SHABBAT SHALOM: City and Soul 

By RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN 

(May 6) "Your land will be desolate and your cities will be 
destroyed." (Lev. 26:33)

The prophecy of destruction and exile if the Jews do not
obey God's commandments, which is the major message 
of the Torah portion Behukotai, has tragically come to pass.
The mitigating factor lies in the promise that "I shall never
hate them and despise them to the point of destroying 
them and abrogating my covenant with them... I shall remember
for them my first covenant, when I redeemed them from
the land of Egypt in front of all the nations to be their God."
(ibid, 44,45) Thankfully, these words too have come to
pass.

What I would like to note is the fact that throughout our
long exile, we have mourned two distinct areas and ideas,
each of which has a cardinal - and unique - place in the
Jewish psyche: Israel the Land, and Jerusalem the City.
In the grace recited after any repast with bread,
two separate blessings follow our expression of gratitude:
one thanking the Almighty for bequeathing us the
Land of Israel, and the other requesting the restoration
of Jerusalem. Even in the daily Amida (standing, silent prayer)
we find a request that we be "satisfied with good bounty"
as well as a separate blessing-petition for the restoration
of Jerusalem. And Maimonides speaks of two separate sanctities:
a limited sanctity for many parts of the Land of Israel, and an
eternal and unique sanctity for the City of Jerusalem
(Laws of the Sanctuary 6,16).

How may we understand the significance of these two sanctities?

Modern sociology distinguishes between civilization and culture,
the first pertaining to physical and economic infrastructure and
the second emphasizing intellectual-spiritual content.
The Land of Israel represents Jewish civilization, the material
security so vital for the existence of any nation. The Bible
constantly emphasizes that the Land of Israel is rich in valleys,
mountains and rivers; "not in paltriness shall those [who dwell]
in it eat bread." Therefore "you shall eat, be satisfied and
praise the Lord your God for the land and the sustenance."
(Deut. 8:7-10)

Whenever we have been exiled to foreign lands, we have often been
denied the fruits of the soil.

Land also provides boundaries and thereby a refuge. The Jews in
exile have often been forced to wander, and even - especially
in those tragic years between 1939 and 1945 - to suffer tortured
death and extinction because no land would offer us sanctuary.
Hence, in the daily Amida, after requesting sustenance from
our land, we go on to request that the Land of Israel become
a haven for all dispersed and persecuted Jews.

But Jerusalem is more than the capital city of Israel.

Jerusalem is more closely allied to the concept of culture,
the religio-spiritual ideals which are the goals of our
physical existence. If the Land of Israel symbolizes the
body of our nation, the City of Jerusalem symbolizes its soul;
if the land represents the physical infrastructure, Jerusalem
expresses the godliness which is its purpose. This is what
Maimonides means when he explains: "the Sanctity of Jerusalem
is the sanctity of the Divine Presence, and the Divine Presence
can never be destroyed or nullified."
(Laws of the Sanctuary, 6, 16)
A people can be driven off a land, soil can cease to yield
produce; but even an exiled nation can remain true to its ideals,
which it can carry in its heart, mind and soul to the four corners
of the world.

Hence, the blessing-prayer in the Amida referring to Jerusalem
begins with a request that the Divine Presence (which accompanies
the Jews in exile) be returned to the City Jerusalem, and that
the throne of David be restored within it. The Davidic kingship
serves as a symbol of Divine Kingship. The Bible emphasizes,
again and again, that God is the real King, the authentic King
of Kings. It is God who we "coronate" with the blast of a ram's
horn every Rosh Hashana, and it was the mortal king of Israel,
seated in Jerusalem as the symbolic representative of the
Divine on earth, who was biblically enjoined to read from
God's Torah publicly every seven years during the ceremony of
Hakhel.

Moreover, the Parent-in-Heaven of all humanity guarantees the
ultimate redemption of a world destined to live in peace.
This is the vision of the King-Messiah, scion of David,
who - from his seat in Jerusalem, City of Peace - will lead
the world in such a way that "nation will not lift up sword
against nation; humanity will not learn war any more;
there will be no enmity or destruction in the entire mountain
of My holiness because the Knowledge of the Lord will fill
the earth as the waters cover the seas." (Isaiah 2:4; 11:9)

And therefore the blessing of the Amida following our request
for God's presence and the Davidic throne in Jerusalem is our
petition for the flowering of the Davidic plant which will
usher in the ram's horn of universal salvation.

Given this conceptual understanding, it is no accident that
the first time Jerusalem is mentioned in the Bible - Malkizedek
the King of Shalem (jeru is "city," shalem is "peace") greets
Abraham after the first Jew has won a decisive military victory
in order to free his captive nephew - it is the king of
Jerusalem who recognizes the miraculous hand of the Divine in
the Patriarch's triumph. (Gen. 14:18-20)

And the Almighty commands the binding of Isaac specifically on
the future spot of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, signalling the
necessity of sacrifice for the ideal of Godliness, as well as
the eternity of our Holy City (Gen. 22).

The Land of Israel is our material infrastructure, while the
City of Jerusalem is our spiritual goal; the land provides
existence while the city promises redemption; the land
provides national security while the city declares
universal peace.

May we be worthy of security in our land, so that the
Divine light radiating from Jerusalem may uplift
the entire world.

Shabbat Shalom