{"id":42923,"date":"2018-05-11T15:42:49","date_gmt":"2018-05-11T21:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=42923"},"modified":"2018-06-02T04:56:04","modified_gmt":"2018-06-02T10:56:04","slug":"say-little-do-much-jerusalem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/say-little-do-much-jerusalem\/","title":{"rendered":"Say Little, Do Much: Jerusalem"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/em>By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER<\/p>\n

The Rabbis (Sanhedrin 37A) describe Jerusalem as tiburo shel olam<\/em> — \u201cthe navel, the belly-button of the world!\u201d Let\u2019s contemplate this curious metaphor. The ancients not implausibly considered the Land of Israel (Jerusalem at its heart) as the center of the known world: the crossroads of Africa, Asia, and Europe.   \u201cJerusalem as Navel\u201d further bespeaks the Holy City\u2019s role as a link to our foremothers — and forefathers.<\/p>\n

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Neil Armstrong also sensed the power of Jerusalem as he walked its streets: \u201cI am more excited stepping on these stones than I was walking on the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abraham Lincoln\u2019s widow, Mary Todd Lincoln, reported that the assassinated president\u2019s final words were of his desire to visit the Holy City.<\/p>\n

This year, Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day), celebrating the 1967 liberation of Jerusalem, coincides, appropriately enough, with Mother\u2019s Day, May 13. May we celebrate tiburo shel olam<\/em> with all the love and devotion that term suggests.  <\/p>\n

(Rabbi Joseph H. Prouser is the rabbi of Temple Emanuel of North Jersey and the National Chaplain of the National Jewish Committee on Scouting.)<\/em><\/p>\n

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