Resolution Adopted by the
CCAR
The Jerusalem
Covenant Twenty-Five Years of United Jerusalem
Adopted by the 104th Annual Convention of
the
Central Conference of American Rabbis
Montreal, Quebec, June
1993
During the celebration of the
25th year of Jerusalem’s unification under Israeli rule.
the office of the Prime Minister of the
State of Israel promulgated a document called
“The Jerusalem Covenant.” Its English text is:
As of this day, Jerusalem Day, the
twenty eighth day of the month of Iyar in the year
five thousand seven hundred fifty two: one thousand
nine hundred and twenty-two years
after the destruction of the Second Temple; forty-five years
since the founding of the State of Israel; twenty-five years since the
Six Day War during which the Israel
Defense Forces, in defense of our very existence, restored the
Temple Mount and the
unity of
Jerusalem; twelve years since the Knesset of Israel reestablished
Jerusalem.
‘unified and whole is
the Capital of Israel:’ the State of Israel is the State of
the Jewish People and the Capital
of Israel is the Capital of the People of Israel.
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 vowed to “dwell in Jerusalem, the Holy city.
”
‘Once again ‘our feet stand within your gates of
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 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 and the world shall enter within the
gates of Jerusalem:
‘And it shall
come to pass in 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 nations shall stream towards it.
‘
"Each and every nation will live in it by its
own faith: “For all the nations will
go forward, each with its own Divine Name: We shall go in the
name of the Lord our
God for ever
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 any more.’ Our sages
have
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.”
Representatives of Jewish
communities and organizations worldwide, including the CCAR,
gathered last month in Jerusalem to
participate in a ceremony on Yom Yeushalayim
5753. marking the close of the 25th year
festivities. At that time, our representative.
Rabbi Moses Cyrus Weiler, confirmed our Conference
‘s adherence to the Jerusalem Covenant
by presenting a “Certificate of the Covenant” to the
President and the Government of
Israel.
As additional testimony of our ratification
of the Jerusalem Covenant, the Prime Minister’s
Conference for Jerusalem has asked us to establish
“guest books” to signify our congregants’
association with the Covenant, these books will
remain open until 1996, the year designated as the trimillennium of
Jerusalem (3000 years from the reign
of King David).
THEREFORE
BE IT RESOLVED, the CCAR urges all of its members to arrange for the
publication
of the “Jerusalem
Covenant” in each congregation and organization they serve, and
further, to create a “guest book”
that will record signatures of those adults and
children who signify their support of the Covenant,
and to forward these completed
books to the Prime Minister’s Conference for Jerusalem by May
1996 as testimony to
the broad love
of Jerusalem in our Movement, the close ties we have with the united
capital of Israel and its
inhabitants, and a demonstration of our solidarity with Jerusalem,
whose well-being and peace we
continue to seek.