The Jerusalem in our Imagination

Thoughts for Yom Ha'aztmaut 5770

By Rabbi Reuven Spolter, Director of Recruiting and Special Projects

A close friend – a relatively recent Ba'al Teshuvah -

recently visited Israel for the first time in his life to see .‫ֵּל ְך‬
:‫ ְלדָוִׁשד‬,‫ִׁש יר ַה ַםעֲלֹות‬
ֵּ ‫ בֵּית ה' נ‬--‫ְאֹמרִׁשים לִׁשי‬ ְ ‫ ב‬,‫ש ַמ ְח ִׁשתי‬
.‫ יְרּו ָ לִָׁשם‬,‫ ִׁשב ְ ָערַיִׁש ְך‬-- ‫ ָהיּו ַרגְלֵּינּו‬,‫עֹמדֹות‬ ְ
ָ
his son studying in yeshiva. After spending a week at a hotel
in Yerushalayim, he came to us for Shabbat in Yad Binyamin .‫ַחדָו‬ְ ‫לָּה י‬-‫ ֶׁ ֺח ְברָה‬,‫ כְעִׁשיר‬--‫יְרּו ָ לִַׁשם ַהבְנּויָה‬
before returning to the United States. :‫ָאל‬ֵּ ‫ִׁששר‬
ְ ‫עֵּדּות לְי‬--‫יָּה‬-‫ְטי‬ ֵּ ‫ ִׁש ב‬,‫ָטים‬ ‫שם עָלּו ְ ב ִׁש‬ ָ ֶׁ
"How has your visit been?" I asked him. The look he gave me .'‫ ְל ֵּ ם ה‬,‫לְהֹדֹות‬
spoke to a certain degree of disappointment. Something ‫ לְבֵּית‬,‫ִׁשסאֹות‬ ְ ‫ כ‬:‫ְמ ְ פָט‬ ‫ִׁשסאֹות ל ִׁש‬ ְ ‫ יָ ְ בּו כ‬,‫כִׁשי ָ ָםה‬
.‫דָוִׁשד‬
bothered him, and I prodded a bit.
.‫אֹהבָיִׁש ְך‬
ֲ ,‫ ְ לֹום יְרּו ָ לִָׁשם; יִׁש ְ לָיּו‬,‫ַ ֲאלּו‬
"It's just not what I expected. From the descriptions I had
. ‫נֹותיִׁש ְך‬
ָ ‫ְמ‬ ְ ‫ ְב ר‬,‫יל ְך; ַ ְלוָה‬ ֵּ ‫ְח‬ֵּ ‫ ָ לֹום ב‬-‫ְהי‬
‫י ִׁש‬
heard, I expected something different, ancient, and holier .‫מָא ָ לֹום ָב ְך‬-‫ ֲא ַד ְברָה‬--‫ְרעָי‬ ֵּ ‫ ַחי ו‬,‫ְמעַן‬ַ‫ל‬
perhaps. But it reminded me more of a shopping district in .‫ַק ָ ה טֹוב ָל ְך‬ ְ ‫ ֲאב‬--‫ה' ֱאלֹקינּו‬-‫ בֵּית‬,‫ְמעַן‬ ַ‫ל‬
Michigan than what I thought Jerusalem should look like." A Song of Ascents; of David.
His comments highlighted a problem that Yerushalayim I rejoiced when they said to me: 'Let us go to
struggles with both ideologically and logistically. Although it the house of the LORD.'
is one city, it is really two, and we struggle to straddle Our feet are standing within your gates, O
between the two. On one hand, Yerushalayim represents an Jerusalem;
ideal, the meeting place between heaven and earth. It, as a Jerusalem, which is built as a city that is
city, forms the spiritual and ideological center of not just the compact together;
Jewish people, but the entire world. It serves as the seat of To there the tribes went up, even the tribes of
justice for mankind; the footstool of God that connects us to the LORD, as a testimony to Israel, to give
the Almighty. thanks to the name of the LORD.
