As we approach the saddest time of the year, Shivah Asar B’Tammuz, the Three Weeks, and Tishah B’Av, we visit Yerushalayim’s Old City,City of David,As we approach the saddest time of the year, Shivah Asar B’Tammuz, the Three Weeks, and Tishah B’Av, we visit Yerushalayim’s Old City
Yerushalayim is hinted at in the Torah as the city ruled by Malki-Tzedek friend of Avraham Avinu. About 2800 years ago it was conquered by Dovid Hamelech from the Yevusi and turned into the capital of our people. It had the two most beautiful buildings in the world the First Beis Hamikdash and Second Beis Hamikdash. But because we didn’t learn Torah to connect to Hashem and because we couldn’t get along with one another they were taken from us.
The Romans conquered Yerushalayim almost 2000 years ago. Since then the city has gone through many rulers including Arabs Christians from Europe and the Ottoman Empire (which is now called Turkey) that took over in the 1500s. The Ottoman King Suleiman built the walls around the Old City that we see today. Until about 300 years ago there were few Jews living in Yerushalayim. When the Ramban came there in 1267 he only found two other Jews in the city.
In 1700 a big tzaddik named Rav Yehudah Hachassid brought about 500 Jews with him to live in Yerushalayim. They borrowed a lot of money from local Arabs to build themselves a beautiful shul for Ashkenazim because there were only Sephardic shuls in Yerushalayim at that time. But they couldn’t pay back the money they borrowed and the Arabs destroyed the shul. It became known as the Churva (destroyed) Shul. The Arabs were so angry at the Ashkenazim that they threw every Ashkenazi out of the city.
About 100 years later a group of talmidim of the Vilna Gaon came to live in Yerushalayim. They and some of the chassidim who also came to Yerushalayim were called perushim — holy Jews who separated themselves from the ways of the world to dedicate their lives to Torah tefillah and chesed.
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