tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30045123.post5752731963240329195..comments2023-11-14T05:07:08.755+02:00Comments on Oranges and Olives: O JerusalemNedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521738274561497141noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30045123.post-59468936676848485002009-01-20T00:35:00.000+02:002009-01-20T00:35:00.000+02:00Our ancestors composed this tearful lament over 25...Our ancestors composed this tearful lament over 2500 years ago. Exiled from their beloved land, they sat down and mourned by the rivers of Babylon. <BR/><BR/>The Jewish people never forgot Jerusalem. 3 times a day, we pray in the direction of Jerusalem and ask G-d that "our eyes may behold in mercy Your return to Zion". For 2000 years, 3 times a day without fail, we looked towards Jerusalem and prayed for its rebuilding. We observe 4 fasts anually over the destruction of Jerusalem, culminating in the fast of the 9th of Av, the most tragic day i nthe Jewish calendar, when both Temples were destroyed. At the end of every Yom Kippur fast and Passover seder, we declare: "Next Year in Jerusalem!"<BR/><BR/>Jerusalem is mentioned 700 times in the Hebrew Bible. It is never mentioned in the Qur'an. Muslims pray towards Mecca, with their backs to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was never the capital of any Muslim nation. The only times Jerusalem was a capital was when Jews ruled Israel: during the Davidic kingdom, the Hasmonean dynasty and in the modern state of Israel.<BR/><BR/>G-d has returned Jerusalem to us after 2000 years of longing, mourning, hoping and praying. Never will we be distanced from her again.Avihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06156322358503174356noreply@blogger.com