Jerusalem is the Divine Home on Earth. This means that G‑d's Presence is more noticeable in Jerusalem than anywhere else. The holiest city of all was, is and always will be the eternal capital of the Children of Israel.
Em Tisha b'Av – ninth day of the month Menachem Avenue, the saddest day in the Jewish calendar – the Jewish People mourn the fall of the Holy Temple, the destruction of Jerusalem and all the resulting suffering experienced by our people in their long exile after being expelled from our homeland. The central point of mourning in Tisha b'Av is the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and, particularly, of the Beit HaMikdash – the Holy Temple.
The fall of Jerusalem constitutes much more than the destruction of the historic capital of the Jewish People. In fact, the fall of the city and the destruction of the Holy Temple represented a blow to the vital center of the Jewish People, as Jerusalem is the point at which the “silver cord”1 of Divine influence connects with the reality of the world.
Therefore, not only were the People of Israel deeply affected by the events remembered and mourned in Tisha b'Av. In fact, the entire world has been affected and will not return to its normal state until the city and the Holy Temple of Jerusalem are rebuilt. The reason for this is the fact that Jerusalem is the focal point of the world's existence. O midrash thus describes: “Said Abba Hanan in the name of Shmuel HaKatan: 'This world is like an eye. The whites of the eyes are the ocean that surrounds the world; the iris is the world that is not inhabited; the pupil is Jerusalem; and the face (the observer reflected in the pupil) is the Holy Temple. And may it be promptly rebuilt in our days'” (Derech Eretz Zuta 9). All evil inflicted on Yerushalaim It is an evil against “the apple of the world's eye”, and, in fact, when the pupil of the eye is damaged, the light is reduced and compromised.
Consciously or unconsciously, the entire world feels the destruction of Jerusalem. Quoting the Book of Isaiah, the Talmud says: “Since the day the Temple was destroyed, the Heavens have not been seen in their full purity, as it is said: 'I cloak the Heavens in darkness and clothe them with garments of grief' " (Talmud Bavli, Berachot 59a, citing Isaiah 50:3). Therefore, the mourning for Jerusalem is universal – a tragedy that makes the entire Universe suffer.
Our Sages use metaphorical language when teaching that even G‑d participates in this lamentation for Jerusalem. In a famous passage from the Talmud, one of its greatest Sages, Rabbi Yossi, reports what he heard upon entering one of the ruins of the Holy City: “A Heavenly voice cooed like a dove and said: 'Woe to (My) children , for because of their sins I destroyed My Dwelling, I burned My Sanctuary and I exiled them among the peoples' ”.
Rabbi Yossi then heard from Eliyahu HaNavi, the prophet Elijah, that not a single day passed without G‑d suffering for the fall of the Temple and the exile of the Jewish People (Talmud Bavli, Berachot 3a). In the same vein, there is a metaphorical teaching in the Talmud that says: “From the day the Temple was destroyed, G‑d no longer knew laughter” (Talmud Bavli, Avodá Zará 3b).
For the Jewish People, the destruction of Jerusalem is a cloak of sadness and darkness that covers the face of reality. Lament for the Eternal City is not limited to a single annual day of lamentation – Tisha b'Av. But much of Jewish life is marked by mourning for hurban – the destruction of the most sacred of cities.
For our people, the famous verse in the Book of Psalms is not mere poetry, “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand lose its skill! May my tongue stick to my palate, if I do not always remember You, if I do not keep the memory of Jerusalem above my greatest joy” (Psalm 137:5-6). In fact, this verse translates a living reality. Therefore, according to Jewish Law and its tradition, mourning for the loss of Jerusalem is remembered even in moments of greatest joy. For example, when the table is set to receive guests, you should not serve any food in memory of the guest. hurban, The destruction. When building a house, a part must be left incomplete, reminding us of the lack of the Holy Temple. The memory of Yerushalaim it should come before all festive occasions. Even in the midst of the jubilation for a wedding, the destruction of Jerusalem is remembered in the religious ceremony, which is concluded only after the groom breaks a glass. This reminds us, even in the midst of our people's joy at the beginning of a new family – an occasion that should be the height of happiness for newlyweds – that full joy is not possible for us while Jerusalem lies in the ground. Therefore, not only in sad times, but also in happier times, the Jewish People, throughout the ages, have longed and continually mourned Jerusalem, for almost two thousand years.
The City of G-d
Even though almost two millennia have passed since the destruction of the Holy Temple, the memory of Jerusalem has never been erased from the Jewish consciousness. On the contrary, the time that has passed has only increased and deepened our love and reverence for Yerushalaim – to the point that the holiest of cities has become synonymous with the Land of Israel in its entirety.
