Today is Yom Yerushalayim where we celebrate the
unification of Jerusalem and the miracles of the Six Day War.
Following the War of Independence in 1948 when the Arab
countries surrounding Israel rejected the partition plan and sought to
annihilate the 600,000 Jewish residents of the new State, the Jewish people won
a resounding victory, but Jordan took possession of the Old City of Jerusalem.
Those who had been living in the Old City, lost their homes. Synagogues and
Yeshivot were destroyed and the area around the Wall was stripped of Jews who
had been living there for decades and centuries. We could no longer worship at
the Kotel.
19 years later the voice of Motta Gur, commander of the paratrooper’s
brigade, rings in our ears and we can all hear his historical announcement:
“Har Ha-bayit be-yadeinu!” “The Temple Mount is in our hands!” ... It is this
we celebrate with Hallel and praise for Hashem’s miracles.
We read each day in the Amida:
תִּשְׁכּוֹן בְּתוֹךְ יְרוּשָׁלַֽיִם עִֽירְךָ כַּאֲשֶׁר
דִּבַּֽרְתָּ, וְכִסֵּא דָוִד עַבְדְּךָ מְהֵרָה בְּתוֹכָהּ תָּכִין, וּבְנֵה
אוֹתָהּ בִּנְיַן עוֹלָם בִּמְהֵרָה בְיָמֵֽינוּ
Dwell within Jerusalem Your city, as You spoke about,
& the throne of David, Your servant, speedily prepare it within it, &
build it an eternal structure speedily in our days.
We mention the throne of David. Some compare the throne
below with the throne above and just as we long for the throne below to be
re-established, we realize that in some ways, the throne above is not whole.
We read each Friday morning, Friday afternoon, evening
and Shabbat:
נָכ֣וֹן כִּסְאֲךָ֣ מֵאָ֑ז מֵעוֹלָ֣ם אָֽתָּה׃
Your throne stands firm from of old; from eternity You
have existed.
When Amalek attacks Benai Yisrael after leaving Egypt,
Moshe sends Joshua to fight them. It is there we are commanded never to forget
what Amalek does and Moses builds an alter and says
וַיֹּ֗אמֶר כִּֽי־יָד֙ עַל־כֵּ֣ס כַּהּ מִלְחָמָ֥ה לַהֹ’
בַּֽעֲמָלֵ֑ק מִדֹּ֖ר דֹּֽר׃
He said, “It means, ‘Hand upon the throne of Hashem,
Hashem will be at war with Amalek throughout the ages.”
Rashi asks: And what is the force of כס — why does it
not say as usual (throne or chair) כסא?
And the Divine Name, also, is divided into half (Kah is only the half of the
Tetragrammaton)!
The Holy One, blessed be He, swears that His Name will
not be perfect nor His throne perfect until the name of Amalek be entirely
blotted out.
And I would venture to put forward based on this that
Amalek and the establishment and rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple are
diametrically opposed.
Although Jerusalem is mentioned in Tanach in some way
between 700 and 800 times, it is not mentioned at all in the Torah itself.
We do have a verse in Devarim which states:
כִּ֠י אִֽם־אֶל־הַמָּק֞וֹם אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַ֨ר הֹ
but look only to the site that Hashem will choose amidst
all your tribes as Hashem’s habitation, to establish the divine name there.
There you are to go, Rabbeynu Bachya writes: The place
in question is Mount Moriah; it is well known among the Goyim. They know of its
spiritual advantages through tradition. There is no need to mention this
location by name. The people all had a tradition that this was where their
ancestor Yitzchak had lain bound on the altar. Maimonides writes in his Moreh
Nevuchim (3,45) that there were three reasons why the location of the future
Temple was not spelled out at this point.
1) If the nations of the world had known that in that
location prayers are answered positively by G’d and sacrifices are welcome to
Him, every nation would have made a supreme effort to take possession of that
site. This would have resulted in untold slaughter among the nations and
ongoing strife among them.
2) If the Canaanites who dwelled in the land at the time
Moses spoke these words had heard of them and they had realized that the
Israelites would dispossess them and take over that site they would have
utterly destroyed it before the Jewish people had a chance to conquer it.
3) Even the tribes of the Israelites would have argued
among themselves in whose territory this site, would be located at the time the
land was distributed among the tribes. Such a division among the people would
have been even worse than the rebellion of Korach when the people were not
prepared to recognize the preferred hereditary status of the Priests.
For all these reasons Moses preferred not to spell out
the exact location of where the Temple would be built in the future. If even
the Jews did not know the location, it is clear that the Gentiles did not know
it either. Although everyone knew of the significance of Mount Moriah in the
past, they had no idea of what this meant in terms of its future religious
significance, in terms of the place G’d would choose.