But then there's the other Jerusalem, the real Jerusalem – For there were set thrones for judgment, the
the city where people have to actually live. That city needs thrones of the house of David.
schools and bus routes and garbage collection. It has politics Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; may they
and internal strife and division. It, by necessity, needs prosper that love you.
shopping centers and malls and municipal buildings. Peace be within your walls, and prosperity
Garbage lies strewn in its streets. Like any other large city, it within your palaces.
can seem like the exact opposite of the exalted holiness we For my brothers' and companions' sakes, I will
expect. now say: 'Peace be within you.'
For which Jerusalem do we pray when we recite the holy For the sake of the house of the LORD our God
words ‫ולירושלים עירך ברחמים תשוב ותשכון בתוכה כאשר‬ I will seek your good.
‫ ?דברת‬For which Jerusalem do we yearn for when, during
the ‫ ברכת המזון‬we ask for compassion on ‫ירושלים עירך ועל‬ Even the introduction to the chapter, ‫ שיר המעלות לדוד‬raises
‫ ?ציון משכן כבודך‬For which Yerushalayim do we yearn each difficulty: how is this chapter connected to King David? If
year on Tisha B'av? Do we shed tears over the loss of her David himself wrote this chapter, then the remainder of the
ancient shopping malls? Do we chapter requires explanation.
lament each year the After all, God did not permit King
destruction of the Cardo, and David to construct the Beit
the loss of the shuk of old? Hamikdash, so David never lived
Hardly. The Jerusalem of our during the era of the Temple and
dreams and nightmares is a could never have rejoiced as he
city of virgins and priests, of walked under its gates. How then
perfection and spirituality. could he author a text describing
What do we do then, when like the joy of aliyah l'regel long
my American friend, we come before the Beit Hamikdash was
to the realization that real life even built? On the other hand, if
often does not mimic our someone else wrote the chapter,
dreams? How do we come to why then does he call the text a
terms with the Jerusalem of song "to David"?
the real, and fit that into our The chapter itself opens with a sense of incredulity,
picture of the Jerusalem of the Ideal, which probably never amazement, even shock: "I rejoiced when they said to me:
really existed other than in our imagination? The answers to 'Let us go to the house of the LORD." Really? We're going to
these questions lie hidden between the lines of Tehillim 122. God's house? Is that even possible?! Then, we take on the
At first glance, Chapter 122 of Tehillim chronicles the senses of the traveler, his eyes soaking in the scene as he
celebration of the ancient city of Jerusalem in all her ancient walks under the gates of the holy city of Jerusalem, a city
glory and splendor. The text of the chapter follows. that until that moment he had only imagined, dreamed of,
yearned for.
This is not just some normal "city." Rather, this is the unique
and singular "city that is compact together". What does
Jerusalem combine and connect? She is interconnected - a
large and complete metropolis. But she also connects
people together, and she connects the physical world to the
spiritual world. Jerusalem serves as the bridge between
heaven and earth. Moreover, we're describing a city that
represents the source of holiness and spirituality for the
Jewish nation, the seat not only of "a testimony to Israel" –
the presence of God on earth – but also the fountain of the
Torah, justice and judgment, and the seat of the Kingdom of
Israel, our national government.
Yet, after this majestic, wondrous description of Jerusalem,
something suddenly changes. We find a request that we,
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem." First of all, this verse
represents a change in the identity of the narrator. We no
longer hear the excited voice of the visitor to Jerusalem, but
someone else. Who is asking for our prayers? What does he
want? Amos Chacham in the Da'at Mikra commentary
explains,
These are the parting words that the citizens
of Jerusalem say to those who came to visit for
the holiday as the [visitors]y depart on their
journey homeward, saying, "Wherever you
are, ask in your prayers for the peace of
Jerusalem."
To this request the travelers answer,
For my brothers' and companions' sakes, I will
now say: 'Peace be within you.'
For the sake of the house of the LORD our God
I will seek your good.
What emerges from the end of the chapter is a
conversation, a discussion between the citizens of Jerusalem
and the people who have come to visit and now stand to
return home. As they send the visitors on their way, the
people of Jerusalem call upon them to seek out the "peace"
of the city and ask for her well-being. To this the travelers
answer affirmatively, promising to remember Jerusalem and
pray on her behalf.
