Ancient capital of the Kingdom of Israel and capital of the modern State of Israel. Jerusalem holds great importance to all three major monotheistic faiths as the home of the the Dome of the Rock, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and the remnants of the Jewish Temple. Following the Israeli War of Independence in 1948, Jerusalem was divided between Israel and Jordan. It was later reunited after the Israeli victory in the 1967 Six Day War.
In the ancient world, temples were the centers of outward religious life, places at which public religious observances were normally conducted by the priestly professionals. In traditional Judaism, the only legitimate Temple was the one in Jerusalem, built first by King Solomon around 950 B.C.E., destroyed by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar around 587/6 B.C.E., and rebuilt about 70 years later. It was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. The site of the ancient Jewish Temple is now occupied, in part, by the “Dome of the Rock” Mosque. In recent times, “temple” has come to be used synonymously with synagogue in some Jewish usage.
The State of the Jewish people, founded in 1948. Also; a name given to the Jewish patriarch Jacob according to Genesis 32.38. In Jewish biblical times, this name refers to the northern tribes, but also to the entire nation. Historically, Jews have continued to regard themselves as the true continuation of the ancient Israelite national-religious community. In modern times, it also refers to the political state of Israel.
(Greek for “gathering”) The central institution of Jewish communal worship and study since antiquity (see also bet midrash), and by extension, a term used for the place of gathering. The structure of such buildings has changed, though in all cases the ark containing the Torah scrolls faces the ancient Temple site in Jerusalem.
