The Holiest Sites In Judaism

Judaism is one of the oldest religions in the world with about 14 million followers today. According to History, it was founded almost four millennia ago when the Jewish patriarch Abraham received divine revelations from God. Abraham and God then entered into what became known as a covenant, where Abraham's descendants — the Jewish people — would be considered the chosen people and would prosper in exchange for their faith and obedience to God.

The central religious text in Judaism is called the Tanakh, of which the first five books are known as the Torah. There are also several different denominations of Judaism. Jews who strictly follow the Tanakh and Talmud (Jewish jurisprudence) are known as Orthodox Jews, but there are less strict movements like the Reform, Conservative, and Reconstruction denominations.

Throughout their 4,000-year history, the Jewish people have created countless monuments and temples throughout the world, though unfortunately many of them have since been destroyed. Additionally, many of their most sacred spots are also claimed in the name of faith by other Abrahamic religions like Christianity and Islam. Still, there are many surviving Jewish artifacts, especially in the Middle East. Let's take a look at some of the holiest sites in Judaism.

The remaining part of King Herod's Second Temple in the Old City of Jerusalem, dating to around the first century B.C.E., is known today as the Western Wall (or Wailing Wall). According to Britannica, the temple was originally constructed around the entire Temple Mount, but all that remains today is a portion of one of the retaining walls. Previously, the First Temple, built by King Solomon, had surrounded the mountain, but none of that is visible today (via Smithsonian Magazine). The Romans ultimately destroyed the Second Temple in 70 C.E., leaving only the partial wall remaining today. There is some archeological evidence to confirm the history of the wall, but the reason why it was not completely destroyed in 70 C.E. by the Romans is disputed.

Today, it is the site of daily prayers from Jewish people, who visit the wall and place prayers and blessings written on paper into its cracks and crevices. Due to its significance among Jewish worshippers and the emotionality of their prayers while at the wall, it has become known to some as the Wailing Wall — though some view this term as derisive.

Another of the most important and holy sites in Judaism is the famous Mount Sinai in Egypt. According to Jewish textual tradition, Mount Sinai is the spot where God first gave Moses the Ten Commandments and the Torah (via "The New Encyclopedia on Judaism"). Moses had just led the Israelites out of bondage from the Pharaoh by parting the Red Sea, and after they were wandering in the Egyptian desert they eventually ended up at Mount Sinai. Moses climbed up the mountain, received the word of God, and thus Judaism was officially born.

Today, the biblical Mount Sinai is associated with Mount Horeb, also known as Jebel Musa, on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. It is sacred not just for Jews, but also Muslims and Christians, who believe in the same Judeo-Christian origin story. The mountain is roughly 8,000 feet high and is currently administered by the Egyptian government (via Britannica). Identification of Jebel Musa with the biblical Mount Sinai is based partly on modern interpretations of the Israelites' biblical journey from Egypt to Israel. While it's impossible to positively identify the mountain purely based on biblical accounts, the association with Mount Horeb (or Jebel Musa) is widely accepted by most Jews, Muslims, and Christians.

Most people may not know that there are actually four holy Jewish cities, and one of them is Safed in the Galilee region of Israel. As "The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion" points out, though it was not mentioned in the Bible, it has had a stable Jewish community since the 13th century. Starting around the 16th century, Safed became synonymous with Jewish spiritual and literary activity.

One of the most important developments in Judaism happened in Safed in the 16th century, which was the creation of Kabbalah. According to the "Encyclopedia of Judaism," Moses Cordovero and Isaac Luria founded Kabbalah in Safed. Kabbalah is a denomination of Judaism considered Jewish mysticism and was eventually an important influence on the development of modern Judaism — especially among Hasidic Jews.

There are several ancient synagogues in Safed that can be seen and visited today, including one dated to be 1,700 years old (per the Jewish Virtual Library). The Meron village and mountain in Safed are both frequent places of Jewish pilgrimage, and it is the highest-elevation town in Israel.

Inside the holy Old City of Hebron lies the sacred Cave of the Patriarchs. According to "Pilgrimage: From the Ganges to Graceland: An Encyclopedia," the Cave of the Patriarchs, also known as the Cave of Machpelah, is home to the tombs of Jewish patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as their wives, the Jewish matriarchs Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah. The cave is thought to be named Machpelah because the couples are buried together, and "machpelah" means "double" in Hebrew.

King Herod built the original structure around the Cave of the Patriarchs during his reign in the first century. There are also ancient Christian and Islamic structures, too, because Abraham is also the patriarch of Islam and Christianity. The cave has long been a pilgrimage site for Jewish visitors, even though they have not always been allowed access to it for prayer.

In 1994, the cave was the site of horrifying violence at the hands of an American-born Jew who had immigrated to Israel named Baruch Goldman. Goldman murdered 29 Muslims at the cave who were in the middle of praying, setting off a wave of violent riots which killed 30 additional Palestinians. Currently, the Palestinian Authority is in charge of Machpelah's administration. 

The Tomb of (Moses) Maimonides is one of the most important and sacred places in the entire holy city of Tiberias. Maimonides was born in Cordoba, Spain in the 1130s, and was a philosopher, scholar, and physician (per "The New Encyclopedia of Judaism"). He was an incredibly important philosopher in the tradition of Halakhah, and his book, "Mishna Torah" ("The Second Torah"), is a landmark work in Halakhah theology. He traveled from Cordoba to Fez in North Africa, before venturing on to Israel, and finally ending up in the Old City of Cairo (Fustat), in Egypt.

Maimonides was somewhat controversial during his time, too, because of his use of Islamic models in his commentary on the Torah (via Oliver Leaman in "Moses Maimonides"). Still, he was incredibly important in the evolution of jurisprudence surrounding the Oral Law of the Talmud. Though he died in Egypt, Maimonides was buried in Tiberias (via Britannica). His gravesite has been a place of Jewish pilgrimage since his death in the early 13th century.

One of the most important patriarchs in Jewish history was King David, and his tomb in Jerusalem is considered a very holy and sacred site. Per the Jewish Virtual Library, King David was the ruler of a united Israel for 40 years, and he was originally buried in Jerusalem, which is also referred to as the City of David. During the second century Bar Kokha revolt, his tomb was destroyed, obscuring its original location in history.

During the Crusades, Mt. Zion in Jerusalem began to be associated with King David's tomb, a connection that has been accepted by Muslims, Jews, and Christians today. Following the Israeli War of Independence after the second world war, Israel gained administration of Mt. Zion and David's tomb. For the next nearly two decades, until the Six-Day War in 1967, Jewish worshippers visited David's tomb with increased regularity. This was because some of the most sacred Jewish sites in the Old City of Jerusalem were not accessible to Jews, and David's tomb was the closest holy location to the city.

Another important Jewish holy area that is also recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site is the ancient fortress of Masada. Masada is in Israel near the edge of the Judean desert, close to the Dead Sea (via History). It was one of the several fortresses built by King Herod during his reign and dates back to the first century B.C.E. There is said to be an older fortress on Masada from the Hasmonean era, but there is no definitive archeological evidence uncovered to support that.

During the Great Revolt of the Jews against the Romans in the first century C.E., a group of Jewish rebels, the Sicarii, took over Masada as a final stand. Although they were unable to fend them off, rather than succumbing to Roman rule, most of the Sicarii died by suicide in the fortress before it was overrun.

Masada was largely abandoned for over a millennia before renewed interest sprouted in the 19th century. It was formally excavated in the second half of the 20th century and is now a national park and UNESCO site. Masada is a popular site for Jewish pilgrims, and there are several ancient artifacts and monuments relating to the time of Herod's rule and the Great Revolt.