest son, though some traditions regard him as the second son. Genesis 10:21 refers to relative ages of Shem and his brother Japheth, but with sufficient ambiguity in each...
, which indicated that Jerusalem would be included in Shem's inheritance. Shem and his progeny lived in Jerusalem and set up an academy there where the word of God was taught. When the city became large enough to require government, Shem was crowned king and given the title "Malchi-Tzedek". Tzedek, meaning righteousness, a name used to refer to Jerusalem.
In ancient times the city was divided, with the “Lower City” to the east and the “Upper City” on a higher elevation to the west. The eastern section was referred to as Salem, while the upper section which included the place of the Altar was called the Land of Moriah
Moriah
Moriah is the name given to a mountain range by the Book of Genesis, in which context it is giv. the location of the sacrifice of Isaac. Traditionally Moriah has been interpreted as the name of the specific mountain at which this occurred, rather than just the name of the range...
. 340 years after the Flood, Canaanite
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
tribes began to invade the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
and the Amorites occupied the western Upper City and subsequently destroyed the Altar. Shem and his people retained control of the Lower City and maintained the academy there. Some legends tell that Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
went to Jerusalem as a young child to study the tradition with Noah and Shem. God later instructed Abraham to leave Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
and return to the Promised Land
Promised land
The Promised Land is a term used to describe the land promised or given by God, according to the Hebrew Bible, to the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob. The promise is firstly made to Abraham and then renewed to his son Isaac, and to Isaac's son Jacob , Abraham's grandson...
. After he was victorious in a war he got caught up in, he was blessed by Shem. Shortly after, eastern Jerusalem – Salem – began to come under the domination of the Philistines
Philistines
Philistines , Pleshet or Peleset, were a people who occupied the southern coast of Canaan at the beginning of the Iron Age . According to the Bible, they ruled the five city-states of Gaza, Askelon, Ashdod, Ekron and Gath, from the Wadi Gaza in the south to the Yarqon River in the north, but with...
who were occupying the area. In order to make peace with them, Abraham went to negotiate with their king Abimelech
Abimelech
Abimelech was a common name of the Philistine kings.Abimelech was most prominently the name of a king of Gerar who is mentioned in two of the three wife-sister narratives in Genesis...
who assured him safety of Shem's academy. When Abraham’s son and heir Isaac
Isaac
Isaac as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the only son Abraham had with his wife Sarah, and was the father of Jacob and Esau. Isaac was one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites...
was born, Abimelech approached Abraham in order to make a covenant between them. The treaty stipulated that as long as a descendant of Abimelech dwelt in the land, no descendant of Abraham would wage war against them. This covenant was later to be the reason why the Israelites would not capture the eastern part of Jerusalem.
When Abraham was told to sacrifice his son
Binding of Isaac
The Binding of Isaac Akedah or Akeidat Yitzchak in Hebrew and Dhabih in Arabic, is a story from the Hebrew Bible in which God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Mount Moriah...
, God directed them to Moriah. When the spot where the Altar had stood became apparent to Abraham he rebuilt it and prepared to sacrifice Isaac on it. It was after he passed this last test, he took Shem’s place as the Priest of the Altar on Mount Moriah. Abraham named the place “Yirah” or Yiru (Jeru), meaning awe. When this was united with the name of the eastern part of the city, the city got its present name JeruSalem, implying “complete awe of God." Straight after this Abraham purchased the Cave of Machpela in Hebron from Ephron the Hittite who made a treaty with Abraham that his descendants would not take the city of Jerusalem away from the Hittites
Hittites
The Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia.They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height c...
by force. As a result the western part of the city was eventually purchased from Ephron’s descendants by the Israelites.
In the Hebrew Bible
Although Jerusalem appears in the Hebrew BibleTanakh
The Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...
669 times, it is not mentioned in the Pentateuch. Instead when referring to Jerusalem, the term "the place that God will choose" is used. Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
cites various reasons why this is so, the first being that if the nations of the world had learned that this place was destined to become the centre of the highest religious ideals they would have occupied it to prevent the Jews from ever controlling it.
