Rabbi's Message
BUS #9 TO MT. SCOPUS
Prior to the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, Bus #9 went to Mt. Scopus in Jerusalem. When Israel lost that part of the city, Bus #9 suspended operations; nevertheless, many people who had purchased bus line tickets in advance held on to them. The faith and hope of these ticket holders paid off when Jerusalem was reunified in 1967; and the continued validity of these bus tickets was reaffirmed by the government. It is now fifty-five years since the reunification of Jerusalem and Jews continue to nurture the hope and faith that someday all conflict will cease in the land of Israel and Jerusalem will truly be the City of Peace.
The right of Israel to exercise sovereignty over the entire city of Jerusalem remains contested. It is a debate which is exacerbated by the special attachments to the city of Jews, Christians, and Moslems. Is Israeli sovereignty over the city compatible with compliance with the needs of all three faith groups? The answer is an unqualified yes, provided we keep in mind some important facts. First of all, as the late Professor Shmaryahu Talmon points out, ever since the time that King David transformed Jerusalem into the cornerstone of Jewish national and religious unity, the city "had a mixed population, knit into one social network" which honored the right of each group to cultivate its unique character. Secondly, while Christianity and Islam have legitimate claims upon Jerusalem, these claims are of a wholly different nature from that of the Jews.
From the time of Abraham, Jerusalem has been the heart and soul, the indispensable foundation, of our faith. At the same time that Jews have sanctified the entire city of Jerusalem and made it the center of their religious and national life, the other faiths have only an attachment to particular localities and cities that are connected with specific events in their history. Christianity, in all its multitudinous manifestations, for example, has taken root in many different countries all over the world. Nowhere is there a desire on the part of homeless Christians to return to the land where their religion began. Nevertheless, pilgrimages to Christian holy places have always been a principal priority; and the protection and preservation of these shrines have dominated the concerns of many Christian political potentates throughout the ages.
As far as Islam is concerned, Jerusalem and the State of Israel are definitely not its homeland. Arabia possesses that distinction. Indeed, Moslems believe that Mecca is the center of the universe and venerate the Ka 'aba in Mecca as the highest point of the earth. Jerusalem contains only the third holiest shrine in the Islamic pantheon. From the time of the Arab conquest until the British mandate, furthermore, Palestine and Jerusalem were never designated as a separate area; they were included rather as part of a larger entity variously designated as Arab, Mamluk, or Turkish. It is only in the twentieth century that Arab Palestinians have affirmed a separate national identity with a right to Jerusalem as their capital. Honoring that claim is certainly not essential to the existence and creativity of Arab civilization as a whole, since the main centers of Arab continuity and survival are elsewhere.
Certainly, Christians and Moslems have a right to expect that an Israeli-controlled Jerusalem will afford free access to their respective holy places, and protect the safety and security of their people in that city. The unanimous verdict of virtually the entire world is that in the fifty-five years in which Jerusalem has enjoyed reunification, a standard for the protection of all holy places has been established of such magnitude that it exceeds all precedent. The reunification of Jerusalem has been good, not only for the Jews, but for Christians and Moslems also.
May we never relinquish the faith of those ticket holders for Bus #9. May Jerusalem remain forever one city under Jewish jurisdiction with a commitment to preserve the property and well-being of all its citizens, regardless of race, religion, color, and creed.
