Jerusalem is one of the world’s most ancient cities; archaeology indicates it was inhabited as early as the 4th century BCE. In 1,000 BCE, King David conquered the city from the Jebusites and Jewish sovereignty in the holy city was established. Though Jerusalem has not always been under Jewish control, and the Jewish population there has waxed and waned throughout the centuries, its centrality to the Jewish religion has not changed.
Jerusalem is the most holy city in Judaism. Synagogues the world over are constructed so that the worshipers prayer toward Jerusalem; synagogues within the city are built facing the Western Wall and Temple Mount. Mentions of Jerusalem abound in the liturgy, often bitterly lamenting the fall of Jerusalem and beseeching G.d to allow the Jewish people to return.
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