For generations, every Jew from the Land of Israel was called a Yerushalmi (citizen of Jerusalem). It is worth mentioning that even though the Talmud of the Land of Israel (unlike the Babylonian Talmud) was written and compiled in Tiberias and Caesarea, it is called Talmud Yerushalmi – the Jerusalem Talmud. Therefore, in all Jewish sources, the term “the city”, without further specification, refers to Jerusalem – the “City of G-d”.
According to Jewish mysticism, Jerusalem is much more than a city or the spiritual center of the Jewish People. It is the very symbol of Shechinah – the Divine Presence on Earth. Jerusalem is the point of contact and connection where the Infinite meets the finite, where time and space touch that which transcends time and space.
This city is so central to Judaism that it constitutes one of the main themes of our prayers. One of the blessings of Amide (o Shemone Esreh) It's from Birkat HaMazon (the blessing after meals that include bread) is a request for G‑d to rebuild Jerusalem. The famous prayer of Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz, the Lechá Dodí – which has become an inseparable part of the service Kabbalat Shabbat (the receiving of Shabbat) in all Jewish communities – is essentially an ode to Jerusalem.
Lechá Dodí, one of the richest and most beautiful prayers in the Jewish liturgy, intertwines the entire Jewish longing for redemption with its focal point – Jerusalem. And, in fact, as the song says, the fall of Jerusalem constitutes the very image of our people in the Diaspora, and symbolizes all the suffering and anguish of the Jewish People.
Over the generations, even in the most tragic times of oppression and persecution, when Jews were unable to go to Jerusalem, the city never stopped being the spiritual center and capital of the Jewish People. There has never been and never will be another Jewish spiritual and national center other than the Holy City. And it is interesting to note that, despite having been conquered countless times, Jerusalem has never been the capital of any people other than the Jewish People. The collective soul of our people is completely intertwined with Jerusalem. When a Jew prays – wherever in the world he finds himself – he turns to Yerushalaim. All synagogues around the world, regardless of their customs and rituals, in their different forms and styles, are focused on one direction only – Jerusalem.
There are several Jewish customs that express the longing and longing for Jerusalem. We complete the seder de Passover, the ritual that celebrates the freedom of the People of Israel, with a wish: “Next year in Jerusalem”, Leshanah Habaah b'Yerushalaim! In many places it was customary, even in the marriage contract, to be written that the ceremony would be carried out, with the help of G-d, in the Holy City, and it specified that – G-d forbid – if redemption had not yet arrived, the wedding would be held in another location. This custom expressed the unshakable hope and ideal that we should only be in Jerusalem.
Being in the Holy City – living in its midst – is the hope of all Jews. And in fact, according to Halacha (the Jewish Law), do aliyah (literally, to go up) – that is, to go to the Land of Israel, particularly Jerusalem, to live there – is of the greatest importance. Even though in almost every generation the people who occupied the Land of Israel did not give the Jews the right to do aliyah, our hope of doing so was never lost.
Earthly Jerusalem and Heavenly Jerusalem
The Babylonian Talmud teaches us that there is not only one Jerusalem – the earthly one – but also a Heavenly Jerusalem. Earthly Jerusalem – the spiritual center of the Land of Israel, today, the political capital of the State of Israel – is parallel to the Heavenly Jerusalem, where there is a glorious Divine Temple and all the majesty of the heavenly world is found. The Heavenly Jerusalem hovers over the earthly Jerusalem, on which it depends and flourishes. The Talmud teaches that “The Holy One, blessed is His Name, has decreed: 'I will not enter Jerusalem on High until I have entered earthly Jerusalem'” (Talmud Bavli, Taanit 5th).
These two cities – Heavenly Jerusalem and earthly Jerusalem – will not be complete until the entire People of Israel have returned to their first and only capital.
Jerusalem: center of the world
Jerusalem is a unique place, where our earthly world and the heavenly world merge and complement each other. The city is on the margins of the material and the physical, on the edge of the non-physical world. O Pirkei Avot – one of the treaties of Mishnah, core of the Oral Torah, describes the miracles that occurred in the Holy Temple and in the city itself. It is precisely from the intrinsic sanctity of the city that these miracles originate – which, in turn, cause changes in the laws of nature.
Jerusalem constitutes a direct passage between the earthly world and the heavenly world. It is the Gate to Heaven – the passage from the physical to the spiritual. And it is precisely for this reason that we pray facing the direction of Jerusalem, as it is written in King Solomon's prayer: “... and pray to You facing the direction of their land that you gave to their fathers, towards this city that you chose and towards this house which I built in Your Name...” (Kings I, 8:48). All our prayers, uttered wherever we are in the world, are made in the direction of Yerushalaim, the Holy City, from where they ascend to Heaven.
