The Jewish Revolt That Succeeded

163 Ahuza Street, Raanana, ISRAEL -- Telephone/Fax: (972)-9-7717080

The Jewish Revolt That Succeeded
(Jerusalem Day - Continued)

In the year 614 the Jews of Israel assembled an army under a leader known only by the code name "Nehemya." They immediately contacted the Persian army of Chosroes II who was involved in the last Byzantine-Persian War. The Jewish army and the Persians besieged and liberated Jerusalem from the Byzantines. In gratitude, the Persians handed the city over to the Jewish army. Yes, once again, Jerusalem became the capital of a Jewish nation.

During the Middle Ages the Vatican went out of its way to give the impression that the Jews had been banished from the Land of Israel and would not return until the second coming of their messiah. The fact that there was a Jewish nation with a Jewish Jerusalem as its capital from the year 614 until the year 629, proved somewhat of an embarrassment to the Church, so they simply did a tried and proven method: they rewrote the history books.

The story that Jews were not allowed to live in Jerusalem during the whole Byzantine period has NOT been confirmed by any non-Christian source. In fact, there is archeological evidence that there was a synagogue on Mount Zion during this period. Hebrew inscriptions near the gates to the north and south of the Haram area are from the late Byzantine period. The Jews of Jerusalem published numerous "piyyutim" (psalms) during the Byzantine period. Throughout the centuries, Jerusalem continued to serve as the heart of Judaism.

THE TEMPLE MOUNT
One cannot speak of Jerusalem without mentioning the Temple Mount, the holiest place to Judaism. The Christians built the Church of Mary on the Temple Mount. The Persians destroyed this church in 614, quite possibly with the help of the Jewish troops who took part in the liberation of Jerusalem from the Byzantines. After all, the Temple Mount meant little to the Persians. What reason would they have for destroying the church there unless it was as a favor to their Jewish allies?

The Arabs conquered Jerusalem in 638. In 691, the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik completed construction of the Dome of the Rock Mosque on the Temple Mount. This is the mosque with the large golden dome that you see in pictures of the Jerusalem skyline. Medieval Arabic scholars wrote that Abd al-Malik's purpose was to divert the pilgrimage from Mecca, where the counter-caliph Abdallah Ibn al-Zubayr ruled. In other words, the construction of the mosque on the Temple Mount was politically motivated and had little to do with religion.

Other Arab scholars expressed the opinion that the mosque was also designed as a counterpart to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher -- another political motive. And throughout all this, Jerusalem's Temple Mount remained the holiest place on this planet for Jews.

... Next Page ...