Jews in the city of Jerusalem in the light of the writings of Western travelers

Abstract

Western travelers who visited the city of Jerusalem cared about the Jews situation from different aspects, this included; religious, historical, demographic, social, economic and psychological. They highlighted the strong religious and historical relation between the Jews and Jerusalem, and gave the impression it was the religious and historical capital for the Jews; and related it to their past, present, and future. They studied the attributes of the Jewish quarter, the composition of the Jewish community and the population over different periods. They described the Jewish character, and analyzed the psychological aspects of it, they also talked about the religious and social rituals for the Jews, (beliefs, festivals, marriage rituals, rituals of death, the role and status of women to the Jews), also looked into the economic situation of the Jews in the city. It was obvious from what the travelers presented, that the Jews were few in Jerusalem until the first half of the nineteenth century, also the diversity of their social structure, the poor conditions of their homes, they were dominated by grief and misery, stayed within their neighborhood, and temples in order to avoid contact with others, also the diversity of their religious and social rituals and strictness in their application, the lack of economic activities, and poor economic conditions.