Jerusalem

Originally, Jerusalem was built by the Canaanites, the name the people in what is now named Israel/The West Bank, were given, although, the truth is, the Canaanites were Phoenician. From Lebanon, down to the Sinai desert, or the border of the Sinai where Israel meets Egypt, part of modern day western Syria, and a small piece of western Jordan, that whole area, was once known as Phoenicia, which in Greek means "land of the red people." Oh yeah, and of course the whole of Israel. Jerusalem, was originally a vitally important trade route for the Phoenicians, which connected them to the ancient silk and spice roads. The silk road is much older than you think you know; it dates back, easily, to the time of the first kingdoms of ancient Egypt. We know, China's "mythic" Yellow Emperor, is not a myth, because, what was that country India and Egypt both talked about well beyond their borders, far to the east? I'm just saying, China is a lot older than you think, much older than what communist propaganda says; the PRC government, does not want the people of China thinking of a Utopic past, they want them remembering the past of the King of Qin, the dictator past. You figure out why that is. Shifting the subject back to Israel; Jerusalem, connected both to the silk road which did indeed go to China, and the spice road, specifically the camel caravan roads which went down to the kingdom of Yemen, a kingdom that was wealthy in ancient times from sea faring, and trading with India. Originally, it was a Phoenician city, until King David conquered it, and then made it his capital. The original, Phoenician Jerusalem was destroyed by David, absolutely everything, and a new one was built in its place. David's Jerusalem, had walls where many of the boulders weigh well over 50 tons. Foundation stone, some of them weigh up to 500 tons, and it is 50 to 500 tons mind, of solid granite. Jerusalem's walls, were never successfully breached by any human enemy; the only time in the city's history, where its walls were breached, was during an earthquake, which occured in 70 A.D., the year Rome put down a Jewish revolt. Both the Ottomans, and Napoleon, fired cannon balls at the walls, and all they did was chip them. Later on those same walls endured artillery shells by the Turks in WWI, yet, even more artillery by the British, who sometimes shot the walls for fun, and yet, the walls stood defiantly. During Israel's wars from 1948 until now, it has seen its share of bombs, and yet not even modern artillery can crack it. Much of the stone is buried underground, however one fact is well known, is the strength of Jerusalem's walls; no human enemy, and this is true, has ever breached them. There are some Rabbis, who hold the view that Jerusalem's walls are symbolic of the bloodline of King David, and David himself; the walls, are ever defiant, even as history passes by. Even as tyranny holds sway over Israel, the bloodline of David, remains ever defiant. You can not crack Jerusalem's wall, any more than you can crack a descendant of David. The only one with the power to break Jerusalem's wall, is God. Don't forget it. Also, buried is not the same as broken! Jerusalem though, David's Jerusalem, was burned to the ground; because invading armies of various empires could not fight them out, throughout the city's history, its residents always had to be starved out. Alexander the Great, Trajan's armies, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, and finally the Romans, they all had to starve them out. The only army that actually entered Jerusalem was Rome, and they were let in by an earthquake, not their catapults. Jews saw it as a horrible omen, and felt that God had abandoned them, that is why when the dust settled, most gave up without a fight, and the only resistance left where the zealots who holed up at Masada. The Jerusalem of today, is not David's Jerusalem; it was destroyed by the Romans stone for stone. The architecture of the so-called old city, even, more closely ressembles a small Italian town, than it does a middle eastern city, and yes there IS a difference.

The BYU Jerusalem Center for Middle East Studies is located in Jerusalem. It is a study abroad program for students at Brigham Young University.

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly called the "Mormon" church) an Institute is a program available for college-age students. It provides religion classes, worship services, and other activities. All the classes and services are free of charge and open to all students, regardless of their faith. Most major universities in the United States and Canada have an LDS Institute of Religion, as well as some universitites internationally.

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god

Based on the way this question is phrased, it is unclear if the asker is looking for a discussion of the First Temple built by Solomon, the Second Temple built by Zerubbabel and Ezra, or the Third Temple as discussed by the Rabbis, but never actually constructed. As a result, this answer will discuss a little bit about each.

In general, the Temple in Jerusalem is important as it allows the Jews to perform 200 additional Mitzvot (Commandments) concerning sacrifices and sacrificial procedure. The Temple serves as a unifying symbol of Jewish Identity as well as a place of religious practice. When it existed, it occupied what Jews believe to be the holiest ground in all the Earth and allowed a much closer Divine-Human interaction.

1) First Temple: Solomon's Temple was the first time that the Jewish people had a permanent home to worship God. It allowed the Tabernacle to be put into retirement and made all of Israel united in a way that the country had not been before King Saul and really had not become until Davidic Times. It also demonstrated the wealth and power of Israel both in Allies (much of the wood was Lebanese Cedar given by King Hiram of the Phoenicians) and Territory (stone was quarried all over Israel for the Temple). The building was physically awe-inspiring.

