A Brief Guide for the Perplexed 3
centrality to Jewish history and national identity .
Exhibit B is any Jewish prayer book in use over the span of centuries anywhere in the world . The references in the liturgy to Zion ( a name synonymous with Jerusalem ) and the land of Israel , are seemingly endless .
The same strong link is true of the connection between the Jewish people and Jerusalem .
It dates back to the period of King David , who lived approximately three thousand years ago , and who established Jerusalem as the capital of Israel . Ever since , Jerusalem has represented not only the geographical center of the Jewish people , but also the spiritual and metaphysical heart of their faith and identity . No matter where Jews pray , they always face in the direction of Jerusalem . Indeed , the relationship between Jerusalem and the Jewish people is entirely unique in the annals of history .
Jerusalem was the site of the two Temples — the first built by King Solomon during the 10th century B . C . E . and destroyed in 586 B . C . E . during the Babylonian conquest , and the second built less than a century later , refurbished by King Herod , and destroyed in 70 C . E . by Roman forces .
As the psalmist wrote , “ If I forget thee , O Jerusalem , let my right hand wither ; let my tongue stick to my palate if I cease to think of thee , if I do not keep Jerusalem in memory even at my happiest hour .”
One commentary on Hebrew Scripture reads : “ You also find that there is a Jerusalem above , corresponding to the Jerusalem below . For sheer love of the earthly Jerusalem , God made Himself one above .”
And for over three thousand years , Jews at the Passover Seder have repeated the words : “ Next year in Jerusalem .”