In the eyes of Jews, Jerusalem is not simply the capital of Israel, but the home of Jews scattered around the world. The lines of Psalm 137 ring familiar: \"If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget me.\" Every year, the Pesach Eve Seder ends with the call to remember Jerusalem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Jews turn towards Jerusalem while praying. It is a religious obligation to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, especially on the feasts of Sukkot, Pesach and Shavuot. The ninth day of Av is the day of mourning and fasting for the destruction of the Temple.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Jewish population of Jerusalem includes representatives of all Jewish groups and faiths living today. They differ from the world's Jews only in that they live in Jerusalem, Judaism's holiest city. Their return to the land of Zion is not only a return to the land of Israel, but also a return to Jerusalem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Jerusalem, religious Jews are extremely influential, but they are not a homogeneous group. Although at first glance they are hardly distinguishable from each other, wearing black coats, black hats and dark beards. The ultra-Orthodox Jews are also divided into different groups, most of which originated in 16th century Central Europe. For example, the ultra-Orthodox Nat\u00f3r\u00e9 Kart\u00e1 does not recognise the State of Israel. Other Orthodox groups, such as the so-called \"Modern Orthodox\", are actively involved in political life. Family law is the responsibility of the rabbinical courts and the Chief Rabbinate. Day-to-day affairs of religious life are handled by the Jerusalem Religious Council. Students in religious schools also receive a state education, while the ultra-Orthodox generally enrol their children in private schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other religious trends in Judaism - reform, progressive or conservative - are not accepted by religious authorities, despite the fact that their followers are growing year by year. Non-religious Jews were originally a majority in Jerusalem, but this proportion has changed as more children are born into religious Jewish families. At the same time, tolerance towards the secular Jewish population has increased somewhat. For example, many restaurants and public entertainment venues are now open on the Jewish Sabbath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, the Jewish quarter lies near the western wall at the foot of the Temple Mount. The wall was part of the terrace at the time of the Second Temple. After the destruction of the Temple, the Jewish people began to disperse around the world. On the ninth day of Av, the destruction of the Temple is commemorated, and that is why this wall is called the Wailing Wall, as mourners gather on this day every year. On Friday evening and on Saturday, many religious Jews recite the Shabbat prayers at the Wailing Wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wilson's Arch, on the left of the Wailing Wall, is part of the foundation of the monumental causeway leading from Temple Hill to the Valley of T\u00fcropoin. The other end of the Wailing Wall is bordered by the access road to the Moorish Gate of Temple Mount. Orthodox Jews are forbidden to go up the Temple Mount, lest they accidentally step on the site of the former Holy of Holies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1967, the rebuilding of the Jewish quarter began and excavations were possible. The so-called \"broad wall\" excavated in 1969 is identified with the rampart built by Hezekiah in 701 BC against the expected siege of the Assyrian armies led by Sennacherib.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This wall indicates that in the 8th century BC the city had already extended to the western hill opposite the Temple Mount, with an estimated population of 25,000 people.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Slightly to the north, the remains of a new tower, probably built on the foundations of an earlier tower destroyed by the Hasmoneans in the 2nd century BC, were discovered. The remains of the so-called Burnt House and the artefacts recovered from the House give a sense of the extent of the destruction that took place in 70 AD when the Romans destroyed the Temple. One of the scales bears the name of Catheros, and the house may have been the home of the priestly family mentioned by Jospheus. The finds from the so-called Herodian villas, which are on display at the Wohl Archaeological Museum, offer a glimpse into the lives of the wealthy in the 1st century AD. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The walls of the villas were covered with colourful frescoes, their floors decorated with magnificent mosaics, table tops carved from remains and other luxurious objects. In the basements of the villas, splendid bathing facilities and the remains of mikvehs used for ritual ablutions have been found. It is thought that one of the villas with particularly rich furnishings and spacious bathing facilities may have been the house of the high priest of the Temple. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Byzantine Cardo Maximus, excavated after the 1967 war, is now part shopping street and part open-air museum. The imposing architecture of the street is marked by a row of arcades supported on huge pillars flanking the eastern side of the 12m wide paved road. In the Byzantine era, at the end of the Cardo Maximus, rose the Temple of Nea, the largest basilica of the period, built by the Emperor Justinian and consecrated in 543. The remains of the 12th century German church of St. Mary can be seen in a ruin garden. Also excavated are the ruins of the Ramban and Hurva synagogues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Ramban synagogue, named after the famous Jewish scholar Moshe Nahman, was built in the 13th century, when Jerusalem's Jewish population was around 2,000. Rebuilt several times, the synagogue was used by both Jewish residents and pilgrims. The Hurva Synagogue was built in 1865 on the site of the former synagogue. This synagogue was demolished in 1948 and its ruins were left as a memorial after the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967. Also located here are the four synagogues, originally built in the 17th century, which were renovated in 1967 and are still home to the Sephardic Jewish community. The synagogues were partly built below street level to be less visible in the then Muslim town. The reconstruction of a house and synagogue garden on display in the Old Yishuv Museum gives an idea of what life was like for the Jewish population of Jerusalem in the last century.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jerusalem is the spiritual and historical centre of world Jewry. The city is not only the capital of Israel, but also the holiest site of religious tradition, pilgrimage and Judaism. Discover the significance, history and cultural diversity of Jerusalem.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tortenelem","tag-jeruzsalem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kozelkeletblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kozelkeletblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kozelkeletblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kozelkeletblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kozelkeletblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kozelkeletblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":181,"href":"https:\/\/kozelkeletblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179\/revisions\/181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kozelkeletblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kozelkeletblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kozelkeletblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kozelkeletblog.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}