New research from Tel Aviv University (Avraham Tal and Moshe Florentin) suggests that the Samaritans believed in the sanctity of Mount Gerizim, not Jerusalem, "the commandment to worship the God of Israel, as described in Deuteronomy, conveys no hint of Jerusalem; and whereas Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Torah, there is a reference to Mount Gerizim (Deuteronomy 27:12: "These shall stand upon Mount Gerizim to bless the people" )." This is the reason the Jerusalem is not mentioned Pentateuch.
In Judaism it is considered the Written Law, the basis for the Oral Law
Oral law
An oral law is a code of conduct in use in a given culture, religion or community application, by which a body of rules of human behaviour is transmitted by oral tradition and effectively respected, or the single rule that is orally transmitted....
(Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
, Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
and Shulkhan Arukh) studied, practiced and treasured by Jews and Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
for three millennia (list of Jewish prayers and blessings). The Talmud elaborates in great depth the Jewish connection with the city.
For example, the book of Psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
, which has been frequently recited and memorized by Jews for centuries, says:
- "By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion." (Psalms 137:1)
- "For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning . If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Raze it, raze it, even to the foundation thereof; O daughter of Babylon, that art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that repay eth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones." (Psalms 137:3-9) (King James Version, with italics for words not in the original Hebrew)
- "O God, the nations have entered into your inheritance, they have defiled the sanctuary of your holiness, they have turned Jerusalem into heaps of rubble...they have shed their blood like water round Jerusalem..." (Psalms 79:1-3);
- "...O Jerusalem, the built up Jerusalem is like a city that is united together...Pray for the peace of Jerusalem..." (Psalms 122:2-6);
- "Jerusalem is surrounded by mountains as God surrounds his people forever" (Psalms 125:3);
- "The builder of Jerusalem is God, the outcast of Israel he will gather in...Praise God O Jerusalem, laud your God O Zion." (Psalms 147:2-12)
In Rabbinic literature
Jewish religious writings contain thousands of references to Jerusalem, some of which are included in the following:
- If one is praying in the Land of Israel
Land of IsraelThe Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
, he should direct his heart towards Jerusalem; If he is standing in Jerusalem, he should face towards the Holy Temple — BrachotBerakhot (Talmud)Berachot is the first tractate of Seder Zeraim, a collection of the Mishnah that primarily deals with laws relating to plants and farming...
27a- Why are the fruits of Ginosar not found in Jerusalem? So that the pilgrims should not say "were it only incumbent on us to eat the fruits of Ginosar in Jerusalem, it would be enough" — Pesachim 8b
- In the future the Holy One will expand Jerusalem to the extent that a horse will flee and its owner will be able to recover it [while still being within the city’s limits] — Pesachim 50a
- Jerusalem was not divided among the tribes — Yoma
YomaYoma is the fifth tractate of Seder Moed of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. It is concerned mainly with the laws of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, on which Jews atone for their sins from the previous year...
12a- A snake or scorpion never injured anyone in Jerusalem — Yoma
YomaYoma is the fifth tractate of Seder Moed of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. It is concerned mainly with the laws of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, on which Jews atone for their sins from the previous year...
21a- Whoever did not see Jerusalem in her glory has never seen a beautiful city — Sukkah
SukkahA sukkah is a temporary hut constructed for use during the week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot. It is topped with branches and often well decorated with autumnal, harvest or Judaic themes...
51b- Ten measures of beauty descended to the world, Jerusalem took nine — Kidushin 49b
- Jerusalem is the light of the world — Bereshit Rabbah 59
- Jerusalem will not be rebuilt until the ingathering of the exiles has occurred — Tanchuma Noach
Noach (parsha)Noach or Noah is the second weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. It constitutes Genesis . Jews read it on the second Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in October or November....
11- The Land of Israel sits at the centre of the world and Jerusalem sits at the centre of the Land of Israel — Tanchuma Kedoshim 10
- Why did the omnipresent not create warm springs in Jerusalem, like those of Tiberias? So a person should not say “Let us ascend to Jerusalem in order to bathe” — Sifre
SifreSifre refers to either of two works of Midrash halakhah, or classical Jewish legal Biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Bamidbar and Devarim .- The Talmudic-Era Sifre :The title "Sifre debe Rab" is used by R. Hananeel on Sheb. 37b, Alfasi on Pes...
