The bus ride from Har Hertzel to the Scherover Promenade overlooking Jerusalem was a short one. The Scherover Promenade is a scenic area on a hill by the border of East and West Jerusalem. From this vantage point we had a clear view of the Dome of the Rock, the center of a city and the center of dispute that has been a main point of Middle Eastern politics for more than half a century. To our left lay West Jerusalem, with its skyscrapers towering over the horizon, while to our right lay East Jerusalem, looking exactly like the ancient city you picture when thinking of Jerusalem, despite the asphalt roads and electric street lights. Our speaker for the morning, Benji Davis, had been our teacher on the historical and political aspects of Israeli advocacy for some time now. Our morning program had been at the graves of the great leaders and soldiers who fought for an Israeli state. We accidentally lingered a bit long at the cemetery, and so what was supposed to be a 3 hour tour of the city ended up as a 30 minute lecture. Still, even with time constraints, Davis was able to clearly highlight how central Jerusalem was and still is to the Israeli-Palestine conflict. Initially he made the point that Jerusalem was far more central to the Jewish faith than Islam or Christianity, pointing out how Muslims pray facing Mecca while of course we face towards the Kotel. However, what makes Benji such an effective speaker in his lectures is his ability to point out different perspectives. And while from a religious standpoint, Jerusalem is more important to the Jews, in terms of national identity, cultural claims to the city are a little more murky. A core aspect of Palestinian identity is the idea that they are the custodians and guardians of the Temple Mount, where Mohammed ascended to heaven and their third holiest site. How could there be a Palestinian state without Jerusalem as its capital? On the other hand, Jerusalem has been the capital of the Jewish state that predates Islam. It’s the city founded by David, the city that the Romans fought hardest to take from the Jewish rebels, the city that we hope we are in next Passover. How could there be a Jewish state without Jerusalem as it’s capital? Benji gave us no answers. He explained the issue and trusted us as the next generation of Jewish leaders to attempt to find them.