For nearly two millennia following Jerusalem's destruction in antiquity the yearning for their sacred city was so intense that Jews everywhere would conclude their Passover with "Next year in Jerusalem."
In the darkest hours of the Russian pogroms Jews would pray for Jerusalem.
As they were led to the gas chambers in the Holocaust Jews would cry out for Jerusalem.
During the Six Day War when the first Jewish soldiers reached Jerusalem's Western Wall they bowed and wept in prayer. After so many centuries, they had at last returned to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem meant redemption. The end of exile. The return to their ancient homeland. Nationhood.
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