Jerusalem is the most sensitive place in the world. Everything that happens in the city, more than anywhere else, is likely to have implications for the entire world – both good and bad events. The prayers said in the Holy City have a different weight than those said in other parts of the world. When praying in the holiest of cities, one feels that words reach Heaven more easily. Holiness is more tangible and more noticeable when you are in Jerusalem. And the impact of the actions of someone who is in the city are greatly increased. Therefore, an act of kindness performed in the Holy City brings blessings to the entire world, while a negative action committed in the spiritual center of the Universe can reverberate far beyond its physical limits.
A Holy City, perfect in Its beauty
Jerusalem's connection with the higher worlds produces a flow of holiness that permeates the entire city. The crumbs of holiness, the proofs of spirituality that are in the air, are what gives physical beauty to the Yerushalaim – not only their spiritual places, but also their physical ones: their houses, their stones and the people who live in them. Jerusalem is the “…place of the most beautiful sight, the joy of all the earth…” (Psalm 48:3). In its own unique way, it is the most beautiful of all cities in the world. But its beauty does not come from tall buildings, grand architecture. In fact, in certain neighborhoods of the city the opposite is true. Its beauty, its sun and light, and several other of its rich characteristics, originate from its holiness. The spirituality that flows from her is what makes her beautiful and graceful.
Tishah b'Av and Jerusalem Day
Em Tisha b'Av, ninth day of the month of Menachem Av, In the year 70 of the Common Era, Roman legions destroyed the second Beit HaMikdash – the second Holy Temple of Jerusalem, marking the fall of the city. For almost two thousand years, the People of Israel, who had been expelled from their land, dreamed of their homeland and yearned to return, in particular to Jerusalem – symbol of the soul of the Land of Israel. For almost two thousand years, the Jewish People prayed – at least three times daily, every day of the year – asking for the reconstruction of the Holy City and to be returned to it.
After Israel's War of Independence in 1948, Jerusalem was divided, and the Old City, particularly the site of the Holy Temple, was taken by Jordanian troops. The city remained divided until June 1967, when Israel, winner of the Six-Day War, reunited it. To celebrate this great miracle – a two thousand year dream finally realized – Jerusalem Day was established, Yom Yerushalaim, celebrated on the 28th of the month of iyar. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel declared Jerusalem Day a special date, celebrating the return of free access to the Boiler – the Western Wall or Western Wall.
There are those who ask whether Jerusalem Day nullifies the day of Tisha b'Av. Did the return of the People of Israel to the Land of Israel and the reunification of Jerusalem make the mourning of Israel irrelevant? Tisha b'Av? The answer to that question: no. The fasting of Tisha b'Av and the other restrictions of that day still remain in force, especially as the Holy Temple remains in ruins, clearly meaning that Jerusalem has not yet been rebuilt to its full magnitude. Furthermore, the name Yerushalaim It has several meanings, one of them being “City of Peace”. And, as we experience every day, peace has not yet come to Jerusalem or the rest of the world.
Therefore, lamentation and fasting Tisha b'Av they still have a reason to exist, regardless of the jubilation for Jerusalem Day. However, today, especially for Jews who have the privilege and honor of living in Israel, especially in Jerusalem, the feeling of mourning on the 9th of Av is not as intense as before the return of our people to the Land of Israel – when we were prevented from living in our ancestral homeland, more specifically in the Old City of Israel. Yerushalaim. And indeed, not only on Jerusalem Day, but even in Tisha b'Av – the saddest day on our calendar – we can rejoice in the fact that we have deserved – even in this earthly world – the privilege of living in the Holy City, a physical and spiritual point of connection with the Superior World.
As Isaiah prophesied: “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her! Join together in her joy, all you who have wept for her” (Isaiah 66:10). The Holy Temple still lies in ruins and peace has not yet covered the world with its mantle. Therefore, in Tisha b'Av, all Jews have the obligation to mourn for Jerusalem, even those who live there.
But every Jew, wherever he lives, must also love this city, the most special and sacred of all. And this love is justified not only by the fact that it is the capital and home of the Jewish People, but because as Yerushalaim there is no other city in the world. There is an earthly Jerusalem and a heavenly one – and sometimes it is difficult to distinguish one from the other.
1 The so-called silver cord is an expression originating from the Tanakh, being found in the book Cohelet (Ecclesiastes), chap. 12, verse. 6. It is understood that this expression refers to the Divine Force that keeps the body linked to the spirit.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Steinsaltz, Rabbi Adin Even-Israel, Change and Renewal: The Essence of the Jewish Holidays, Festivals & Days of Remembrance. Maggid Books.
