 Kosher
ServiceA division of Adas Harabonim of Philadelphia, Trevose & West Chester, an Orthodox Rabbinic Organization dedicated to facilitating the availability of kosher productsand services worldwide |
Kosher
Service is:
Orthodox
Supervision
Helping
to provide
Every
consumer with
Rabbinic
guidance
Serving
the increasing &
Expanding
demand for
Reliable
Valuable
Informative
Coverage
of
Edible
foods, beverages, confectionery goods, pharmaceutical
&
preventive care products
and their packaging.
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Philadelphia, Trevose & West Chester, PA |
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Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, sits atop the Judean
mountains at an elevation of 800 metres (2,500 ft). It is a city holy to
Jews, Christians and Moslems, with many religious and archeological sites
spread throughout the city. The population today of over half a million is
about 75% Jewish, and about20%Moslem.
Jerusalem has a long and bloody history of almost 5,000
years. It was originally a Canaanite city, and then a Jebusite city, until
it was captured by the Israelite King David in 1,000 BC, where he made his
capital. His son, King Solomon, built the first temple on Mount Moriah. In
586 BC the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar captured the city, destroyed the
temple, and led its population into the exile, from which they were
allowed to return in 537 BC, under Cyrus the Great of Persia. On their
return the second temple was built. The city was under Persian control
until 333 BC, when Alexander the Great took control. After his death and
the fragmentation of his empire, the city passed to Ptolemy the first of
Egypt, until in 198 BC it was captured by Antiochus III, making it part of
the Syrian empire. The Maccabbees led a revolt against his rule in the
years 167-165 BC, and established the Hashemonian kingdom there, until in
63 BC the city was captured by the Romans under Ptolemy. The Romans
established Herod the Great as their puppet ruler, and he carried out
extensive reconstruction work on the Temple. In 29 or 30 AD, under the
Roman governor Pontius Pilate, Jesus was crucified. The first Jewish
revolt against Rome in 70 AD was crushed, and it was followed in 135 AD by
a second revolt, after which the Romans exiled the Jews.
In the 4th century the Roman empire became Christian, but
in 638 AD the city was captured by the Muslims. They built the Dome of the
Rock in the years 688-691, to commemorate the place where Mohammed is said
to have arisen to heaven. The Crusaders captured the city in 1099, but in
1187 Saladin recaptured it, and it remained under Muslim rule (Ayyubid and
Marmeluke dynasties) until the Ottamans took control in 1517. It remained
part of the Ottoman empire until 1917, when the British marched in
unopposed. In 1948, when Israel declared independence, Jerusalem was the
scene of bitter fighting between Jews and Muslims, and at the war's end
the city was divided between Jewish Jerusalem in the West, and Arab
Jerusalem in the east, under Jordanian rule. The old city was also in
Jordanian hands. The Jewish quarter of the old city was destroyed.
In the Six Day War in 1967 Israel took control of the rest
of Jerusalem, and the city was reunited.
In this view we can see the old city walls, running down
from the Jaffa gate. The walls of Jerusalem have been destroyed and
rebuilt many times. The current walls are, by Jerusalem's standards,
fairly 'new', they were built by Suliman the Magnificent in 1538. The
tower is commonly referred to as David's tower, though it has no
relationship with King David. A fortress was first built there in Herod's
times, about 2,000 years ago, and it has been damaged, destroyed, and
rebuilt by successive conquerors, though the base of Herod's tower, (which
was much higher than the current one) is clearly visible. Today, David's
Tower houses a museum of the history of Jerusalem.
The bridge running through the valley runs atop the dam
that was built to turn the upper part of the valley (the valley of Hinnom)
into a reservoir. It, too, was built by Suliman the Magnificent, on the
base of earlier work done by the Crusaders, in order to ensure Jerusalem a
regular water supply. Today a drainage hole has been cut through the dam,
and though it is still referred to as "The Sultan's Pool" it no longer
holds water. Today it is a site for open air concerts.
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