Yom
Yerushalayim Inside Yom HaAtzmaut
by
בס"ד
Historically,
our returning to Eretz Yisrael began in the early-mid 18th century, and by the
time we fought the War of Independence in1948, for some two hundred years Jews
had already been settling in Yerushalayim. However, before the dust of war had
settled, we'd already been driven out of the Old City of Yerushalayim and away
from the
As we all
know, 'Yom HaAtzmaut', Independence Day, is all about our finally receiving
some portion of Eretz Yisrael and being blessed with the opportunity to begin
rebuilding our home. What we also all know, but all too often forget, is that
the joy of Yom HaAtzmaut is not the joy that we HAVE returned as a People, as
Am Yisrael, to Eretz Yisrael, the Holy Land. It is the joy that we ARE
returning - constantly, every single day returning. Our returning is called
't'shuvah' (usually translated incorrectly as 'repentance'), and it means that
we are returning to the essence of what we are: to our sanctity.
Decidedly,
there are many who would not accept what I've just said, but it's not something
that can be argued. It's a question of 'seeing', and there are times when we
just can't see. There are times when we are so overwhelmed by absolute darkness
that we're prevented from seeing. There are times when we can actually
physically see or mentally picture but we 'can't see'. There are times when the
light is so great that we close our eyes against it. For some, the light of Yom
HaAtzmaut is the greatest of darkness, for others absolutely visible yet
totally unrecognizable, and for others totally impossible to look at. Only
those who clearly understand just how much we are returning to the sanctity of
who and what we are are capable of seeing what Yom HaAtzmaut truly is.
In the
Shemoneh Esrei, towards the end of the blessing "Modim anochnu lach…"
we say, "…shehb'col ait, erev, boker, v'tzhoraim…" in every time
[frame] - evening, early morning, and noon [high day]. This means many things,
such as the time of day or the time of life, and etc., and it also means like
this.
We're all
praying and crying, longing and yearning for the Messianic Era, for the long
awaited day when Peace and Blessing will have Sovereignty over existence. That
'long awaited day' is also composed of an evening, morning, and noon. It is a
day whose formation began with the beginning of creation, and a day whose
completion will bring into fulfillment all the fruition that creation is meant
to be. Throughout the time span of existence we have labored and toiled to
bring about its completion, and each epoch of creation has been blessed with
its contribution.
As we all
know, today we live in the time that is called 'ekvei d'Mashicha', the
footsteps of the Messiah [the Messianic Era]. We are blessed to literally be
sitting on the doorstep. It is late in the day and so much seems yet to be
done, but curiously there is such an air, such a feeling of impending
acceleration. Just as the light of so much that has already been is seemingly
being extinguished, already we are seeing new light that is beckoning us from
the new day that is forming.
The light
of Yom HaAtzmaut is the light of that new day. We want to anchor it in
yesterday and say, "it came from there,' when in reality it is really
anchored in the beginning of tomorrow for the building of what comes after.
What we never saw, except for those who were blessed to know, is that we always
were and are only building the day after tomorrow. Those who do know have the
ability to comprehend 'where we are now and what we're doing', but they know
that, "It's not for now. It's for 'where we're going and for what we have
to do' that is what it's all about."
The light
of Yom HaAtzmaut is our beginning to see the splendor of how we will look when
we finally and blessedly return to all that we are, to all the immense sanctity
that unites us eternally to the Holy One, Blessed be He.
I think
that seeing the light of Yom HaAtzmaut, like so many others things, is
something which we have to ask the Holy One, Blessed be He, to help us see it.
Nonetheless, I think that sometimes we see it without realizing it. Has anyone
ever stopped to think that were we to place the last century, the 20th century,
on a balance, the first half would be burdened with destruction and disaster:
WWI, the Great Depression, WWII, the Holocaust, while the second would bear
tremendous prosperity, growth, and advancement? And where does the fulcrum
lie….midway, right? And midway is right
under the establishment of the State of Israel!