BehaalotechaBehaalotechaBehaalotecha, Beha’alotecha, Beha’alothekha, or Behaaloscha is the 36th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the third in the book of Numbers...
89- There is no beauty like that of Jerusalem — Avot of Rabbi Natan
Avot of Rabbi NatanAvot de-Rabbi Nathan , usually printed together with the minor tractates of the Talmud, is a Jewish aggadic work probably compiled in the geonic era . Although Avot de-Rabbi Nathan is the first and longest of the "minor tractates", it probably does not belong in that collection chronologically,...
28- Ten miracles occurred for our forefathers in Jerusalem — Avot of Rabbi Natan
Avot of Rabbi NatanAvot de-Rabbi Nathan , usually printed together with the minor tractates of the Talmud, is a Jewish aggadic work probably compiled in the geonic era . Although Avot de-Rabbi Nathan is the first and longest of the "minor tractates", it probably does not belong in that collection chronologically,...
35- ”From all your tribes” – This refers to Jerusalem because all Israel are partners in her — Avot of Rabbi Natan
Avot of Rabbi NatanAvot de-Rabbi Nathan , usually printed together with the minor tractates of the Talmud, is a Jewish aggadic work probably compiled in the geonic era . Although Avot de-Rabbi Nathan is the first and longest of the "minor tractates", it probably does not belong in that collection chronologically,...
35- In the future all the nations and kingdoms will be gathered unto Jerusalem — Avot of Rabbi Natan
Avot of Rabbi NatanAvot de-Rabbi Nathan , usually printed together with the minor tractates of the Talmud, is a Jewish aggadic work probably compiled in the geonic era . Although Avot de-Rabbi Nathan is the first and longest of the "minor tractates", it probably does not belong in that collection chronologically,...
35- All who pray in Jerusalem - it is as if he prayed before the throne of glory, because the gate of heaven is situated there — Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 35
- In the merit of Jerusalem I split the sea
Passage of the Red SeaThe Crossing of the Red Sea is a passage in the Biblical narrative of the escape of the Israelites from the pursuing Egyptians in the Book of Exodus . This story is also mentioned in the Qur'an in Surah 26: Al-Shu'ara' in verses 60-67...
for them — Yalkut ShimoniYalkut ShimoniThe Yalkut Shimoni or simply Yalkut is an aggadic compilation on the books of the Hebrew Bible. From such older haggadot as were accessible to him, the author collected various interpretations and explanations of Biblical passages, and arranged these according to the sequence of those portions of...
IsaiahIsaiahIsaiah ; Greek: ', Ēsaïās ; "Yahu is salvation") was a prophet in the 8th-century BC Kingdom of Judah.Jews and Christians consider the Book of Isaiah a part of their Biblical canon; he is the first listed of the neviim akharonim, the later prophets. Many of the New Testament teachings of Jesus...
473- In the future the suburbs of Jerusalem will be filled with precious stones and jewels and all of Israel will come and take them — Yalkut Shimoni
Yalkut ShimoniThe Yalkut Shimoni or simply Yalkut is an aggadic compilation on the books of the Hebrew Bible. From such older haggadot as were accessible to him, the author collected various interpretations and explanations of Biblical passages, and arranged these according to the sequence of those portions of...
IsaiahIsaiahIsaiah ; Greek: ', Ēsaïās ; "Yahu is salvation") was a prophet in the 8th-century BC Kingdom of Judah.Jews and Christians consider the Book of Isaiah a part of their Biblical canon; he is the first listed of the neviim akharonim, the later prophets. Many of the New Testament teachings of Jesus...
478- From the day Jerusalem was destroyed, God has no joy, until He rebuilds Jerusalem and returns Israel to it — Yalkut Shimoni
Yalkut ShimoniThe Yalkut Shimoni or simply Yalkut is an aggadic compilation on the books of the Hebrew Bible. From such older haggadot as were accessible to him, the author collected various interpretations and explanations of Biblical passages, and arranged these according to the sequence of those portions of...
