A religion is an organized system of beliefs and a body of sacred rules, or leading to a transcendent intangible experience. As with many cultural advancements and inventions, the ‘cradle of civilizations’ Mesopotamia has been shown as an example for the birthplace of heavenly religions. Three glorious religions in the Mesopotamia, Judaism, Islam and Christianity, are sometimes called ”Abrahamic Religions”. They are quite different from each other by statistics, histories and religious beliefs. However, they have a common indispensable domino: ”Jerusalem”. That is the most important site for all of these three religions to be possessed of. ”Whoever did not see Jerusalem in its days of glory, never saw a beautiful city in their life”. These words from Talmud definitely describe the importance of Jerusalem. Laconically, Jerusalem has social significances with respect to beliefs, cultures, and history as well as venerable privileges.
To begin with, Jerusalem has a significance ecclesiastically because that is a holy site for each of the world’s three primary Abrahamic faiths, that is to say, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The first, Judaism is the oldest monotheistic religion of the world, and its unshared geographic focus is Jerusalem. In truth, Jerusalem is so essential to the Jewish tradition that the city is given seventy names in the Mishnah ranging from ”Peace” to ”Faithful City” to ”City of Righteousness” to ”Doorway to the World’s Peoples”. Even, in the current area, many Jewish religious ceremonies are still concentrated around the Jerusalem. The Western Wall is the holiest site in Judaism, and frum Jews pray there diurnally. Around the world, Jews face toward Jerusalem while praying. The second, Jerusalem is a momentous part and parcel of Christian narratives. It is believed that, in the year 29 Common Era, Jesus went to Jerusalem for one of the traditional Jewish pilgrimages. He was crucified on a hillock called Golgotha just outside the city’s first century walls. Moreover, the Holy Sepulcher is located in Jerusalem, and is the site for the ”most important single temple in Christian culture”. Finally, Jerusalem is also remarkably significant in Islam. As mentioned above in Judaism, Muslims has faced toward Jerusalem too. It was the first kiblah of the Islam. Based on Koran, when Muhammed took his Night Journey to heaven in the year 620, it is told that he went through Jerusalem. Muhammed had to make a stopover in Jerusalem to go to the heaven. It is told that during this Night Journey, Muhammed stopped at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount, which remains a holy place in Islam today. We can say that in regard to these points, Jerusalem has been maintaining its religious importance for centuries.
Secondly, Jerusalem brings into cultural life prominence to the society. While it has historical and religious importance, been narrowing the gap when it comes to quality of its cultural intuitions. For instance, The Israel Museum continues to be a number one cultural attraction. It contains in itself large collection of Western and Israeli paintings. Moreover, it has exhaustive Middle Eastern archaeological collection, several significant Dead Sea Scrolls and other relics. Though there are cultural activities of Jews, there are many Islamic activities too. To illustrate, there is an Islamic Museum on the Temple Mount, all known as Al-Haram al-Sharif in Islam, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock located. It houses a world-class collection of antique clocks. Besides these museums, Jerusalem has been taking an important place for performing art, particularly since a wave of Jewish immigration from the Soviet countries in the early 1990s. It includes a large mass influx of dexterous musicians, actors and directors. As a result, Jerusalem is leading to more and more cultural greener pastures for the public.
Last but not least, Jerusalem has been under different government’s thumb since the city begun and this makes its important historical city. According to the proverbs, David, the king of the Israel, captured Jerusalem in 1000s. Also, he has made it the capital of the kingdom and belief center. After this earliest history, different kings, emperors have controlled Jerusalem over the course of many years. When it comes to 20th century, Israel came on to control Jerusalem at its sole discretion. Jerusalem was a torned country from 1948 to 1967 between Israel and Jordan. Israel went to war in 1967 against Egypt, Jordan and Syria and it called Six Days War, therefore; after the war, in 1980, Israel made Jerusalem public as ”eternal the capital city of the Israel”. This process of interaction has been telling itself since 20th century.
In conclusion, Jerusalem is a distant memory and a spearheading city for religious, cultural and historical sensibilities in the world. As far as I am concerned, although we are talking about its importance, in real, people are dying day by day aboriginally. I personally suggest that all Jews, Christians and Muslims should make use of their religions for the sake of peace and diplomats should embrace all of the nations of Jerusalem and use it to inspire with peace and peaceful coexistence, if and only if for the sake of the city and its security.