שאלו שלום ירושלים ישליו אהביך
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, those who love you will be serene”
And so it was that a number of years ago, Mimi and I had the opportunity to celebrate יום ירושלים in ירשלים. At that time the Synagogue where I was the Mora D’asra was privileged to donate an ambulance to Magen David Adom in Yerushalayim. It is a day etched in my mind and heart forever. There were no words to describe the gratitude expressed to us for this gesture.
We had the opportunity to walk the streets of Jerusalem and visit places we did not know existed. We spoke with people who lived in this ancient holy city for decades. Many fought in wars to protect our Jewish State. We heard the anticipation in their voices awaiting the glorious celebrations for Yom Yerushalayim. “You will have an experience you will always remember,” they told us. They were right. The word to describe it is Awesome. The singing and dancing in the streets and the dancing down to the Kotel was a sight to behold. We ate at a celebratory dinner on Mt Scopus facing הר הבית. We all said in unison
הר הבית בידינו. We Have Come Home!
We waited a long time to hear those words and nobody is going to take it away.
We give הודאה to הקב״ה for giving our soldiers the strength and the knowledge and the בטחון and the אמונה to destroy the enemy and recapture what Hashem gave to us. We Have Come Home!
This year we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem as a Golden Anniversary and we must hold dear to our sacred city and the history it brings to our glorious Jewish State.
Let us raise our voices in song ירושלים של זהב. אם אשכחך ירושלים תשכח ימיני.
With these thoughts in mind, as we celebrate this most magnificent holiday, I recall the many Blessings that are recorded in this weeks’ Sedrah B'chukosai, specifically, “והולך אתכם קוממיות לארצנו, I will lead you erect." Rashi comments that the Jew will walk and proceed in life with erect stature. In fact, the opening sentence reads, "אם בחוקותי תלכו, if you walk in my statues.״ It continues, אם מצוותי תשמרו, and keep my commandment, ועשיתם אותםand fulfill them.
Herein, we have three different expressions: תלכו, תשמרו,ועשיתם, walk, keep and do. What do these three different expressions imply and mean for our Judaic way of life.
The Torah wants to show that to be a good observant Jew it takes one to act in a gradual process.
Judaism encourages us to pursue a life of Torah, and to do so in the optimum way. One needs to start this magnificent journey with תלכו, walking slowly in the statutes of Halacha, Traveling step by step in our observances. Then we are led to the next level תשמרו, as we walk in the steps of Judaism, we need to do so with careful watching and dedication and commitment to the word of G-D. Then we enter the world of ועשיתם, we become scrupulous in the performance of Torah and Halacha. Now Judaism, with this process, becomes second nature. It becomes part of our life - a life that will always be with us and continues to grow stronger and with greater intensity as our performance becomes more internalized and cherished.
This is our ירושלים. This is the life of a Jew as he becomes more appreciative of having been blessed by Hashem with our return, not only, to our Holy Land but, even more so, to be reunited with our עיר הקודש, our Holy City, the city where the presence of Hashem is felt and experienced.
To achieve this feeling it takes a process and great patience. We must first walk into this state of קדושה, then we move to תשמרו, observing and imbibing into its Holiness, and finally using this great Bracha, to intensify our ועשיתם, our actions, leading to a dedicated and uplifting way of life.
In this light we will be zoche to see the, ביאת גואל צדק במהרה בימינו , אמן .
שבת שלום ומבורך
Many thanks to Mimi for her wonderful insight to this glorious day.
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