LamentationsBook of LamentationsThe Book of Lamentations ) is a poetic book of the Hebrew Bible composed by the Jewish prophet Jeremiah. It mourns the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple in the 6th Century BCE....
1009
Temple in Jerusalem
In antiquity, the Jewish religion revolved around the Temple in JerusalemTemple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
. The Sanhedrin
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Biblical Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel made of 71 members...
, which governed the nation, was located in the Temple precincts. The Temple service was at the heart of the Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah , , is the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im which occur in the autumn...
and Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
proceedings. The Temple was central to the Three pilgrim festivals
Three pilgrim festivals
The Three Pilgrimage Festivals, known as the Shalosh Regalim , are three major festivals in Judaism — Pesach , Shavuot , and Sukkot — when the Israelites living in ancient Israel and Judea would make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, as commanded by the Torah...
, namely Passover
Passover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
, Shavuot
Shavuot
The festival of is a Jewish holiday that occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan ....
and Sukkot
Sukkot
Sukkot is a Biblical holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei . It is one of the three biblically mandated festivals Shalosh regalim on which Hebrews were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem.The holiday lasts seven days...
, when all Jews were incumbent to gather in Jerusalem. Every seven years all Jews were required to assemble at the Temple for the Hakhel
Hakhel
The term Hakhel refers to a custom based on the mandated practice in the Hebrew Bible of assembling all Jewish men, women and children to hear the reading of the Torah by the king of Israel once every seven years....
reading. The forty-nine day Counting of the Omer
Counting of the Omer
Counting of the Omer is a verbal counting of each of the forty-nine days between the Jewish holidays of Passover and Shavuot...
recalls the Omer offering which was offered at the Temple every day between Passover and Shavuot. The eight-day festival of Hanukkah
Hanukkah
Hanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE...
celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple
Second Temple
The Jewish Second Temple was an important shrine which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon...
after its desecration by Antiochus IV. A number of fast days including the Ninth of Av
Tisha B'Av
|Av]],") is an annual fast day in Judaism, named for the ninth day of the month of Av in the Hebrew calendar. The fast commemorates the destruction of both the First Temple and Second Temple in Jerusalem, which occurred about 655 years apart, but on the same Hebrew calendar date...
, the Tenth of Tevet
Tenth of Tevet
Tenth of Tevet , the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Tevet, is a minor fast day in Judaism. It is a "low fast" observed from sunrise to sunset. The day has no relationship to Hanukkah, but it happens to follow that festival by a week...
and the Seventeenth of Tammuz
Seventeenth of Tammuz
The Seventeenth of Tammuz is a minor Jewish fast day commemorating the breach of the walls of Jerusalem before the destruction of the Second Temple. It falls on the 17th day of the Hebrew month of Tammuz and marks the beginning of the three-week mourning period leading up to Tisha B'Av.The day...
, all recall the destruction of the Temple.
Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
records a list of bylaws which applied to Jerusalem during the Temple period: A corpse must not be left within the city overnight; human remains must not be brought inside the city; its houses are not to be rented out; residence for a ger toshav
Ger toshav
Ger toshav , is a term used in Judaism to refer to a gentile who is a "resident alien", that is, one who lives in a Jewish state and has certain protections under Jewish law, and is considered a righteous gentile .-Definition:...
was not granted; burial plots are not maintained, other than those of the House of David and Huldah which existed from ancient times; the planting of gardens and orchards is forbidden; sowing and plowing is forbidden due to the possibility of decaying produce; trees are not planted, except for rose gardens which existed in ancient times; garbage heaps are forbidden due to infestation; girders and balconies may not overhang the public domain; pressure ovens are forbidden due to the smoke; it is forbidden to raise chickens.
In commemoration
At the conclusion of the Yom KippurYom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
service and the Passover Seder
Passover Seder
The Passover Seder is a Jewish ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted on the evenings of the 14th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, and on the 15th by traditionally observant Jews living outside Israel. This corresponds to late March or April in...
the words "Next Year in Jerusalem" are recited. When consoling a mourner, Jews recite "May God comfort you among all the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem."
