Description: As a holy city for Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Jerusalem has always been of great symbolic importance.

The western side of the city is home to Jewish Israelis and Israel’s government. It’s not really contested and would be expected to remain with Israel in any peace talks. The eastern side — including key Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy sites — was captured by Israel in 1967.

The Temple Mount

The reason Jews break a glass during the wedding ceremony is to remember two of the most important and tragic events of Jewish history: the destruction of the Jewish temples. In an otherwise joyous occasion, it’s a ritual that tempers that happiness and allows for a moment of reflection.

Jews believe in individual and collective participation in an eternal dialogue with God through tradition, rituals, prayers and ethical actions. Christianity generally believes in a Triune God, one person of whom became human. Judaism emphasizes the Oneness of God and rejects the Christian concept of God in human form.

one God

In the classical Jewish tradition there are teachings on life after death. These include the idea that humans have a soul which will one day return to God. Other teachings suggest that there will be a future judgment when some will be rewarded and others punished.

» The word kosher, literally meaning “clean” or “pure,” refers to food that has been prepared in accordance with Jewish rules and rituals so it can be eaten by religious Jews. » Because the Torah allows eating only animals that both chew their cud and have cloven hooves, pork is prohibited.

Dairy products — such as milk, cheese, butter, and yogurt — are permitted, although they must adhere to specific rules in order to be considered kosher: They must come from a kosher animal.

With a headscarf or a wig – referred to in Yiddish as a sheitel – they signal to their surroundings that they are married and that they comply with traditional notions of propriety.