We know that even King David did not know that Har
HoMoriah was the mount to build the Temple on. He originally selected the
tallest mountain in Yehuda and only after learning in detail with Samuel the
prophet, did they ascertain that the choice from the sacrifice was the shoulder
and thus chose the second highest spot.
If I have not lost you yet, a couple of more facts and
then, let’s try to put the pieces together.
Rabbi Ari Kahn writes: The Shulchan Aruch, section 580,
reports that on the 28th day of the month of Iyar a fast day is observed,
marking the anniversary of the death of Shmuel HaNavi (Samuel the Prophet). In
antiquity this day was widely celebrated.
The Radbaz teaches that the tomb of Shmuel HaNavi was a
site of pilgrimage. People would take their young sons and travel to the burial
place of Shmuel to cut the child's hair for the first time.
When it became dangerous to travel to Jerusalem, the
custom evolved to travel to meron on the 18th of Iyar and thus we have the
custom to go on Lab LaOmer to the Kever of Rashbi (as cutting hair on Lag makes
no sense to Sephardim who don’t cut until the 34th).
Still we see that the 28th day of Iyar was, in
antiquity, a day of pilgrimage as well as the yearly remembrance of Shmuel
HaNavi.
On that day, of all the days in the calendar, Jerusalem
was the destination. We might even venture to say that the power of the prayers
uttered all those years ago on this day by the pilgrims at the end of their
arduous journey contributed to Jerusalem's liberation on the very same date,
causing it to once again become the day when people venture up to Jerusalem.
But something else occurred on the 28th of Iyar.
According to Seder HaOlam. (although there are other opinions listing it earlier)
The battle with Amalek took place on the 28th of Iyar.
Rabbi Kahn explains: This association allows us a deeper
appreciation of the date and its significance. The battle with Amalek is the
archetypical struggle between holiness and depravity. This struggle defines the
essence of the 28th of Iyar. It is its nature, its character, its
'personality'. The victory of holiness over depravity was achieved
when the prayers of Moshe and the nation were answered. When the Beit Hamikdash
was eventually constructed on the holy mountain, symbolizing the possibility of
human connection with God and holiness.
On the 28th of Iyar, Amalek tries to destroy the throne.
It is up to us to rebuild it. Samuel who dies on the 28th, was also born
on the 28th. He anoints Saul whose task is to destroy Amalek. Saul fails.
Samuel then anoints David. Together they discern that
the place of the Temple to establish the throne on earth corresponding to the
throne above is Jerusalem.
Thus, Samuel in anointing the Davidic dynasty through
Mashiach and in establishing the “place” as Jerusalem is forever associated
with the City. Perhaps in his merit (as he is noted as in a way equal to Moses
and Aaron) miraculous victory and celebration came on the 28th of Iyar in our
lifetimes.
But I cannot help but think. Did we in 1967 make the
same mistake as Saul? Har HaBayit BeYadeynu. And the Mashicach was riding in on
his white donkey as Rabbi Abittan would explain. In Jerusalem a banner was
unfurled. As they unrolled it we read. Yisral – Israel, a bit more Boteach –
puts its faith and trust and then the final word which should have said Hashem
read Sahal – the army. We handed the keys to Har HaBayit (and Maarat
HaMachpelah) back and Mashiach turned around.
Still though today is a day of tremendous celebration
and joy. The geulah begins step by step. We are experiencing it. But we must
remember the geulah does not come on its own. The Mikdash does not fall from
the sky on its own. Mashiach does not ride in on his own. It is up to each of
us to contribute a spiritual brick. To learn, to teach, to watch, to do and to
fulfil that which we are asked to and volunteered to do.
In the Omer we are at the day of Chesed shel Malchut,
the Kindness of Kingdom. The first step towards reestablishing Hashem’s Kingdom
on Earth.
Today we seem to be fighting Amalek again. Bechol Dor
VaDor. They attack women and children and the elderly as they did. They hide in
tunnels like rats. They don’t value the lives of their own children and dedicate
their own existence to ending ours.
When we fought them in the time of Yehoshua, when Moses
lifted his hands we were winning. We were winning because we looked to Heaven.
We must never forget to look to Heaven.
And in Samuel’s time, even he the holy and great prophet
slay their leader with his own hands. Just as Agag was destroyed, so should all
their leaders fall along with all who espouse evil in this world.
And as we arrive at Shavuot at the end of the omer week
of counting, next Tuesday night, the date of Matan Torah and the birth of King
David, let us pray together and see fulfilled BimHerah Beyameynu the words we
utter each morning:
תִּשְׁכּוֹן בְּתוֹךְ יְרוּשָׁלַֽיִם עִֽירְךָ
Dwell within Jerusalem Your city, as You spoke about,
& the throne of David, Your servant, speedily prepare it within it, &
build it an eternal structure speedily in our days.
