Claiming Jerusalem''s Holiness Through David

Nadene Goldfoot                                                  

      Mount of Olives refers to the mountain extending East of Jerusalem, beyond the Kidron Valley.  It has 3 summits of which the 3rd is by Hebrew University called Mt. Scopus.  It was called "The Ascent of the Olives" in the time of David, who worshipped on its summit.  In 2nd Temple times, its summit served as the 1st post of the chain of beacons to Babylonia to communicate events in the religious calendar.  The Jewish necropolis of Jerusalem has been at the foot of the mountain since the time of the 1st Temple.  From 1948 to 1967 the southern part of the mount was in Jordanian hands, while the northern part was a demilitarized zone with the Hebrew University, and Hadassah hospital buildings under Israel sovereignty.  After the Six Day War the mount was incorporated into the united Jerusalem and the university campus and the hospital were rebuilt and reopened.  The Jewish cemetery----extensively desecrated by the Jordanians----was restored.  

Through the ages, Jerusalem has been the center of controversy.  It's been the center of ancient Israel, the Romans, the Greeks, and the Muslims.  What's the attraction?  Who is Jerusalem really holy to?

Jerusalem is roughly in the center of the Judean Mountains, making it cooler than the lowlands.  It's livable, similar to Tzfat.   The original city of David was slightly East of the watershed between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, on the eastern slope of a plateau.  Recently, the New City has spread across the watershed into a series of ridges and valley facing West.  

           Old City of Jerusalem

The area lived in by ancient Jerusalem and by the Old City today consists of 2 ridges circumscribed by 2 valleys;  the Kidron Valley on the East and the Hinnom Valley on the West;  a central valley called Tyroponon, or the Valley of the Cheese-Makers, in the time of the 2nd Temple- now partly filled  and formerly passed between the 2 ridges.                                   

   

Man came into the area was in the Paleolithic (Old Stone) Age, but the actual foundation of Jerusalem could have taken place in the Early Bronze Age of 3500 BCE-2000 BCE to the period when the Canaanites first came into the country and when Mesopotamia was settled.  By the Middle Bronze Age, it could have been the capital of a Canaanite city state, apparently is identical with the Salem-ruled by Melchi-zedek (priest of the most high god) who was honored by Abraham (Gen.14:18-19).  The Hyksos revolution in Egypt left behind in Jerusalem, elements of Hittite and Hurrite habitation.  IN the 15th century BCE, the city was ruled by a king who was menaced by Habiru -??Hebrew??invaders and appealed to his suzerain, the pharaoh, for help.  That pharaoh had a Cushite garrison in Jerusalem.                                

When Joshua's conquest of the land happened in about 1320 BCE, the king of Jerusalem was defeated, but his city remained an independent enclave between tribal areas of Benjamin and Judah.  In the 12th century, Jebus-Jerusalem maintained its independence with Philistine help, until its capture by David in 1010 BCE.  

David was king of Israel from 1000 to 960 CE had first made Hebron his capital, then in his 8th year as king,, captured the Jebusite (a Canaanite people who lived in the hill region around Jerusalem which they called Jebus.  Joshua defeated a Jebusite-led coalition.  The last Jebusite king was apparently Araunuh (II Sam.24:15).  The Jebusites remained in the city under David and became tributary under Solomon, his son.  In the course of time, they appear to have been assimilated, possibly showing up in our Y haplogroup DNA today. of the male Jewish people).   stronghold of Jerusalem, making that his capital.  He moved the Ark of the Covenant there.  

Jerusalem names popped up first as UfrJushamem in Egyptian texts of the 12th Dynasty which covers the 19th-18th centuries BCE,, so that's going way back.  In Akkadian it was called U[r]ushalem in the Tel el Amarna letters of the 15th century BCE.  It's said that it's from the very yarah-"cast the foundation stone" or "founded", and the name of the Semitic god, Shalem.  It is sometimes called Zion after David's fortress, and was also known as the City of David.  It's referred to as the "city of righteousness," the "faithful city", the "city of G-d", the "holy city," "city of truth", and "Ariel".  Jerusalem (Hierosolyma in Latin,  Ιερουσαλήμ in Greek, is from the Hebrew          יְרוּשָׁלַיִם   Yerushalayim.

