Yerusalem dalam Agama Yahudi

Sejak abad ke-10 SM, Yerusalem telah menjadi kota tersuci, pusat fokus dan spiritual Yahudi. "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. 
 "The Jewish bond to Jerusalem was never broken. For three millennia, 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. 
 "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. 
 "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. 
 "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. 
 "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". , Anti-Defamation League, 2007. Accessed March 28, 2007.
Yerusalem telah lama merasuk dalam kesadaran relijius Yahudi dan Yahudi selalu mempelajari dan mempersonifikasi perjuangan Raja Daud untuk merebut Yerusalem dan keinginannya untuk mendirikan Bait Allah disana, seperti yang disebutkan dalam Kitab Samuel dan Kitab Mazmur. Beberapa kerinduan Raja Daudterhadap Yerusalem diadaptasi dalam doa-doa dan lagu-lagu populer. Yahudi meyakini bahwa kelak Bait Allah yang akan dibangun kembali di Yerusalem akan menjadi pusat ibadah dan pengajaran untuk seluruh umat manusia dan kemudian Yerusalem akan menjadi pusat spiritual dunia.

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Kategori:Tanah Israel