Today is Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day, the national day which celebrates the unification of Jerusalem and its return to Israeli control in the wake of the 1967, Six-Day War. I love Jerusalem, and called the city my home for a number of years. I still feel at home whenever I am there.
I also know that Jerusalem is like a fire – it has the energy warm us or to burn us. Which it does, and to which “us”, is up to all of us who love Jerusalem – whatever our politics and whatever tradition we call our own. These quotes celebrate the Jerusalem I love and the complexity of loving the fire which is Jerusalem.

“Ten measures of beauty descended to the world, nine were taken by Jerusalem.” —Talmud: Kiddushin 49b
“For three thousand years, Jerusalem has been the center of Jewish hope and longing. No other city has played such a dominant role in the history, culture, religion and consciousness of a people as has Jerusalem in the life of Jewry and Judaism. Throughout centuries of exile, Jerusalem remained alive in the hearts of Jews everywhere as the focal point of Jewish history, the symbol of ancient glory, spiritual fulfillment and modern renewal. This heart and soul of the Jewish people engenders the thought that if you want one simple word to symbolize all of Jewish history, that word would be ‘Jerusalem.'” — Teddy Kollek, former Mayor of Jerusalem
“Jerusalem is a festival and a lamentation. Its song is a sigh across the ages, a delicate, robust, mournful psalm at the great junction of spiritual cultures.” — David K. Shipler, author and journalist
“The whole religious complexion of the modern world is due to the absence from Jerusalem of a lunatic asylum.” — Thomas Paine, American revolutionary leader

“Jerusalem will only be redeemed through [the merit of giving] charity.” — Talmud: Shabbat 139a
“There are three gates to Gehinam (purgatory) – one of them is in Jerusalem.” — Talmud: Eruvin 19a
“Here (Jerusalem), tears do not weaken the eyes, they only polish and shine the hardness of faces like stone.” — Yehuda Amichai, Israeli poet.
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within your walls, and prosperity within your palaces.” — Psalms122:6-7