Key points
What to understand first
- The Amidah asks for the gathering of exiles and the restoration of Jerusalem.
- Liturgical yearning is evidence of collective memory, not a modern legal title.
- Jews migrated to Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed and Tiberias before modern political Zionism.
- Herzl gave political organisation to older attachment and newer settlement.
Jerusalem in daily prayer
The traditional Amidah contains separate petitions concerning the gathering of exiles, return to Jerusalem and restoration. These are devotional texts: they show what generations of Jews prayed for, not a modern boundary or a licence to deny another people’s rights. 22
The Amidah
“Return in mercy to Jerusalem Your city, and dwell in it as You have promised.” Translation varies by prayer book.
A phrase with a documented history
“Next year in Jerusalem” concludes the Passover Seder and appears in Yom Kippur tradition. Jewish longing for Jerusalem is ancient; historically responsible wording distinguishes that older attachment from the specific phrase’s medieval documentary record. 23
The four holy cities
Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed and Tiberias became enduring centres of the Old Yishuv. Communities changed over time, but their presence connected prayer and study to lived Jewish life in the land. 3
From prayer to political organisation
Pilgrims and migrants returned in different periods. Medieval figures such as Judah Halevi and Nachmanides linked Jewish religious life to the land; later Hasidic groups and students of the Vilna Gaon joined long-established communities.
Evidence
Sources for this article
- S22The Amidah: Jerusalem, return and redemption
Sefaria. Traditional petitions for gathering exiles, rebuilding Jerusalem and restoration.
- S23Passover Haggadah: “Next year in Jerusalem”
Sefaria. Medievally documented liturgical expression of longing for Jerusalem.
- S3The Old Yishuv
National Library of Israel. Long-established Jewish communities before the First Aliyah.
- S19History of Zionism
National Library of Israel. Old Yishuv, First Aliyah and the modern movement.