David was lenient with the Jebusites.  He added the fortress of Zion and a "House of Heroes" for his guard.  He also constructed a tomb inside the city for himself and his dynasty.  The Ark was placed there.  David made Jerusalem the religious center of Israel.  Through his conquests, it became the capital of an EMPIRE reaching from the Red Sea to the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia where Ur lie, the city Abraham had lived in and had left.  

Solomon (970-930 BCE) enriched the city from his commercial ventures and heavy taxation .  He enlarged the city by adding the Palace and the Temple, while filling in the land or gap between them and David's City.  The Temple changed Jerusalem  into the permanent center of the Jewish religion.  Jerusalem remained the capital of Judah (southern part of Israel after Solomon's death)  and the Davidic Dynasty until its destruction in 586 BCE by Nebuchadnezzar of the Babylonians.  Most of the people were deported to Babylonia as slaves.  After 50 years, some of the exiles returned to Jerusalem and renewed the Temple worship in 519 BCE.

Then it became the capital of a Persian province under the rule of the high priest of the House of Zadok.  By the 5th century, its walls were repaired by Nehemiah, and Ezra brought on spiritual reform.  All the nobles and 1/10 of the people moved into the city.  A theocratic rule continued into hellenistic times when the city prospered materially.  Jerusalem was everyone's spiritual center, even to people who had moved far away.  Hellenization kept growing under Ptolemaic rule in 312-98 BCE and then under the Seleucids, and this led to an attempt to establish a parallel Greek city on the western ridge.  Antiochus IV intervened in favor of the Hellenizers and this led to the desecration of the Temple and a religious persecution which brought about the Hasmonean revolt and our Chanukah holiday of remembrance.

 It was 2 years of struggle, Judah the Maccabee occupied the Temple Hill and restored the Temple service in 164 BCE.  Jewish rule in Jerusalem was restored under Jonathan in 152 BCE.  The Hasmonean Period brought the capital, Jerusalem of the whole Land of Israel.  But, in 63 BCE, the Roman general, Pompey, had war between the Hasmoneans; with  Hyrcanus and Aristobulus then occupied Jerusalem.  They had a  troubled period when the city was then captured by the Parthians in 40 BCE and fell following a long siege to Herod in 37 BCE who ruled it as a Roman vassal until his death in 4 BCE.                        

 It was Herod who built a palace in the NW quarter and protected it with towers, one called "The tower of David", and rebuilt the Temple, building the Western or Wailing Wall where Jews of today are "allowed" to pray.  After Herod died, the city was ruled by Roman Procurators.  Pontius Pilate ruled and Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem in 29 CE.  The people revolted toward the terrible rule in 66, and so it was all burned down by the Romans in 70 CE.

The Romans founded a colony after burning down the city and the 2nd Temple in 70 CE that was founded by Hadrian on the ruins of Jewish Jerusalem and it was called Aelia Capitolina.  The name  stayed that into the Arab period after 632 CE but the common Arab name is El-Kuds (the Holy), and sometimes called Beit dl-Makdes (The House of Holiness" or Bet ha-Mikdash in Hebrew meaning "Temple." 

So far, we can clearly see that Jerusalem was a Jewish endeavor and played a main part of Judaism's history.  Founded by David, clearly becoming David's city, giving birth to the Temple as dictated by G-d to build and use by Solomon and maintaining its place in Jewish hearts and souls and in use as the capital of Israel today.  

David plays a major part of our religion.  The Bible depicts David's virtues and vices while others only speak of their leaders' virtues.  We even see how on occasion, he was ruled by his passions, like his conduct with Bathsheba.  Nevertheless or many that's why,  he became a religious symbol and the Jewish messianic hope was attached to his descendants.  Our Jewish tradition has magnified him to the point of saying "KING DAVID STILL LIVES, and has attributed to him the composition of the whole Book of Psalms, many of which were certainly ascribed to him from a very early date.

David,, youngest son of Jesse, born in Bethlehem,  who stood up to the giant, Goliath and won with his little slingshot, will always be remembered and our icon of bravery, having faith in yourself and G-d, to do the impossible.  He was a terrific king as well.  

Well, he certainly lives in our hearts, using him as an example for our sons and that the future man will be a descendant of his that will be the long awaited  messiah, for Jews, the messiah being one fantastic guy, a real human man. Bar Kokhbah was an example for the Jews;  that kind of man.  David is buried in "the city of David," a site East of the present old city of Jerusalem according to modern archeologists.  This comes from a medieval tradition.  Jews went to this site between 1948 and 1967 when the Western Wall was not available to Jews as that part of Israel was under Jordan rule.  1967's war that Jordan and others started gave Israel, the victor, back this part of Jerusalem.  