2) Second Temple: The Second Temple was important because it represented the Return of Jews to the Holy Land after 70 Years of Exile. It marked a turning point in the Jewish experience because it showed that even when not living in the Land of Israel and not growing up in the Land Israel, Jews still had a connection to the land. Once again, it served to unite the Jewish community and provide a place for the High Priests to begin performing the Mitzvot once more.

3) Third Temple: Different rabbis argue different things about the Third Temple, but most claim that its construction will coincide with the arrival of the long-sought-after Messiah. It will also fundamentally change Judaism from the current religion it is, back to a religion with sacrifices and the ability for Jews to properly atone for their sins and impurities.

Tel Aviv was the intended Capital

It is perfectly safe; the Arabs only wish to kill Jews, they don't want to kill anyone else. If you are not Jewish you should be alright. Jerusalem is probably the safest place to be in Israel. It is almost as sacred to Muslims as it is to Jews and Christians.

Tzion (or Zion) and Ir David (City of David). More recently, also, Al-Quds.

It appears to be about 730 miles.

No, it's in Israel, which is majority Jewish.

If you are referring to Jews, note that Jews never pronounce the Tetragrammaton, the name of God and are a little bit creeped out by Christians who use a modern scholarly guess about the ancient pronunciation of that name. Also, the question does not say when. Which return to Judaism? The return after Cyrus ended the Babylonian exile? The return after Saladin liberated Jerusalem from the Crusaders? The return to the Old City after the 6 Day War?

Egypt

70a.d.

The Haram ash-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), as it is called in Islam, or the Har ha-Bayit (Temple Mount), as it is called in Judaism, is a holy site in both religions. As a result, each group wants both political and religious control of the site. Both cite how when the other side had control of the site that members of their faith did not have access to visit it.

Since the question doesn't specify, we'll discuss both the destruction of the First Temple and the Second Temple. In each case, we'll give 1) a spiritual reason, and 2) a political ("current events-type") reason.
The First Destruction (some 2500 years ago):
1) The general spiritual reason was that God found the Jewish people to be below the spiritual level that was a requisite for having His presence among them. The prophets had warned them (Jeremiah 7:25) but were not sufficiently heeded (2 Chronicles 36:16). Once God's presence no longer felt fully welcome in the Holy Temple, its destruction was just a matter of time (see Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 31a, and Eichah Rabbah 1:43).
A more specific spiritual reason was the sins of Menasheh, king of Judah, as stated in 2 Kings 21:11-13 and 24:3.
2) The political reason (the specific temporal circumstance) was the fact that King Yehoiakim, after having been obedient to Nevuchadnezzar (king of Babylonia), became insubordinate (2 Kings 24:1), and Nevuchadnezzar responded by conquering the land of Judah and destroying the First Temple.
The Second Destruction (in 68 CE):
1) The spiritual reason was that the Jewish people were plagued by an internal enemy, the Sadducees, who had been dragging the spiritual level of the people downwards for many decades. These were men of power who (along the lines of the earlier Hellenizers) were less interested in Torah than in pleasure, politics, and obsequiousness to the Herodian kings and the Romans. Even the once-pious Hasmoneans had eventually become infiltrated by the Sadducees. They'd fomented unnecessary wars, sown discord among the Jewish people (see Talmud, Yoma 9b), and had even killed a number of the leading Torah-sages (Talmud, Kidushin 66a). The Second Destruction, as painful and tragic as it was, at least accomplished the disappearance of the impious cliques (as alluded in the parable in the Talmud, Gittin 56b, in which the "barrel of honey" represents the Temple, and the "דרקון" hints to the Sadducees, among others). Once the Temple, and Jerusalem, were razed, the men of power melted away and the internal life of the Jewish communities returned to the aegis of the Torah-sages. Other non-traditional groups such as the Samaritans and the Essenes also now dissociated themselves from the Jewish people.
2) The political trigger to the Second Destruction was the anti-Roman revolt fomented by the Zealots, who acted against the advice of the Rabbis and left the Romans no choice but to crush the people (Talmud, Gittin 56).

Jesus Christ ascended to heaven from Jerusalem after he came back from the dead.

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In 70 CE by the Romans.

The month of Ramadan is the holy month of Islam. Ramadan is the 9th month in the Islam (Hijra) Calendar.

Ramadan is the holy month in which all muslims fast, fasts that you missed without any reason at all, you have to pay for the food supplies of one person for one day. If you had a reason (especially girls) then you have to make up your fast(s) after the holy month.

The dome of rock is in Jerosalem. It is a sacred place for the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims. This is the place from where the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (May peace be upon him) ascended on his journey to heavens. The Jews face it while offering prayer. The Muslims also offered prayer facing it for some years. Then on the earnest desire of the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (May peace be upon him) the Muslims were commanded by Allah Almighty to face Holy Ka'ba while offering prayers.

No. Some Catholics live in Jerusalem but the majority of the population is Arabic and Jewish. Catholics live in every country in the world.

50lb

No - it was quite a bit earlier than that, between 970-930 BCE for the First Temple (and 537-516 for the Second Temple). Jews believe that the Third Temple will be built at some time in the future.