Jerusalem's History
JEWISH NATIONAL FUND
Cordially Invites You To Attend The
Testimonial Dinner
For the purpose of establishing the
Harry and Sarah Laker Family Forest
in the American Independence Park in Israel
Wednesday, Evening,
June 16, 1982
at Shaarey Zedek Synagogue
27375 Bell Road, Southfield
Cocktails, 6:00 p.m./Dinner, 7:00 p.m.
Contribution (including dinner)
per couple (minimum) S200.00
Dress Optional
Guest Speaker
Dr. Samuel I. Cohen
Executive Vice President
of Jewish National Fund
of America
Msociate Chairmen
Leonard N. Simons
Paul Zuckerman
Co-Chairmen
David B. Hermelin
David B. Holtzman
Myron L. Milgrom
Honorary Chairmen
Mrs. Morris Adler
Mr. & Mrs. Louis Berry
Mr. & Mrs. Morris Brandwine
Mr. & Mrs. Irwin I. Cohn
Dr. & Mrs. William Haber
Mr. & Mrs. David Handleman
Members of Steering Committee
Leonard P. Baruch
Joni Feldman
Dr. Leon Fill
Dr. & Mrs_ I. Jerome Hauser
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph H. Jackier
Mr. & Mrs. Charles Milan
Dr. & Mrs. Harold T. Shapiro
Mr. & Mrs. Max M. Shaye
Mr. & Mrs. Leonard N. Simons
Dr. Gerald L. Laker
Martin Laker
Steve Lord
Milton J. Miller
Louis Parr
Mark E. Schlussel
Cam M. Slomovitz
Mr. & Mrs. Phillip Slomovitz
Mr. & Mrs. Max Stollman
Mr. Phillip Stollman
Mr. & Mrs. David P. Zack
Mr. & Mrs. Paul Zuckerman
President, Jewish National
Fund of Greater Detroit
Ruben H. Isaacs
For Reservations and information Call:
JEWISH NATIONAL FUND
.“171'.1 Av( VIE iM Lf iSRAr.
27308 Southfield Road
Southfield, Michigan 48076
Phone (313) 557-6644
(Continued from Page 1)
urgy and ceremony up to the
present. "If I forget thee, 0
Jerusalem" still remains
the psalmist's most fervent
lyric.
Even a contemporary
secular Jew who mechani-
cally repeats "Next year in
Jerusalem" at the conclu-
sion of the annual Passover
feast, cannot escape the
proddings of historic mem-
ory. Jerusalem is Zion; the
words are interchangeable.
A grandiose adven-
turer like Napoleon,
dreaming of extending
his empire, invited the
Jews "to re-establish
Jerusalem as of old." For
friend or foe, whether in
celebration or abuse,
Jerusalem for centuries
has been the synonym for
Jewry. No bond of like in-
tensity attached any
other people or religion
to the city.
Jerusalem is holy to three
religions — but with a dif-
ference. Christians revere
the site of the Crucifixion,
the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, and other
sanctuaries; for them
Jerusalem is not so much a
holy city as a city of holy
places to which they come
for worship from all parts of
the world and which they
devoutly guard. It is not a
dwelling place fraught with
national meaning.
For Islam, Jerusalem
ranks third in the hierarchy
of sacred cities, after Mecca
and Medina. No huge Mus-
lim pilgrimages, such as
have made Mecca and
Medina famous, make their
way to Jerusalem. A pil-
grimage to Mecca and
Medina is a religious obli-
gation; a haj to Jerusalem is
a voluntary act of piety.
Jews too have holy cities
other than Jerusalem; for
instance, Hebron, the site of
the burial cave of the bibli-
cal patriarchs. But only
Jerusalem, the city itself,
the capital of David, not a
particular shrine or- site,
has remained the focus of
national and religious long-
ing in Jewish history. And
no other people, while ril-
ing Jerusalem, chose the
city for its capital.
Even under the most
adverse circumstances
Jews obstinately have
maintained a continuous,
if often minuscule,
presence in Jerusalem.
The city was never
judenrein.
During the 500 years of
Roman rule, when Jews
were prohibited from enter-
ing Jerusalem, they suc-
ceeded in penetrating the
city in disguise to pray at
the Temple Mount.
After the Arab conquest
in 638, small Jewish com-
munities existed in
Jerusalem. During the
Crusader massacres the
population dwindled; in the
12th Century, Benjamin of
Tudela, the medieval
traveler, reported that he
found only four Jews at the
Citadel. But in the succeed-
ing centuries, despite gov-
ernment edicts and the
attendant dangers, Jewish
pilgrims kept arriving and
settling, sometimes reach-
ing a total of several
thousand.
By 1700, a thousand Jews
lived in Jerusalem in acute
economic distress. These
unimpressive figures must,
of course, be considered in
the context of the entire
population of Jerusalem in
the given periods. Scholars
estimate that until the 19th
Century the total popula-
tion of Jerusalem varied
from 5,000 to 10,000. Rapid
growth began in the 19th
Century simultaneously,
with the rise in Jewish im
migration.
For the last 150 years
Jews have constituted
the majority of
Jerusalem's population.
Census data available
since 1844 indicates the
exact proportions. In an
article in the New York
Daily Tribune on April
15, 1854, Karl Marx saw
fit to comment on the
prepondenance of Jews:
"The sedentary popula-
tion of Jerusalem numbers
about 15,500 souls of whom
4,000 are Mussulmans and
8,000 are Jews. The Mus-
sulmans forming about a
fourth of the whole, and
consisting of Turks, Arabs
and Moors, are, of course,
the masters in every re-
spect."
Not that Jerusalem had
much to recommend it ex-
cept nostalgia. Customary
adjectives of travelers de-
scribing the Holy Land, be-
ginning with the classic
1785 account of the French
scholar Constantin Volney,
"Voyage en Syrie et en
Egypte," were "ruined" and
"desolate." Mark Twain's
shock at the ravages he de-
scribes in "Innocents
Abroad" (1869) is typical:
"Renowned Jerusalem
has lost all its ancient gran-
deur and become a pauper
village." After bluntly
characterizing "rage,
wretchedness, poverty and
dirt" as the unfailing signs
that "indicate the presence
of Moslem rule," Twain con-
cludes, "Jerusalem is
mournful, and dreary and
lifeless. I would not desire to
live here."
Theodor Herzl, after his
first disillusioning view of
the "reeking alleys" (Diary,
Oct. 31, 1898) proceeded to
dream:
"I would begin by
cleaning it up. I would
clear out everything that
is not sacred, set up
workers' houses beyond
the city, empty and tear
down the filthy rat-holes.
burn all non-sacre
ruins, and put the
bazaars elsewhere. Then,
retaining as much of the
old architectural style as
possible, I would build an
airy, comfortable,
properly-sewered, brand
new city around the holy
places."
Until
the
1960s,
Jerusalem consisted of the
area enclosed within the
Old City walls. The expan-
sion of Jerusalem beyond
the city walls began with
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