Jerusalem or the abode of peace. A city of walls and cracks, peoples and passers by, culture and commerce, loving and losing. Above all, a city of worship, of religion — or so they say!
For more than half a century, Muslims and Jews have been jousting for Jerusalem. Both say it is among the holiest of their cities, and they have an assortment of archaeological and architectural evidence to support their claims. Neither denies the claims of the other; indeed, for Muslims it is partially so holy because of the same claims that the Jews make upon it. Yet, both want exclusive rights over it.
Lost on both sides is the supreme irony that their thoroughly temporal squabble is in direct defiance of spiritual legacy of the city they are struggling for — the significance of sacrifice.
Jews view Jerusalem, specifically the Old City, as the place where they were forged into a nation for the first time by King David in the 10th century BC. David’s son Solomon built the First Temple of the Jews here as the dwelling place of god. Destroyed by the Babylonians in the 6th century BC, a Second Temple was built — which stood until 70 AD, until the Romans pulled it down.
The site of the two temples, the Temple Mount, occupies a central place in Jewish religion and culture. That is why Jews around the world pray facing Jerusalem, and they hope to build a Third Temple there some day.
http://newageislam.com/reclaiming-jerusalems-lost-legacy-/interfaith-dialogue/d/2739
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6:27 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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