In prayer
In Judaism, the daily prayers contain numerous references to Jerusalem. The amidahAmidah
The Amidah , also called the Shmoneh Esreh , is the central prayer of the Jewish liturgy. This prayer, among others, is found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book...
prayer, which is recited three times on regular weekdays, must be said facing towards Jerusalem. The following supplication is contained in it:
"And to Jerusalem, Your city, may You return in compassion, and may You rest within it, as You have spoke. May You rebuild it soon in our days as an eternal structure, and may You speedily establish the throne of King David within it. Blessed are You, God, the builder of Jerusalem...May our eyes behold Your return to Zion in compassion. Blessed are you God, who restores His presence to Zion."
In the Grace After Meals which is recited after partaking of a meal eaten with bread, the following is said:
"Have mercy Lord, our God...on Jerusalem Your city, on Zion the resting place of Your glory, on the monarchy of King David Your anointed, and on the great and holy Temple upon which Your name is called...Rebuild Jerusalem, the holy city, soon in our days. Blessed are you God who rebuilds Jerusalem in His mercy, amen."
After partaking of a light meal, the thanksgiving blessing states:
"Have mercy, Lord, our God...on Jerusalem, Your city; and on Zion, the resting place of Your glory; upon Your altar, and upon Your Temple. Rebuild Jerusalem, the city of holiness, speedily in our days. Bring us up into it and gladden us in its rebuilding and let us eat from its fruit and be satisfied with its goodness and bless You upon it in holiness and purity.”
Customs in remembrance of Jerusalem
A tiny amount of ash is touched to the forehead of a Jewish groom before he goes to stand beneath the bridal canopyChuppah
A chuppah , also huppah, chupah, or chuppa, is a canopy under which a Jewish couple stand during their wedding ceremony. It consists of a cloth or sheet, sometimes a tallit, stretched or supported over four poles, or sometimes manually held up by attendants to the ceremony. A chuppah symbolizes the...
. This symbolically reminds him not to allow his own rejoicing to be "greater" than the ongoing need to recall Jerusalem's destruction. The well-known custom of the groom breaking a glass with the heel of his shoe after the wedding ceremony is also related to the subject of mourning for Jerusalem. It is a custom for some that the groom recites the sentence from Psalms, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget [her cunning]." (Psalms 137:5).
Another ancient custom is to leave a patch of interior wall opposite the door to one's home unpainted, as a remembrance of the destruction (zecher lechurban), of the Temples and city of Jerusalem.
According to Jewish law, as an expression of mourning for Jerusalem, it is forbidden to listen to any form of music, other than on holidays and at celebrations such as weddings and inaugurations of new Torah scrolls. This prohibition, however, while codified in the Shulchan Aruch
Shulchan Aruch
The Shulchan Aruch also known as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most authoritative legal code of Judaism. It was authored in Safed, Israel, by Yosef Karo in 1563 and published in Venice two years later...
, is not followed by the vast majority of Orthodox and even Haredi Jews nowadays.
Western Wall in Jerusalem
Western Wall
The Western Wall, Wailing Wall or Kotel is located in the Old City of Jerusalem at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount...
(kotel hama'aravi), in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem, is one of the holiest sites in modern Judaism. This is because it is the closest point to the original site of the Holy of Holies which is currently inaccessible to Jews. Until 1967, it was generally considered to be the only surviving remnant of the Second Temple
Second Temple
The Jewish Second Temple was an important shrine which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon...
from the era of the Roman conquests; there are said to be esoteric texts in Midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
that mention God's promise to keep this one remnant of the outer temple wall standing as a memorial and reminder of the past. Hence also the name "Wailing Wall", used by non-Jews because many Jews would traditionally cry when they came before it.
However, the capture of Eastern Jerusalem in the Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
revealed that the retaining wall of the Temple Mount in fact survived in all places.
Rabbis and Jerusalem
The TalmudTalmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
records that the rabbinical leader Yohanan ben Zakkai (c. 70 C.E.) urged a peaceful surrender, in order to save Jerusalem from destruction, but was not heeded as the city was under the control of the Zealots.
An early expression of the Jewish desire to "return to Zion" is the journey of Yehuda Halevi
Yehuda Halevi
Judah Halevi was a Spanish Jewish physician, poet and philosopher. He was born in Spain, either in Toledo or Tudela, in 1075 or 1086, and died shortly after arriving in Palestine in 1141...
