The idea of Jerusalem has always been deeply woven into the American story — not just as a physical place in the Middle East, but as a powerful symbol through which America has understood its own identity, mission, and destiny.
AMERICA AS A “NEW ISRAEL”
From its earliest days, America was shaped by biblical imagination. The Puritan settlers of the 17th century did not see themselves merely as immigrants fleeing Europe, but as a chosen people leaving a corrupt “Egypt” and journeying toward a promised land. Biblical language saturated their sermons, writings, and political thinking.
John Winthrop’s famous sermon about America becoming a “city upon a hill” drew directly from Scripture. While rooted in Christian theology, the concept rests on a distinctly Jewish biblical foundation: a people with a moral mission, watched by the nations. In this sense, Zion was not a location — it was a model.
