Prayer for Jerusalem

How many times does the name "Jerusalem" appear in the Tanach (Bible) ?

While sources differ as to the exact count, the correct answer is at least 600 times. If we include references to Jerusalem and Zion (which frequently means Jerusalem), and add the references to same found in the siddur, we can find well over a thousand references to Jerusalem in our most sacred literature. We can safely conclude that Jerusalem occupies a central, indispensable position in our thinking, as Jews. Indeed, anyone who denies that Jerusalem is inextricably woven into the fabric of the Jewish people, ignores both history and literature.

Most secular historians agree that King David established Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish people around the year 1000 BCE. Religious-minded historians maintain that Jerusalem was established as the holiest spot on earth in Abraham's time. Mount Moriah, the place of Abraham's binding of his son, Isaac, is accepted, by unbroken tradition, as the mountain upon which the Temple was built, 850 years later, by King Solomon. Religious history, therefore, claims Jerusalem as the center of the Jewish world for more than 3,800 years.

Those who treasured Jerusalem throughout the ages wrote about her.

Among my personal favorite statements is this one, from Psalm 137:

"If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither;
let my tongue stick to my palate, if I cease to think of you;
if I do not keep Jerusalem in mind even at my happiest hour" (JPS translation).

The Jewish people lived by this ideal maxim. Throughout their centuries in exile- right down to this very day, Jews made daily reference, over and over again, to the importance of Jerusalem in our minds and hearts. If, by opposing regimes, we were barred from living there, we had to satisfy ourselves with the hope that, when we returned to the land, we would regain Jerusalem and its holy sites. No Jew can claim to be loyal to the Jewish people and its ideals if he conveniently ignores this fact, and downplays the importance of Jerusalem.

Winston Churchill maintained that Jerusalem was, historically, a Jewish city.
“You ought to let the Jews have Jerusalem; it was they who made it famous.” — Winston Churchill to diplomat Evelyn Shuckburgh, 1955, Descent to Suez; Diaries 1951-1956 (London: 1986).

Today, some political leaders assert that the only way to peace in the Middle East is if the Jewish people divide Jerusalem, and allow Palestinian Arabs to claim it as the capital of their hoped-for state. Such advice is preposterous and dangerous. Even a cursory glance at history reveals, that, until 1993, following the signing of the Oslo Accords, no Arab ever lodged such a claim. Now, pundits advise, the Jews should "internationalize" the city, and divide it, so that Palestinian Arabs may stake their "rightful" claim to it.

That so much is wrong with that advice should be clear, just from the few words I have written here. Perhaps later, I will take the time to detail the errors. For now, I want to remind our community, that, for more than a year, during Shabbat and holiday services, we have been reciting a prayer which invokes the beloved and sacred status of Jerusalem, and expresses our hope that the Israeli government will ensure that, with God's help, Jerusalem will not be divided, and will remain the eternal capital of the Jewish people.