Along the narrow path between ancient churches in Jerusalem, one incident shakes the ground and raises difficult questions about faith, extremism and what was lost along the way to Mount Zion, winding like an ancient memory. The white Jerusalem stones carry a historical DNA, pulling passersby back to the days of the forefathers and the wars that have shaped a people and a land to this day.
Even if you ascend Mount Zion toward King David’s Tomb dozens of times, you are always drawn into a spirit of holiness, awe and uniqueness. The scent of incense blends with the smell of fresh bread. Tourists, worshippers and nuns pass side by side in an almost sacred silence. To the left rises the Dormition Abbey, to the right appears the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, and further along, the Room of the Last Supper, the Cenacle.
This is not merely a physical route, but a concentration of history, beliefs and sensitivities.
What happened on Mount Zion that shattered the fragile calm?
But last week, within this quiet, something broke. A nun was brutally attacked by a Jewish man, apparently religious, and was seriously injured. The incident, which took place precisely where faiths intersect, was not just another unusual episode, but a clear warning sign. It is a moment when sanctity cracks and the absurd is exposed in full force. People acting in the name of faith leap over the most basic commandments and reach violent, racist and brutal harm against another human being.
The path to King David’s Tomb in Jerusalem is meant to be a journey inward. David, who according to tradition composed Psalms of pain, repentance and hope, represents deep human complexity. His life’s work is not only kingship, but the ability to fall and rise, to err and to correct. Yet precisely there, at the foot of his legacy, an act occurred that erases the very idea of redemption.
This incident does not stand alone. It is part of a broader process. Radicalization, hardening positions, and turning religion from a source of meaning into a tool of power. In the minds of extremists, divine law becomes selective. The attack on the nun in Jerusalem was not far, in essence, from bypassing the sixth commandment, “Thou shalt not murder.” A commandment forgotten while external symbols take precedence. This is not faith, but a distorted interpretation of faith. The prohibition against harming innocents appears in Exodus (Chapter 20) and Deuteronomy (Chapter 5), and is among the three gravest prohibitions in Jewish law.
תיעוד – תקיפה הנזירה באזור קבר דוד בירושלים pic.twitter.com/sQzwUAQ1Yc
— jerusalem online (@Jlmonline) April 30, 2026
Is Jerusalem approaching a new boiling point between religions?
As Jerusalem Day approaches next week, the questions sharpen: what exactly is being celebrated? A unified city, or a space where tensions simmer beneath the surface? What is happening between the different peoples and religions living in the city? Jerusalem is not only a symbol of history, but also a daily moral test.
The walk to Mount Zion will continue, pilgrims will keep arriving, worshippers from the three religions will continue to whisper prayers, and the stones of the walls will remain as witnesses. But something in consciousness must change. Because if even the path to holiness becomes a scene of violence, it is a sign that we, as human beings, have drifted away from holiness.
Jerusalem, a city of capital and sanctity, is not measured by how tightly we hold onto it, but by how deep our tolerance is, and our ability to accept the other who believes in their own faith.
