Jewish Indigeneity in the Holy Land: Next Year in Jerusalem

The claim that Zionism is just a modern form of European nationalism is an argument used by anti-Zionist, pro-Palestinian groups to uncouple the connection between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel. It is an argument easily refuted by anyone aware of Jewish history and Jewish traditions.

After all, where does the well-known phrase “Next Year in Jerusalem” come from?

“Next Year in Jerusalem” is recited twice during the Jewish calendar year; at the end of the closing prayer (Neilah) on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) and again at the termination of the Passover seder.

The phrase has been described as the medieval origins of the Jewish longing for a homeland, and first appeared in its current format in the 12th century Vitry Mahzaor (High Holy Day prayer book).

The earliest Haggadah in which it is found is the Birds’ Head Haggadah, an early 14th century Haggadah containing pictorial representations of humans with the heads of birds. By the 16th century, “Next Year in Jerusalem” had become a common feature of printed Mahzors and Haggadahs.

“Next year in Jerusalem” can be viewed as a literal expression of the bond between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel, or metaphorically, as a spiritual destination. Yet, it would be wrong to believe that the Jewish sense of connection and yearning for Zion is based on four words expressed just once or twice a year.

Jewish longings for a return to Zion and for the rebuilding of Jerusalem date as far back as the Babylonian exile (Psalm 137, “By the Rivers of Babylon…”) and surely predate the Middle Ages. In fact, the Talmud is replete with references to the Jewish return from exile and the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

Moreover, Jewish liturgy calls attention to the return from exile and the rebuilding of Jerusalem on a daily basis. I am referring to the Amidah, a series of blessings said while standing. This prayer has been central to all Jewish religious services for centuries. Originally, it consisted of 18 blessings. A 19th was added later.

The blessings are grouped in three sections: an initial three praising G-d and asking for His mercy; a final three blessings of thanks; and a middle section of 13 consisting of personal or communal requests. The 10th (Galuyot–diasporas) asks G-d to allow the ingathering of Jewish exiles back to the Land of Israel, while the 14th (Boneh Yerushalayim– builder of Jerusalem) petitions G-d to rebuild Jerusalem and restore the Kingdom of David.

Elements of the Amidah pre-date the destruction of the Temple. But the benedictions were codified by Rabban Gamliel (Gamliel II), at the beginning of the second century CE. Gamliel, also known as Gamliel of Yavne, was the first head of the Sanhedrin after the destruction of the Temple. He stipulates in the Talmud (Berakhot 28b), that each person must say the 18 blessings each day. (The 13 middle blessings are omitted on Saturdays — the rabbis felt it inappropriate to focus on worldly matters on the Sabbath.)

Reciting “Next Year in Jerusalem” is an important Jewish tradition, but it is not the only expression of Jewish attachment to the Holy Land. Jewish yearnings for Zion have been a deeply embedded feature of Jewish life for centuries.

No one has expressed this attachment more poignantly than the 12th century Jewish Spanish philosopher and poet, Judah Halevi, who wrote:

My heart is in the east, and I in the uttermost west
How can I find savour in food? How shall it be sweet to me?
How shall I render my vows and my bonds, while yet
Zion lieth beneath the fetter of Edom…

Jacob Sivak, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, is a retired professor, University of Waterloo.