Christianity and Islam have derived from Judaism their admiration for David, too.                             

   Perhaps Buraq is a Mare. This is Mohammad's flying horse in Arabia.  It may be a version depicted in India. The Buraq (Arabic: الْبُرَاق /ælˈbʊrɑːk/ "the lightning") is a heavenly equine or chimeral beast in Islamic tradition that notably served as the mount of the Islamic prophet Muhammad during his Isra and Mi'raj journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and up through the heavens and back by night. The Buraq is also said to have transported certain prophets such as Abraham over long distances within a moment's duration.             

  Mohammad on his flying horse, Buraq, going to Solomon's Temple  According to Islamic tradition, the Night Journey took place ten years after Muhammad announced his prophethood, during the 7th century. Muhammad had been in Mecca, at his cousin's home (the house of Fakhitah bint Abi Talib), when he went to al-masjid al-harām "the inviolable/sacred temple" (Al-Haram Mosque). While he was resting at the Kaaba, Gabriel appeared to him bringing the Buraq, which carried Muhammad in the archangel's company, to al-masjid al-aqṣá "the farthest/distant temple"traditionally held to be in Jerusalem and identified with the Holy Temple (Bayt Al-Maqdis).

After reaching Jerusalem he alighted from the Buraq, prayed on the site of the Temple, and then mounted it again as the creature ascended to the seven heavens where he met Adam, Jesus and his cousin John the Baptist, Joseph, Enoch, Aaron, Moses and Abraham one by one until he reached the throne of God. God communicated with him giving him words and instructions, most importantly the commandment to Muslims to offer prayers, initially fifty times a day. At the urging of Moses, Muhammad returned to God several times before eventually reducing the number to five.  I see many elements of Judaism and Christianity have entered 

the legend of Buraq.  

          A Sioux Indian taking Coup; Counting coup refers to the winning of prestige in battle by the Plains Indians of North America. Warriors won prestige by acts of bravery in the face of the enemy, and these acts could be recorded in various ways and retold as stories. Any blow struck against the enemy counted as a coup, but the most prestigious acts included touching an enemy warrior with the hand, bow, or with a coup stick then escaping unharmed.  Mohammad, before his death in 632,  touched the Temple grounds, even prayed  and left unharmed, not in person as we know it, but in his dreams on a flying horse.  

Jews have a long long history of Jerusalem being a part of the lives, as they were to go there for all the major holidays.  Christianity gets their connection there through Jesus.  The Muslims have the legend of Mohammad going to Jerusalem on his flying horse and flying back to Arabia, sort of doing like our native Americans would call,, taking coup.  "In Plains warrior societies," Deihl explains, "Sioux warriors gained their status by being brave in battle, and one way this was done was known as 'counting coup. ' What these warriors tried to do was to get close enough to the enemy to touch them without getting injured or killed.)  Here we have Mohammad entering Jewish land and connecting on his flying horse  by landing on the Temple Mount where he prayed, then saddled up and left.   

                                                                            

   The Temple Mount, scene of Arab teens attacking Jews, fighting over this area.  April 2022 and the end of Ramadan, Muslim holiday lasting a month, was the scene of police and Palestinians at it again. 

The Temple Mount today.  Jews are confined to pray at the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) because of the deal that was made with the Jordanians by Moshe Dayan,  who rule over the 2 religious mosques also now on the Temple Mount.   A mosque is supposedly built over the 2nd Temple that was the restoration of the 1st Solomon's Temple.  The prophecy says that there will be a 3rd Temple for Jews.  There is a group in Israel, the Temple Mount group, with plans ready to go for a 3rd Temple, but of course the time is not ripe for it.  Stanley Goldfoot, my 3rd cousin who lived in Jerusalem, was a member of that group.  Jerusalem is the most holy city of all cities in the world, and how much holier can a city get except Jerusalem's holiness to the Jewish people.  From 1010 BCE to 2022 CE, 3,000 years of holiness.  As the song goes, Dah-veed, Melekh Yisrael, Khi, khi, Vick aye-ai--nu, repeat...king David of Israel lives.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4dvFDLRPro

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://templeinstitute.org/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwguGYBhDRARIsAHgRm4-SDbvVlt5ArjJaaznuep81l3Qn314RgXSfsScKh_h-P8ieN5Ds1mIaAmZ5EALw_wcB