Yom Yerushalayim

I just wanted to share with you some thoughts that came to mind last week in anticipation of Yom Yerushalayim. I think they remain equally me'inyana deyoma now as well. In Shemoneh Esrei, the bakasha is formulated ולירושלים עירך ברחמים תשוב. That we ask HaKadosh Baruch Hu, we beseech Him that He return to Yerushalayim. It's interesting that we make a point of describing and defining Yerushalayim as a city. Why don't we just say V'liyerushalayim berachamim tashuv? Why do we have to describe Yerushalayim as a city? What lich'ora is unique about Yerushalayim is that it's the third of the gimmel machanos of the Beis Hamikdash. It's the machaneh Yisrael of the gimmel machanos. Hence kodshim kalim are eaten there, ma'aser sheini, neta revai, it has the status of lifnei Hashem. That's what distinguishes Yerushalayim. And it's its uniqueness is further underscored by the many other halachos unique to Yerushalayim. עשרה דברים נאמרו בירושלים which the Gemara in Bava Kamma enumerate: אינה נעשית עיר הנדחת, ואין הבית חלוט בה, there's no din of negei batim in Yerushalayim. So Yerushalayim is special al pi din, and what's special about it, of course, is its kedusha. That being the case, so why do we give it a political definition? We define Yerushalayim as as a city. But in truth, clearly, clearly, Chazal in this bracha take their cue from many psukim well known to all of us from Tanakh. והתפללו אל ה' דרך העיר אשר בחרת בה or in this morning's Shir Shel Yom:

גדול ה' ומהולל מאד בעיר אלקינו הר קדשו. כאשר שמענו כן ראינו בעיר ה' צבאות בעיר אלקינו אלקים יכוננה עד עולם סלה.

So already in Nach we find this again description definition of Yerushalayim as a city, but again the question is that doesn't seem to be any unique distinction to Yerushalayim and doesn't seem to be much of a yichus. What al pi din, what does ir represent? What does the the notion of a city represent al pi halacha? So consider the following halacha from the Rambam in Matnos Aniyim, but there are many such halachos which which would illustrate and prove this point. The Rambam writes in Hilchos Matnos Aniyim that

כל עיר שיש בה ישראל חייבין להעמיד מהם גבאי צדקה אנשים ידועים ונאמנים.

Any city in which there's a Jewish population, they have to have gabbai tzedaka. And the gabbai tzedaka, they they levy a tzedaka tax on all the people who on all the residents of the city and they collect the money. And then in turn,

וכן מחלקין המעות מערב שבת לערב שבת ונותנין לכל עני ועני מזונות המספיקין לשבעה ימים וזו היא הנקראת קופה.

And then they distribute the tzedaka funds every Friday. On this weekly stipend, this is what's called Kuppah. And then the Rambam goes on to say that לא שמענו ולא ראינו a city which doesn't have. Now a yochid is not chayov to have a tzedoko fund necessarily, right? A yochid is chayov in

פתוח תפתח את ידך לאחיך לעניך לא תקפוץ את ידך מאחיך האביון.

A yochid is mechuyov to respond to needs again, either kefi matnas yodo, pen machsoro, or if it's an עני המחזר על הפתחים, matono muatos. But he has no chiyuv to establish a kuppo. So clearly what this halacha represents, I think in the very first issue of the Mesorah journal, this is quoted beshem Rav Chaim, that in tzedoko there's not only a chovas yochid but a chovas tzibur as well. And Rav Chaim uses that to address Tosafos's kashya about how can you be kofeh al hatzedoko if it's matan secharo betzidoh. At any rate, so there's not only a chovas yochid by tzedoko, there's a chovas tzibur. Now when does the chovas tzibur emerge? The chovas tzibur emerges in a city. So what that illustrates is that the role or the significance of a city al pi din is that it's meached. It's meached yechidim and it creates a tzibur. And again, tzibur in the sense as the Rav often said, this is written up in one of his English maamarim as well, that tzibur is not simply a massive partnership. It's not just a partnership which is comprised instead of a little partnership of two people or five people, but is comprised of many people. So the Rav said no, the pshat in tzibur rather is that a tzibur again, a partnership means there are many yechidim who are involved and a tzibur is a chativa bifnei atzma or as the Rav termed it, it's a metaphysical entity. And he proves this concept, the Rashash has something similar, he proves this concept by among other things the fact that the Gemara says that ein tzibur meis. The yechidim, right, the yechidim of any particular generation is דור הולך ודור בא, but that metaphysical entity of Klal Yisroel, that tzibur, so that the Gemara says cannot be meis. So the significance of a city is that a city is meached and it takes yechidim and it makes them into a chativa achas. It makes them into a new, again, metaphysical entity of a tzibur and that happens within the confines of a city. And again, that's why we have many halachos of chiyuvim again in a city, for instance the Gemara in Bava Basra talking about the takonah sheyiheu moshivin melamdin. So there too it says bechol ir vo'ir that you have to be moshiv melamdin in every city again because that's a chovas tzibur. The tzibur has an achrayus to see to it that the children should be taught. It's a chovas tzibur. So where does that chovas tzibur, where is that chal? Within a city. So that's the significance of a city. Yerushalayim ircha, whereas every city, every city is meached and it creates a local tzibur. Creates a local tzibur. So in Washington Heights there's a local, there's a local tzibur. If there's a certain minhag, so then the minhag is binding on the toshevei ho'ir. It's not binding, it's not binding on the toshavim of ever hayarden. Yerushalayim ircha, the reason the psukim in Nach refer to Yerushalayim as a city is because Yerushalayim again, as is the function of a city in halacha, is meached, but not simply meached a local tzibur. What's unique about Yerushalayim is that Yerushalayim is meached all of Klal Yisroel. And in fact the Malbim says in his peirush in Tehillim in Kuf Chaf Bais in the kapittel of

