City of David recognized as 'testament' to US Judeo-Christian heritage

"We are fulfilling another, larger purpose: to unify Americans around our foundational principles and values."

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Givati Parking Lot Excavation at the City of David, Jerusalem. (photo credit: ROSSELLA TERCATIN)
Givati Parking Lot Excavation at the City of David, Jerusalem.
(photo credit: ROSSELLA TERCATIN)
The City of David was recognized as a “testament to America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and founding principles” by the US Embassy in Jerusalem and the US Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad at a special ceremony on Monday.
US Embassy dedicates plaque at City of David in Jerusalem, Jan. 18, 2021 (Credit: Matty Stern/US Embassy Jerusalem)
US Embassy dedicates plaque at City of David in Jerusalem, Jan. 18, 2021 (Credit: Matty Stern/US Embassy Jerusalem)
US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and Chairman of the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad Paul Packer dedicated a plaque recognizing the “seminal role” the City of David plays in connecting visitors to “the origins of the values that helped shape America.”
“In modern America, we are inspired by many monuments that remind us of the history of our Republic,” said Friedman at the ceremony. “I’ve often wondered, what monuments inspired our Founding Fathers. When the drafters of the Declaration of Independence proclaimed that our Creator had endowed each and every American with certain unalienable rights, what monuments inspired them? I suggest that those monuments are located right here, in the ancient City of Jerusalem. We have given this plaque to the City of David Foundation with the hope that it will prompt all who read it to think of the Judeo-Christian values upon which our country was founded and how those values were inspired by ancient Jerusalem and its inhabitants.”
“With the unveiling of this plaque and the recognition of the City of David for its contribution to America’s heritage, we are fulfilling another, larger purpose: to unify Americans around our foundational principles and values,” said Packer. “The City of David serves as a living testament to those enduring values, and it is our duty to ensure it remains for generations to come.”
Plaque dedicated by the US embassy at the City of David in Jerusalem (Credit: Matty Stern/US Embassy Jerusalem)
Plaque dedicated by the US embassy at the City of David in Jerusalem (Credit: Matty Stern/US Embassy Jerusalem)
The new plaque dedicated during the ceremony reads:
The City of David brings Biblical Jerusalem to life at the very place where the kings and prophets of the Bible walked.  It is the site where internationally acclaimed archeological discoveries have been unearthed, including the Pool of Siloam, the Pilgrimage Road, the Gihon Spring and Hezekiah’s Tunnel.
 As the prophet Isaiah said, “Out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” The spiritual bedrock of our values as a nation comes from Jerusalem. It is upon these ideals that the American Republic was founded, and the unbreakable bond between the United States and Israel was formed.
The City of David serves as a proud reminder of the glorious heritage of the United States of America.
“I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’ Our feet are standing in your gates, Jerusalem.” — PSALM 122:1 – 2


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