About IsraelContinuity of Jewish Presence

Israel's critics often say that the Jewish presence in the Land of Israel did not exist until the modern era. But this is a falsehood easily refuted by looking at history. Find out how the Jewish people maintained a steady presence in their biblical and ancestral homeland from ancient times to the present.

Read more about the Jewish communities that persevered through centuries of unrest, political turmoil and overt attempts to uproot them. See links at left.

A Promise Unbroken

God made a promise as far back as anyone in human history can remember. He promised that His Holy Land, the Land of Israel, would belong eternally to His Chosen People. Over and over, at different point throughout history, we see God speaking to His people and reiterating His covenant to them, reassuring them that no matter what, the Jewish people belong in the Holy Land. Read more »

Peki'in, Continuity City

Peki'in is a little city with a big history. Located in the Northern District of Israel, in the Upper Galilee, Peki'in is known as a city where, for hundreds of years, Jews and Druze have lived together peacefully. Read more »

Hebron

Of all the ancient communities in Israel, none is more ancient than Hebron—the oldest Jewish community in the world. The first mention of Hebron is in Genesis, after the death of the Matriarch Sarah. Genesis 23 relates the story of Abraham approaching the Hittites in Hebron and asking to purchase an empty field in order to build a burial site for his wife (Genesis 23). Read more »

Safed

Safed, known in Hebrew as "Tsfat," is the highest city in Israel's Galilee, with sweeping views of the surrounding mountains. Though never mentioned in the Torah, Safed later became an important center of Jewish life in the Middle Ages, and is considered one of Israel's "Four Holy Cities" (along with Jerusalem, Hebron, and Tiberias.) Read more »

Judah HaLevi: The Philosopher Who Yearned for Home

Judah HaLevi was born in 1085/6 in Toledo, located in present-day Spain, and died around the year 1140. He was a prolific author, poet, scientist, and a philosopher. Though HaLevi lived in the Diaspora nearly his entire life, his soul longed to be in the Holy Land. Read more »

Yishuv HaYashan: The Perushim

Rabbi Elijah ben (son of) Shlomo Zalman, is often referred to as the "Vilna Gaon" ("Genius from Vilna"), or simply "the Gra," an acronym of "Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu." He was born in 1720 in Lithuania, and from an early age showed tremendous promise as a Torah scholar. Read more »

Maimonides

Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, known in Hebrew by his acronym, "Rambam" or "Maimonides" in English, was one of the greatest Jewish thinkers, philosophers, and halakhists, as well as the physician to the Sultan of Egypt. He was born around 1135 CE in Cordoba Spain, and from an early age displayed an interest in the sciences and philosophy. Read more »

Nahmanides

Rabbi Moshe ben Nahman, known by his acronym "the Ramban," or Nahmanides, was born in Spain in 1194, during the Crusades. In addition to his vast knowledge of the Torah and religious texts, he also immersed himself in philosophy, and studied, as well as practiced, medicine. Read more »