, who died in about 1140. Jewish legend relates that as he came near Jerusalem, overpowered by the sight of the Holy City, he sang his most beautiful elegy, the celebrated "Zionide" Tzion ha-lo Tish'ali and that at that instant he was ridden down and killed by an Arab.
He was followed by Nahmanides
Nahmanides
Nahmanides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Naḥman Girondi, Bonastruc ça Porta and by his acronym Ramban, , was a leading medieval Jewish scholar, Catalan rabbi, philosopher, physician, kabbalist, and biblical commentator.-Name:"Nahmanides" is a Greek-influenced formation meaning "son of Naḥman"...
, the Ramban, who, in 1267 emigrated to the land of Israel, and came for a short stay to live in Jerusalem. He wrote that he found barely ten Jews, as it had been desolated by the Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
, nevertheless, together they built a synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
that is the oldest that still stands to this day, known as the Ramban Synagogue
Ramban Synagogue
The Ramban Synagogue , is the oldest active synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem. It was founded by Nahmanides in 1267. Today it is located at the corner of Ha-Yehudim Street and the square in the Jewish Quarter.-Features:The foundation of the building comprises vaults resting on Romanesque and...
.
Both Elijah ben Solomon (d. 1797) known as the Vilna Gaon, and Israel ben Eliezer (d. 1760) known as the Ba'al Shem Tov instructed and sent small successive waves of their disciples to settle in Jerusalem then under Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
rule. They created a Jewish religious infrastructure that remains the core of the Haredi Jewish community in Jerusalem to this day, currently led by the Edah HaChareidis. Some of the descendants of the Vilna Gaon's students established the extremely anti-Zionist Neturei Karta
Neturei Karta
Neturei Karta is a Haredi Jewish group formally created in Jerusalem, British Mandate of Palestine, in 1938, splitting off from Agudas Yisroel...
movement.
Creation of the State of Israel
The British Mandate of Palestine authorities created the new offices of "Chief Rabbi" in 1921 for both Ashkenazi JewsAshkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
and Sephardic Jews with central offices in Jerusalem. Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook
Abraham Isaac Kook
Abraham Isaac Kook was the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate for Palestine, the founder of the Religious Zionist Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav, Jewish thinker, Halachist, Kabbalist and a renowned Torah scholar...
(d. 1935) moved to Jerusalem to set up this office, associated with the "Religious Zionist" Mafdal group, becoming the first modern Chief Rabbi together with Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yaakov Meir. The official structure housing the Chief Rabbinate was completed in 1958 and is known as Heichal Shlomo.
In contrast, the Haredi Jews of Jerusalem formed the anti-Zionist Edah HaChareidis, an umbrella organization for all Haredi Jews, who were not Zionists and fiercely opposed the activities of the (Religious) Zionist movement. The first Chief Rabbi of the Edah HaChareidis was Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld
Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld
Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, also spelled Zonnenfeld, was the Chief Rabbi and co-founder of the Edah HaChareidis, Haredi Jewish community in Jerusalem, during the years of the British Mandate of Palestine. He was originally given the name "Chaim", however, the name "Yosef" was added to him while he...
. Several groups formerly aligned with the Edah gradually broke away from it; these include the Hasidic movements Belz
Belz (Hasidic dynasty)
Belz is a Hasidic dynasty named for the town of Belz in Western Ukraine, near the Polish border. The town has existed since at least the 10th century, with the Jewish community being established during the 14th century. The town became home to Hasidic Judaism in the early 19th century...
and Skver
Skver (Hasidic dynasty)
Skver is the name of a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rebbe Yitzchok Twerski in the city of Skver . Followers of the rebbes of Skver are called Skverer hasidim....
. The Hasidic group Ger
Ger (Hasidic dynasty)
Ger, or Gur is a Hasidic dynasty originating from Ger, the Yiddish name of Góra Kalwaria, a small town in Poland....
was never part of the Edah. Aside from the more famous Ashkenazi Edah, there is also a lesser known Sephardi Edah HaChareidit.
