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 (Continued on Page 15)