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Jerusalem
Some cities prove evocative enough to warrant a biography of their own, and Jerusalem is certainly one of them. Cities as ancient as layered as Jerusalem are more complex than any one person, for the entire gamut of human culture and history passes through their old walls. Like people, cities can also become profoundly insecure and even neurotic. In A Woman in Jerusalem, the titular woman "believed in Jerusalem more than Jerusalem believes in itself," (236). It is not only Yehoshua's novel that underscores the significance of Jerusalem as a universal city. Jerusalem, a highly contested city, socially, politically, and culturally belongs to the world. Disputes over the West Bank and broader political conflicts reflect and draw attention to the importance of the ancient city of Jerusalem.
In A Woman in Jerusalem, a powerful and subconscious longing for the city and its spiritual secrets is the theme of the work. Likewise, people from all over the world flock to Jerusalem either as temporary visitors or as expatriates....
Most expatriates are Jewish, touched deeply by the reverberations of connectivity with their ancestry upon visiting. Whether it is the wailing wall or the sprawling ancient cemetery on the hills near the City of David, Jerusalem offers unparalleled opportunities to touch a part of the human soul.
There are both personal and political dimensions to the city, both of which are explored in Yehoshua's book but also in the broader discourse related to Jerusalem. As Messud puts it, Jerusalem puts the person face-to-face with the "fundamental questions about identity, selfhood, belonging," (1). The individual addresses the deepest personal issues: ancestry, community, identity. During this contemplation, the individual wakes up to the broader reality of which he or she is a part. The self-reflection that Jerusalem engenders is in fact triggered by the knowledge that no one is an island, and that each person belongs to something far greater than a mere nuclear family. The reason why Jerusalem is a universal city that belongs to…
Works Cited
Messud, Claire. "Travels with Julia." The New York Times. 13 Aug, 2006. Retrieved online: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/books/review/Messud.t.html?pagewanted=print
Yehoshua, A.B. A Woman in Jerusalem. 2004.
Jerusalem is arguably Christianity's most important city, during the time of the New Testament all the way up to today. Though control of the city has changed hands many times, its main role has been as the capital of Israel and the site of the Jewish temple, and indeed, Jerusalem plays an important role in the Old Testament history of Israel's founding and growth (Armstrong, 2005, p. 194). However, it
Moses led them to east of the Jordan and died without reaching the Promised Land. He relinquished leadership to Joshua, who led the people across the Jordan to conquer the Promised Land. The rule of Israelites in the land of Israel began with the conquests of Joshua (ca. 1250 BCE). The period from 1000-587 BCE is referred to as the "Period of the Kings" (Israel Science and Technology Homepage, 2004).
Thus, the struggle within the city of Jerusalem and Israel itself has expounded itself to an international conflict between two dominating and conflicting political and religious systems. As the fight for Jerusalem continues, one is left in awe to imagine so much effort placed in the acquisition and protection of one single city. Jerusalem, and its surrounding lands, is an ancient source of three of the world's dominant religions. Judaism,
Dome of the Rock The Temple held immense significance for the Jewish people and the Temple Wall still standing today but known as the Wailing Wall still serves as a symbol of the suffering of the Jewish people throughout time. The First Temple, built by Solomon, had been destroyed by the Babylonians in the 6th century BC. The Second Temple was constructed fifty years later under Cyrus the Great. It stood
Empire to Empire: Jerusalem between Ottoman and British Rule Abigail Jacobson's From Empire to Empire: Jerusalem between Ottoman and British Rule (2011) looks at much more than what is typically seen in books on Palestine during the First World War. While the majority of those books focus strongly on the British and their military campaign, Jacobson's book delves deeply into the other aspects of the city and how it moved
While this isn't considered definitive proof, many scholars have come to accept that a Jewish leader named David ruled in what is now Jerusalem. Thousands of years of battle and torment occupied the land of Jerusalem after David's reign. The city was ruled at various times by Persians, Alexander the Great, the Romans, Muslims, the Turks, the British, and several other empires through history. Throughout these transitions of power, many