From a certain perspective, the chapter omits critical
fundamental facts. While we read of our travelers' arrival at
the city and their departure, what happened in between?
What took place between the time that our visitors arrived
at the gates of Jerusalem and the moment that they take
their leave? What happened during the visit? How was it?
Why are we suddenly discussing the "peace" of the city?
Why is the city that we just described in wondrous, glorious
terms now asking for prayers and requests for her peace?
Why does the chapter seem to skip a description of what
was supposed to be a powerful, even life-altering visit, and
focus only on the arrival and departure?
There's a fundamental difference between the arrival in
Jerusalem and the departure from it. We arrive at the city
with eyes wide-open in awe, overcome by feelings of
excitement bordering on trepidation and awe of the unique
splendor of God's holiest city. But we depart from the city
with a different perspective, one that lacks that special
feeling. What changed? In truth, reality changed our point of
view, leaving us with a sense of disappointment and even
frustration.
There's a natural, almost predictable gulf between our
imaginary expectations of Jerusalem – a city of God, of
spirituality, of holiness – and what we find when we get
there. The oleh l'regel arrives to the Holy city with hopes of
majesty and splendor, and despite the overt miracles that
took place in the Beit Hamikdash, the city is tightly packed,
overflowing and crowded. Our visitor finds himself standing
before merchants who know that he's carrying ma'aser
sheni funds that he must spend only in Jerusalem, and have
undoubtedly priced their goods to match that expectation.
He wanders around a city that needs to deal not only with
sacrifices, prayers and holiness, but that also depends on a
tourist economy which supports the year-round inhabitants
of the city. Suddenly, faced with this disappointing,
frustrating realty, the visitor begins to wonder, "Where is the
Jerusalem that I imagined? What happened to the 'holy'
city? Where's the city 'that is compact together'? Where's
the bridge between heaven and earth? All I see are malls,
shops, hotels and crowds."
His mood upon departure from the city differs
fundamentally from his arrival. Gone are his excitement,
awe and trepidation, replaced with disappointment and
frustration, as he ponders the great gulf between his
expectations and the reality that confronted him.
For this reason the city's residents cry out, "Pray for the
peace of Jerusalem!" They tell our visitor, "Correct, it's not
what you expected. But were your expectations even
realistic? Did you have to deal with the sudden arrival of
millions of visitors for a week-long visit? Did you need to
address not their spirituality, but their physical needs –
supplying food, a place to sleep, and even clearing the
garbage from the streets?
Do we not have the same sense of frustration at times not
just from modern-day Jerusalem, but also from our relatively
young and new State? For two thousand years we yearned
for it, dreamed about it, prayed for it, and fantasized about
the wondrous return to Zion. "When will You reign in Zion?"
(Kedushah on Shabbat morning) "And let Jerusalem be
rebuilt…" (Grace after meals) But the moment that that
distant, almost impossible dream came true in fact we
began to have those same feelings of doubt and frustration
articulated by my Michigan friend, feelings also felt by the
visitors to Jerusalem mentioned in our chapter of Tehillim. Is
this really what we hoped for? Where is the Kingdom of God
we prayed and yearned for so long?
Why then is our chapter attributed to King David? The
answer seems clear. Who knew better than David the great
gap between one's hopes and dreams, and the reality of the
facts on the ground? During the hardest, most strenuous
battles, David persevered, driven by his dreams of building
the Beit Hamikdash and bringing God's glory to the world.
And yet, despite his great plans, he never himself actualized
his hopes. That task fell to his son to complete. And still he
concluded his chapter with the words, "Peace be within your
walls."
Despite the frustrations, we still pray that the dream one
day finds complete fulfillment; that we merit to ourselves
witness the shrinking of the gap between our expectations
and the facts on the ground. We must continue to pray until
we merit the experience described at the chapter's opening
when we will joyously proclaim, "Let us go to the house of
the LORD! Jerusalem, which is built as a city that is compact
together."