Whether we
accept this or not, it's as perplexing an enigma as a questioning Jew could
ever confront, and one that no one who is consciously and conscientiously a Jew
could ever leave unanswered. But that's for homework; let's return to
Yerushalayim now.
Given that
Yerushalayim is physically a part of Eretz Yisrael, there doesn't seem to be
any need to separate it, yet very clearly God distinguished between the joy of
our returning to Eretz Yisrael and the joy of our returning to Yerushalayim.
The
deepest truth of Eretz Yisrael and Yerushalayim is that each is the opposite of
the other. As we've learned before, when commanding us in the Midbar to build
the 'Mishkhan', God says, "V'asu li mikdash v'shachanti b'tocham." -
Make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in your [not: 'its'] midst. God doesn't
desire a physical residence for the sake of His dwelling in it. The singular
reason for the building of the entire Mishkhan is, "v'shachanti - and I
will dwell - b'tocham", not 'in its midst, i.e. inside the Mishkhan,' but
'in your (pl.) midst, i.e. inside you (pl.).' God's desire and design is that
He will dwell inside us literally.
The
essence of Eretz Yisrael is Yerushalayim, and the purpose of Yerushalayim is
that the Holy One, Blessed be He, will dwell inside us literally. Since
obviously we all can't live in Yerushalayim, but we can live in the rest of
Eretz Yisrael, clearly 'v'shachanti b'tocham' means that wherever we will be
living God will dwell inside us. His presence in Yerushalayim allows his
essence to radiate and penetrate to the furthest reaches of Eretz Yisrael, and our
desire is that wherever we will be living in Eretz Yisrael that the Holy One,
Blessed be He, will be dwelling with us. This is what we call 'd'veikut',
cleaving to God, which really means creating and having constant awareness of
God's presence.
Good! But
if so, why is it necessary to come to Yerushalayim at all?
Seemingly,
the answer must be that just as Eretz Yisrael is where our essence attaches to
God's, Yerushalayim is where God's essence attaches to ours. This explanation
helps us to understand why in Sefer Tehilim David HaMelech often calls it
'Yerushalem' - a singular word. As we know, a word ending with 'ayim' is
plural, and the first plural is 'a pair'. (For example: 'regal': foot -
'reg'layim': two feet, 'ayin': eye
-
'ainayim': two eyes, etc.) David HaMelech's teaching let's us learn that
'Yerushalayim' is the union of the 'Yerushalem' that is God's, and of the
'Yerushalem' that is ours.
'Yerushalayim'
- the joining of 'Yerushalem' to 'Yerushalem' - is all the deepest inner
desires that we have to be together and all the exalted joy when we are. It is
the innermost connection in existence, as we see in the blessings that we give
a chatan and a kallah. "May you be blessed that the Shechinah - the Divine
Presence - dwell between you."
Mostly we understand 'between' to mean 'with' in the sense of alongside
and accompanying. But if we pause for a moment and say, "we have a secret
'between' us," then we understand 'between' differently: it's what we
share.
The first
understanding of 'between' is Eretz Yisrael; the second understanding is
'Yerushalayim'. We need and want both, but we also recognize that while each
demands the other, each is also distinct. In God's distinguishing between Eretz
Yisrael and Yerushalayim, He is letting us know that neither can have existence
without the awareness of the uniqueness of the other.
For those
who say Tehilim according to the day of the month, they know that the 27th of
Iyar, erev Yom Yerushalayim, is when the fifteen 'Shir HaMa'alot', the fifteen
'Songs of Ascent' are sung. David HaMelech composed the fifteen 'Songs of
Ascent' corresponding to the fifteen steps, or levels, that one ascends in the
Beit HaMikdash.
From the
start until completion, as he ascends David HaMelech is singing, "Master
of the Universe, I'm bringing [up to] you my 'Yerushalem'. Master of the
Universe, please give me your 'Yerushalem.
Master of the Universe, please let us build Yerushalayim together."
"Yerushalayim,
habinuya k'ir shehchubrah lah yachdav."
Yom
Yerushalayim S'meach,
Daniel
Nakonechny
Beit El
27 Iyar
5766