Ottoman Influence

An increase in population and income as well as the religious prestige of Jerusalem could be noted following rule under Suleiman the Magnificent and a cultural revival of the Ottoman empire (Armstrong, 323). Promoted administratively to a mutasarrif, the city now had an enlarged administrative unit consisting of the sanjaksof Nablus and Gaza. The Ottomans were likely a large part of this, as the Jewish community was able to grow under Suleiman despite the lacking of an official Jewish Quarter (Armstrong, 325). Even though Jews had an improved status, their hesitancy toward a new young Jew who claims to be the Messiah- is understandable. As the new King David, David Reuveni attracted attention and favor, for what he had seen and the stories he told. Although his messianic movement was short lived, it represented Jewish distress (Armstrong, 326). 

Under Islamic rule the Jews had enjoyed a “golden age” that likely kept them hopeful, similar to the excitement experienced through the Ottoman conquest in which they befriended the Jewish exiles. With as Reuveni focused on the western supporting wall of the Haram, (originally built by King Herod) the last trace of the lost Temple, Suleiman issues a firmanthat permits the Jews to have a place of prayer at the Western Wall. This act is extremely important, because it emphasizes the need for a central place of worship- a sacred space as Eliade references. With the enclave at the wall to be the center of Jewish religious life in Jerusalem, Suleiman was coined a friend and patron of Israel (despite his likely attempt to simply attract more Jews to Jerusalem) (Armstrong, 327). The sanctity of the wall is further described in the reading, as it became of symbol of the divine and a symbol of the Jewish people. Although the wall was a ruin, it was “an emblem of destruction and defeat” that evoked both absence and presence (Armstrong, 329).

I really enjoyed Armstrong’s comparison of the Western Wall to the Jews themselves, because they’re both survivors. While the desecration of the temple symbolized Israel’s tragedies, the wall served as a reminder and a place to mourn. The Western Wall was able to provide a sacred space as the Temple had, serving as a place to mourn and one that would come to represent the Jewish self and God. Almost conversely, the juxtaposition between such sanctity and the tension between Jews and Muslims in Ottoman Jerusalem, is profound. Feeling as though Jewish worship disturbed their personal space, Muslims were upset (as the Jews were able to keep their synagogue). The difficulty of the proximity between the two groups is characterized by accusations and feuds, leading one to contend that converging two communities simultaneously (with each insisting that they carried the truth) will undoubtedly lead to rather difficult quest

Gif: meant to humorously reflect the convergence of the two communities.

Source: https://giphy.com/gifs/debbyryan-debby-ryan-3oKIPzQqxaZRPkeJl6