שמחתי באומרים לי בית ה' נלך, עומדות היו רגלינו בשעריך ירושלים,

so then the posuk says ירושלים הבנויה כעיר שחברה לה יחדו. So the Malbim says that Dovid Hamelech here describes the klallus ha'umah, he describes Klal Yisroel as a gevia, as a body, as one, one organism, right, one living being. And says that Yerushalayim functions as the lev vamoach. Yerushalayim functions as the heart and the brain, i.e., it's through Yerushalayim that the tzibur is formed, that the tzibur is formed. coalesces and that we have again the unity necessary for tzibur. And that's the significance of Yerushalayim Ircha. Then the Malbim goes on in that same kapitel and says something really with remarkable and far-reaching implications. The Malbim says on the pasuk of שאלו שלום ירושלים ישליו אוהביך. The Malbim says that if one wants to know about the welfare of Yerushalayim, Shalom the Malbim says in the sense of some external forces, so that depends upon Yishlayu on the Shalva, tranquility, inner peace, right, Shalom Hapnimi of Ohavayich, that those who love Yerushalayim, i.e., all Jews, right, who are misached through בזמן שהיה עליה לרגל, through the fact that we all went up to Yerushalayim, right, hence one of the asara nissim of the Beis Hamikdash according to the Mishna in Pirkei Avos is מעולם לא אמר אדם צר לי המקום שלנתי בירושלים because again, that would be a stira to what Yerushalayim is. Yerushalayim is ma'ached kol Yisrael. It's inconceivable that anyone shouldn't that Yerushalayim shouldn't be able to accommodate everyone. מעולם לא אמר אדם צר לי המקום שלנתי בירושלים. The Malbim says that the Shalom of Yerushalayim, the peace of Yerushalayim from outer external forces depends upon the Yishlayu Ohavayich on the inner tranquility, on the Shalom which exists amongst Jews. And the Malbim says, it's amazing, you'll take a look, the Malbim says and what guarantees the Shalom of Yerushalayim is the Yishlayu Ohavayich. So if one wants to know Sha'alu Shalom Yerushalayim, so the answer the Malbim says is not to be defined necessarily through political prognosis, but rather look and see whether or not Yishlayu Ohavayich. If only Yishlayu Ohavayich, so then the Malbim says one can be assured what the that the answer is in the affirmative with regard to Sha'alu Shalom Yerushalayim. The implications of the Malbim are obvious. We, I think all of us, are haunted, should be haunted by what are we doing, what can we be doing during such an eis tzara. So clearly, clearly to reinforce both in attitude as well as geographical proximity to the extent that each one כפי כחו כפי השגת ידו to reinforce our tie with Eretz Yisrael, but also the Malbim tells us that Sha'alu Shalom Yerushalayim, the havtacha which Dovid Hamelech tells us that Sha'alu Shalom Yerushalayim to ensure the Shalom of Yerushalayim is Yishlayu Ohavayich and that the mitzvas hasha'ah is Ahavas Yisrael, simply that there should be more and more Ahavas Yisrael. You know when there's an eis tzara, yifashpesh b'ma'asav, yimashmesh b'ma'asav. It's very difficult, it's very difficult for someone to say that I know what the cause is or I can identify b'hei hayedia what it is that the Ribbono Shel Olam is tovei'a from us. But lichora, one way to at least understand part of the answer is if one looks and sees what it is that the eis tzara has elicited from us. What is it that the eis tzara has forcefully drawn from within us? So clearly, clearly one of the things which we've all witnessed and baruch Hashem participated in over the past weeks is that there's been a tremendous sense again of transcending all the sinas chinam and all the divisiveness which exists within Klal Yisrael and that when Rachmana Litzlan when the anti-Semites don't distinguish between one Jew and another Jew, between a Jew of this stripe and a Jew of another stripe, so then we also don't, right, we in closing ranks to try to help and identify with acheinu Bnei Yisrael, so we're also moved to this sense of achdus. So one can only wonder what would happen if we didn't need such tzaros and such yissurim and such attacks. From the outside in order to foster that sense of achdus, maybe at least in part, that would undercut, again, the need, because if only we could be moved and be nis-orer to that reaction of Yisrael v'Avicha, so then we wouldn't need to hear of the anti-semitism sweeping Europe or rachmana litzlan of all the terrible, terrible tragedies in Eretz Yisrael to foster this sense of Yisrael v'Avicha.