10,000 Signatures Presented to the Knesset in Support of Jerusalem

 

 

Knesset, Jerusalem, Israel – On June 4th, 2013 Israel365 and Christian Friends of Israeli Communities presented over 10,000 signatures on the Jerusalem Covenant, a pledge to keep the city united, to MK Gila Gamliel, Chairperson of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus. The signatures were gathered digitally over a period of three weeks from May 14 until the first week in June, 2013.

“There is no single issue that unites Jewish and Christian Zionists as much as their steadfast support for Jerusalem as the eternal, undivided capital of the Jewish people. Through the power of social media, we were able to gather so many digital signatures from supporters all over the world from Albania to Zimbabwe,” said Rabbi Tuly Weisz, founder and director of Israel365. MK Gamliel echoed these sentiments on her Facebook page, “While there are many doubts in the world, there is one thing that is clear. That Jerusalem is the undivided and eternal capital of Israel.”

Over the past three weeks, from the Hebrew date of Yom Yerushalyim to this week’s anniversary of the Six Day War, Israel365 has collected over 10,000 signatures from all over the world on the Jerusalem Covenant, a document that is displayed alongside Israel’s Declaration of Independence in the Chagall Hall of the Knesset. The Covenant was drafted by Deputy Chief Justice Rabbi Menachem Elon in 1992 as an acknowledgement of the miraculous return of the Jewish people to Jerusalem and was signed by all of Israel’s political, military and spiritual leadership on the 25th anniversary of Jerusalem’s reunification.

At the event, Rabbi Weisz handed Knesset member Gamliel a famous replica of a 500 year old Holy Land map of Jerusalem from the Judaica Webstore.  According to Arik Barel of Judaica Webstore, “this piece elegantly demonstrates the Jewish people’s historic claim to our capital city and its an honor that it will now adorn the walls of the Knesset.”

To gather so many signatures, Israel365 worked together with Christian Friends of Israeli Communities Heartland. “It has been an amazing privilege for us at CFOIC Heartland to partner with Israel365 on this important initiative to enable Christians from all over the world to show their support for Jerusalem,” said Sondra Oster Baras of CFOIC.  “For more than 15 years, we have been connecting Christian Zionists with Israel and especially with the heart of Biblical Israel – Judea and Samaria.  But the heart of it all is Jerusalem – the spiritual and geographical center of the Land of Israel and the People of Israel.  We will never forget Jerusalem.”


The Words of the Jerusalem Covenant:

We have gathered together in Zion, national leaders and heads of our communities everywhere, to enter into a covenant with Jerusalem, as was done by the leaders of our nation and all the people of Israel upon Israel's return to its Land from the Babylonian exile; and the people and their leaders will dwell in Jerusalem, the Holy City.

Once again, 'our feet stand within your gates, O Jerusalem - Jerusalem built as a city joined together' which 'unites the people of Israel to one another', and 'links heavenly Jerusalem with earthly Jerusalem.'

We have returned to the place that the Lord vowed to bestow upon the descendants of Abraham, Father of our Nation; to the City of David, King of Israel; where Solomon, son of David, built a Holy Temple; a Capital City which became the Mother of all Israel; a metropolis for justice and righteousness and for the wisdom and insights of the ancient world; where a Second Temple was erected in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. In this city the prophets of the Lord prophesied; in the City the Sages taught Torah; in this City the Sanhedrin convened in session in its stone chamber. 'For there were the seats of Justice, the Throne of the House of David', 'for out of Zion shall go forth Torah, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.'.

Today, as of old, we hold fast to the truth of the words of the Prophets of Israel, that all the inhabitants of the world shall enter within the gates of Jerusalem: 'And it shall come to pass at the end of days, the mountain of the House of the Lord will be well established at the peak of the mountains and will tower above the hills, and all the nation shall stream towards it.' Each and every nation will live in it by its own faith: 'For all the nation will go forward, each with its own Divine Name; we shall go in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.' And in this spirit the Knesset of the State of Israel has enacted a law: The places holy to the peoples of all religions shall be protected from any desecration and from any restriction of free access to them..

 

Jerusalem - peace and tranquility shall reign in the city: 'Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; may those who love you be tranquil. May there be peace within your walls, and tranquility within your palaces.' Out of Jerusalem, a message of peace went forth and shall yet go forth again to all the inhabitants of the earth: 'And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation will not lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war anymore.' Our sages, peace be upon them, said. In the future, The Holy One, the Blessed, will comfort Jerusalem only with peace..

 

From this place, we once again take this vow: "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand lose its strength; may my tongue cleave to my palate if I do not remember you, if I do not raise up Jerusalem at the very height of my rejoicing.'.

 

And with all these understandings, we enter into this Covenant and write: We shall bind you to us forever; we shall bind you to us with faithfulness, with righteousness and justice, with steadfast love and compassion. We love you, O Jerusalem, with eternal love, with unbounded love, under siege and when liberated from the yoke of oppressors. We have been martyred for you; we have yearned for you, we have clung to you. Our faithfulness to you we shall bequeath to our children after us. Forevermore our home shall be within you.

 

taken from israel365.com