Original subtitles

today when you look at jerusalem from a

bird's eye view

you can see a mosaic of architecture for

over

4 000 years this city has experienced

many changes that significantly

impact jerusalem's appearance today

what has not changed however and where

it is worth starting

is the topography of jerusalem therefore

in our first episode devoted to

jerusalem's geography

we will discuss this city unique

location

and consider why this place is

theologically significant

at the end of the episode i will also

discuss

an exciting fact about jerusalem's

geography

and how a misunderstanding of geography

can lead to a tradition

that has little to do with reality at

the same time

do not forget to subscribe to this

channel to receive notifications about

the next

episodes on youtube

so let us begin our journey

[Music]

jerusalem is located in a part of the

world we call now

the middle east

the road to the heights on which the

ancient city was built

leads through the judean mountains

situated between the mediterranean sea

and the so-called dead sea

many hills surround the plateau on which

jerusalem was created

therefore the psalmist referring to

jerusalem

wrote as the mountains surround

jerusalem

so the lord surrounds his people for

this time forth

and forever a trip to jerusalem

is connected with a journey directed

vertically upwards

the difference in elevation is mostly

felt when traveling from the dead sea

the lowest point on earth 400 meters

below sea level

or jericho 258 meters below sea level

to jerusalem which is located on an

altitude

of about 770 meters above sea level

regardless of the direction from which

we come to jerusalem

it is always associated with a climber

so we should not be surprised that many

of the pilgrim

sounds the so-called aliyap sounds that

is the songs of the steps

or translating literally the one who

goes to the mountain

refer to this experience

i lift up my eyes to the mountains

from where shall my help come

even today when we travel to jerusalem

from tel aviv

some feel a specific change in pressure

felt in their ears a high-speed train

from tel aviv to jerusalem

has been opened which allows reaching

jerusalem

in 35 minutes through a series of

tunnels

cut in the mountains of course you can

also read jerusalem by car

as israel continues to expand and widen

the roads leading to jerusalem

if you really want to feel like a

pilgrim you can also read jerusalem by

food

one of the most interesting routes is

the route from

jericho to jerusalem and so in the

footsteps of

biblical heroes you can travel among the

spectacular gorges

but let us go back to the times before

jerusalem

and take a look at the hills location

on which jerusalem was built there are

three mountains and three valleys

that have a significant impact on the

development of jerusalem

the mountains are mount moriah

the western mountain sometimes called

mount zion

to which we will return later and

mount of olives

out of these three mountains mount moria

was chosen as the best location for

building the city

although the western mountain is much

larger

and less steep mount moria was chosen

because

it had one unique and necessary element

for the city to survive in this dry

climate

water water is priceless in the desert

the geckon life-giving stream which ran

from mount moria

was something very special with a

continually flowing source of water

and protection in the form of hills

mount moria was established

as the best place for the first human

settlements

over time the city expanded to the west

on the western mountain while the mount

of olives

was the eastern border of the city on

which no settlements were built

and its burial functions were quickly

determined

besides the mountains that we have

discussed

valleys also surround the city which are

dry

basins of rivers that may periodically

turn into waterways during heavy

rainfall

and so to the east we have the kidron

valley

in the middle is the terrapin valley

sometimes called the central valley

and in the west the hinnon valley

if we look at the biblical text the very

location of jerusalem

has not only a geographical significance

but also a theological one

multiple times we read in the bible

about the uniqueness of jerusalem in

god's sight

even before the people of israel reach

the promised land

we read that god himself designated

jerusalem

as his chosen place forever

when the hebrews were still in the

desert after leaving

egypt god says to his people

but you shall seek the lord at the place

which the lord

your god will choose from all your

tribes

to establish his name there for his

dwelling

and there you shall come

we can ask the question what is this

place in the book of

exodus we read

you shall make an altar of earth for me

and you shall sacrifice on it your

burned offerings

and your peace offerings your sheep and

your oxen

in every place where i cause my name to

be remembered

i will come to you and bless you

again we may ask where was such a place

created

as always the answer is in the text

in psalm 132 we read

for the lord has chosen zion he has

desired it for his home

this is my resting place forever and

ever where i will dwell for i have

desired

this home okay but somebody may ask

where is zion it is where david

established the capital of the kingdom

of israel

in the book of chronicles we read but i

have chosen jerusalem

that my name might be there and i have

chosen david to be over my people

israel and so

even before david conquered the jebusite

city and called the jerusalem it was

already chosen by god

as a special place of his dwelling

moreover we read that god will live

in this place live in this place forever

and importantly make his name present

there

how will god's name be present in

jerusalem

there are many interpretations of these

words

but the most exciting and intriguing one

is that god somehow physically wrote his

name

in jerusalem's geography structure

how well we talked about the three

valleys

that can be seen from a bird's eye view

when we look at all these three valleys

we can see a certain shape people who

know hebrew

may have associations with the hebrew

letters shin

when they look at the shape

while in israel such a letter can be

seen on the door

post of most jewish homes

the letter shin is on the so-called

mezuzah

which is a shelter for a perchment role

with two torah fragments deteronomy 6

and deuteronomy 11.

these passages refer to the most

important commandment

to love god with all your heart and

strength

additionally the israelites were to put

these words on the gates and doorposts

of their houses as it is written in the

commandment

and you shall write them on your house

gates

and door posts why are the mezuzahs

ornamented with the letters shin

because shin refers to the name of god

el shaddai god almighty

and on some mezuzahs there is an opening

through which the word shaddai can be

seen

on the parchment

therefore god's promise in some way

is already fulfilled because you can see

the name shaddai on most jewish homes

in jerusalem some however go even

further

and claim that such symbolism can

also be observed in the topography of

jerusalem

if in fact god's name is somehow

inscripted in the topography of

jerusalem

that would be an unusual remembering of

the words

but i choose jerusalem that my

name should be in it

in this context jerusalem itself

would become a symbolic door through

which one enters

god's presence to learn more about this

check out my video on jerusalem as a

gate to eden

i think you will like it finally

as promised a bonus related to the

topography of jerusalem

at the beginning of the video i said

that we will come back to the western

mountain topic

or as it is sometimes called mount zion

for centuries it was believed that the

western mountain

is this biblical zion this theological

center

and the mountain chosen by god this is

because of jerusalem very

troubling history after the period of

jewish uprising

in the first century and the 2nd century

a.d the romans decided to wipe out

jewish history from jerusalem completely

the city was demolished and rebuilt

the jews exiled and the name changed to

alia capitolina

with the jupiter temple at the place

where

previously the jewish temple stood now

fast forward in history

at a certain point it is the crusaders

who conquered jerusalem

and decide that the western mountain

is this biblical zion the crusaders

even managed to sell this theory

to other people because it was there

that some

jews began to make pilgrimages and see

this place as the burial place of

king david and because of that mistake

by the crusaders

for many centuries zion was associated

with the western mountain

when archaeologists discovered the real

city of david

which is below the temple hill this

completely

refuted the theory that the western

mountain

is zion today hardly anyone believes

that the western mountain

is the biblical mount zion but some

people

still call the western mountain zion

because of long traditions

for example the traditional burial place

of

david is still there although it doesn't

make much sense

if david city was on

mount morya and so next time somebody

will say to you let's go to the mountain

of zion

ask him which mountain of zion the real

one of

or the fake one thank you for your

attention

i hope you enjoyed this episode as

always i encourage you to comment

you can also subscribe to this channel

to stay

informed about the next monthly episodes

on jerusalem history

have a great day and see you soon

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