Exchanging Faith for Kindness

One of the sections that really stuck out for me in Jerusalem: One City Three Faiths, was the paragraph explaining that “the Temple had represented the heart of the world’s meaning, the core of the faith. Now life had neither value nor significance, and it seems that in these dark days many Jews lost their faith. It is not true, as has often been asserted, that the Jews had wholly outgrown their Temple. Even those Jews who had begun to evolve other ways of experiencing the divine believed that Jerusalem and its sanctuary were central to their religion. Jews would need all their creativity to survive this devastating loss” (Armstrong 155). The Temple was the house of God, a place where sacrifices could be made and prayers were heard. After its destruction, it’s easy to see how Jews were uncertain in how to continue practicing their faith. Without an active all powerful listener and supervisor, Jerusalem seemed to have lost all meaning as a holy site. On the contrary, Jerusalem was and is central to the evolved forms of Judaism as it has progressed past the Temple era. God is constantly present, if not in the Temple, then within the people themselves; this is supported by the fact that Jews were instructed to “experience God in their neighbor” (Armstrong 157). This is a very distinct and powerful connection; as humans are God’s creation, it is only fair to believe that he resides within each of us. This changed the perspective of society since charity and kindness is to be expected from each individual, unless they wish to be unkind to God himself. Harming another individual depicted disrespecting God and tarnishing his image, which was viewed as a deadly sin. Heaven and Hell now had another meaning, those that respected their divine figure by living moral and just lives were considered of a holy status. Those that chose to abandon their faith and live immoral lives were considered abominations and where sent to pay for their crimes in the afterlife. In the present tense, people either take responsibility for their acts against another human being for fear of being punished, or because it’s the moral thing to do; others have forgotten or blatantly dismiss the relationship between God and his creations and act out against both in an unforgivable manner. The destruction of the Temple gave Jews the opportunity to explore their faith and re-establish Jerusalem as the holy site it once was. The Romans left a disgraceful mark on Jerusalem’s history, but they also strengthened the citizens will to move forward and never accept failure as the final outcome.