Jerusalem is also home to a number of the world's largest yeshivot
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
(Talmudical and Rabbinical schools), and has become the undisputed capital of Jewish scholarly, religious and spiritual life for most of world Jewry. Examples of major yeshivos in Jerusalem are the Mir yeshiva
Mir yeshiva (Jerusalem)
The Mir yeshiva , known as the Mirrer Yeshiva or The Mir, is an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel. With 6,000 students, it is the largest yeshiva in Israel. Many of the students are from the United States and Canada. It is also believed to be the largest yeshiva in the world...
and the Brisk yeshiva.
Major Hasidic dynasties headquartered in Jerusalem include Toldos Aharon
Shomer Emunim (Hasidic dynasty)
Shomer Emunim is a devout, insular Hasidic group based in Bnei Brak. It was founded in the 20th century by Rabbi Arele Roth....
, Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok
Shomer Emunim (Hasidic dynasty)
Shomer Emunim is a devout, insular Hasidic group based in Bnei Brak. It was founded in the 20th century by Rabbi Arele Roth....
, Dushinsky
Dushinsky (Hasidic dynasty)
Dushinsky is one of the few Hasidic dynasties not named after the place where it originated; instead, it is named after the surname of the Rebbe. It is a relatively new dynasty, as are many of the dynasties originating in Hungary. However, the Dushinsky dynasty truly became a dynasty in Jerusalem,...
, Ger
Ger (Hasidic dynasty)
Ger, or Gur is a Hasidic dynasty originating from Ger, the Yiddish name of Góra Kalwaria, a small town in Poland....
, Belz
Belz (Hasidic dynasty)
Belz is a Hasidic dynasty named for the town of Belz in Western Ukraine, near the Polish border. The town has existed since at least the 10th century, with the Jewish community being established during the 14th century. The town became home to Hasidic Judaism in the early 19th century...
, Breslov
Breslov (Hasidic dynasty)
Breslov is a branch of Hasidic Judaism founded by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov a great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, founder of Hasidism...
, Karlin-Stolin
Karlin (Hasidic Dynasty)
Karlin-Stolin is a Hasidic dynasty originating with Rebbe Aaron the Great of Karlin in present-day Belarus. Karlin was one of the first centres of Hasidim to be set up in Lithuania....
, and Rachmastrivka
Rachmastrivka (Hasidic dynasty)
Rachmastrivka is a Hasidic dynasty named after a town in Ukraine. It is an offshoot of the Chernobyl dynasty dating back to the 19th century.The founder of the dynasty, Rebbe Yochanan Twersky, was known for his humility. He was the son-in-law of Rabbi Pinchos of Kalk...
. Most of these groups have a membership ranging from circa one thousand to tens of thousands. There are also several smaller groups, not mentioned here. (See also: :Category:Hasidic dynasties headquartered in Jerusalem.)
Jerusalem in modern Israel
Jerusalem in the 21st century is perceived by Israeli Jews in different ways, depending on their religious beliefs. In the summer of 2009, riots by Haredi Jews broke out in Jerusalem over the opening of a parking lot near the Old City on Saturdays. However, secular groups counter-protested, claiming that Jerusalem should be a city for all people, religious and non-religious. The call for an "open" Jerusalem has received support from Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman an Orthodox Rabbi and President of the Shalom Hartman InstituteShalom Hartman Institute
Shalom Hartman Institute is a Jewish research and education institute based in Jerusalem, Israel, that offers pluralistic Jewish thought and education to scholars, rabbis, educators, and Jewish community leaders in Israel and North America...
, in Jerusalem. He wrote: As a religious Jew who is also a Zionist I believe Jerusalem is not simply important as the city of God, but as the capital of the State of Israel, a state which, as distinct from you, I value as a part of my religious life. As a committed Zionist, I believe the citizens of our country need unifying symbols around which to construct our shared collective life. Jerusalem, one of the few remaining unifying concepts in our deeply divided Jewish world, may serve as precisely such as symbol. The meaning of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is that it is a city which belongs to all citizens of the State of Israel. While you and I may observe Shabbat in similar ways, my fellow citizens of Israel observe it very differently. While you want to preserve the city, I want to preserve our people."