One city, three religions.

Western Wall: Jewish place of worship

               Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel, is sacred to the three monotheistic religions of the modern world. An important part of the history of Judaism is based on the quest of the Jewish community for finding the land that God had promised them. This land was Jerusalem. They found it and lost it very easily. After World War II, they were allowed to come back, and today, they finally live in their home.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre:
Christian place of worship

                However, the city is not only sacred to them. It is also sacred to the Christians. It was at Jerusalem, where Jesus Christ was born and executed. It was also there where the resurrection occurred. The Jewish community witnessed the arrival of the Messiah, the son of God sent to the world to suffer for our sins. Many Jewish became pupils of Christ, and they later spread his teachings throughout the Roman Empire. Jerusalem is also considered a holy city for Muslims because it is related to the prophets of Islam: Jesus, Abraham, Salomon, and David. It was also the place where Mohammed, author of the Quran died and ascended to the heavens. The city served as the direction of prayer for Muslims until it was changed to Mecca.

Al-Aqsa Mosque: Muslim place of worship

     

The people of Israel

If we were to talk about suffering, probably not a single example would be more representative of this feeling than the people of Israel. Throughout the course of history, no other population has suffered and showed their survival skills more than the Jewish community.  

According to the Exodus, second book of the Bible, the people of Israel suffered as slaves in Egypt until Moses freed them when, guided by God, spread nine plagues over all Egypt. Many long years had to pass for the children of Israel to get to the land that God had promised them. They crossed the dessert and fought for their land, Israel, where they later built monuments to adore God and thank Him for having taken them to their home.

David's star, a Jewish symbol

The Jewish lived in Israel until the Romans conquered the territory and built in it their pagan monuments with statues of their Gods. Jewish do not believe in images, and they considered the construction of the new monuments and statues an offense to their God. They fought with the Romans, but the Roman army was much stronger, and they were finally expelled from their own country. However, the bad times do not end here. During the Middle Ages, the Inquisition condemned and killed many Jewish because Christianity considered them sinners for having killed Jesus Christ. The only people that tolerated Jewish during the Middle Ages were the Muslims, and many Jewish moved to the Al-Andalus, the territories of the Iberian Peninsula that belonged to the Muslims. There, the Torah and the culture were preserved, and the Jewish were safe.

Israel

It is very well known that during World War II, many Jewish were sent to concentration camps. Few survived. After the end of the war, many efforts were done for the Jewish to come back to Israel. Today, the Jewish live in their land, the land God promised would be theirs some day.