And between and , the Ottoman Empire —whose official religion was Islam—ruled the city. Jerusalem features prominently in the Hebrew Bible. In the Jewish tradition, it is the place where Abraham, the first Patriarch of Judaism, nearly sacrificed his son Isaac to God thousands of years ago.
In biblical times, Jewish people who could not make a pilgrimage to the city were supposed to pray in the direction of it. According to the Quran, Jerusalem was also the last place the Prophet Muhammad visited before he ascended to the heavens and talked to God in the seventh century.
Before that, he was flown from Mecca to Jerusalem overnight by a mythical creature. Both this miraculous night journey and his communion with God are important events in Islam.
During the night journey, Muhammad was purified in preparation for his meeting with God. Once in heaven, God told Muhammad that he should recite the salat, or ritual prayer, 50 times each day. When Jews pray, they face Jerusalem. Those in Jerusalem face the Temple Mount. The Western Wall, in the heart of the Old City in Jerusalem, is the holiest place where Jews can pray and draws Jews from around the world.
Muslims originally prayed facing in the direction of Jerusalem, putting Islam among the Abrahamic traditions of Judaism and Christianity, before reorienting the direction of prayer toward Mecca, Safi said. The most pivotal developments in the Christian faith occurred in and around Jerusalem. Christian tradition holds that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is where Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead. The city includes the Garden of Gesthemane, where Jesus prayed and his disciples slept the night before his Crucifixion, among other sites of significance for believers.
Christian pilgrims have been visiting the site for centuries. For Jews, Jerusalem is not just a significant physical place in both past and present Jewish history, but is equally important as a religious concept that transcends time. According to tradition, the place where Abraham nearly sacrificed his son Isaac but was commanded by God not to do so, was the spot on which Jerusalem was later built.
After the Israelites had gone to Egypt to avoid a famine, been enslaved and then returned to Israel, it was Jerusalem that David chose as his capital c1, BCE. Thus it was a key part of the first kingdom of Israel.
Jerusalem also became the religious hub, for it was there that his son, Solomon built the Temple, the national centre of worship. The heads of all Israelite households were enjoined to make a pilgrimage there three times a year to gather together for the three major festivals. To this day, all synagogues face Jerusalem, so that our prayers are directed there in accordance with that tradition. It means there is horror at the thought of dividing Jerusalem as part of a political settlement, although some form of sharing would be acceptable.
Over the centuries Jerusalem has also taken on a redemptive significance, based on its root meaning — ir shalom - city of peace — with the hope that it becomes a place of harmony for all peoples and the capital of a world at one with itself. Step into any Roman Catholic church and the images on the walls take you straight to Jerusalem. These are the Stations of the Cross, a series of 14 pictures that depict the journey of Jesus Christ to his death, and are usually meditated on during Lent by people walking round the church, pausing for prayer before each picture.
Bethlehem was the birthplace of Jesus, Nazareth where he grew up, but Jerusalem is the city that really matters to Christians.
0コメント