Trying
to define or describe Jerusalem is the same futile endeavor to fathom the God
of the Jews. The reason is quite simple, because Jerusalem and God belong to
each other.
The “place” of God’s presence in the world is as sacred as He is,
and the name of the city confirms this fact. Our Jewish oral tradition offers
two essential meanings.
One
tells us that there were two cities opposite to each other and separated by the
valley of Josephat. These were Shalem and Yieru, that many centuries later were
unified by King David. Hence the Psalmist is considered the founder of the
city, who established it as the eternal and undivided capital of Israel.
The
other version is that the city was originally named Shalom, “peace”, and after
Abraham’s offering of his son Isaac, he renamed it “Yierushalem”. This one is
usually translated in two complementary ways, “shall appear in peace” or “shall
be seen in peace”, in reference to God. Both are in the future tense, because
this was going to be the place that He chose for His Temple, the dwelling of
His presence in the world.
In
this sense Jerusalem and its Temple are inherent to each other, because God’s
presence dwells in the same place. This definition is accurate to describe it as
eternal and indivisible, which are also attributes of the God of the Jews.
In
his book of Psalms, King David reflected on these premises with his profound
spiritual insight and awareness of what this city means and represents as the
capital of the Jewish people in particular, and for humankind in general.
The
Psalmist revealed for us ways and attributes inherent in God and in Jerusalem,
intended not as definitions of both, but as qualities that we find as bonds for
each other. We will reflect and expand on these as we quote the verses in the psalms where King David refers to Jerusalem, Zion and the Temple as the same
place.
The
Jewish oral tradition does not offer specific meanings for Zion, but only as a
synonym of Jerusalem and its Temple. Thus we understand and assimilate that
Zionism is the fundamental and structural belief of Judaism in Jerusalem as the
divinely chosen capital of Israel.
In this context Judaism is Zionism, and the
Jews are inherently Zionists. This belief is the foundation to approach God’s
presence in the world.
Let’s
begin King David’s journey into Jerusalem, and let us by enlightened by God’s
presence in the capital, the eternal head of Israel.
“And I have established My
king upon Zion, the mount of My sacredness.”
(Psalms
2:6)
The
Hebrew Bible mentions quite often that God is sacred, as a reference to follow
His ways, attributes and commandments.
“Speak
to all the congregation of the children of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall
be sacred, for the Lord your
God is sacred’.” (Leviticus 19:1)
We
understand sacredness not only as one of God’s attributes, but also as a precondition to be before His presence. Thus we realize sacredness as something
we need to be and have in order to bond with our Creator. Hence Zion is the mount
of His sacredness, where He establishes His king as the ruler who better
understands and implements God’s will for His people.
It
can’t be otherwise, for God’s sacredness requires both a sacred place to dwell
in the world, and a sacred king to rule for the sake of sacredness. The point
here is to understand it as a quality or qualities that exclude all that is
alien to God’s ways, means and attributes.
Thus we assimilate that it is about
goodness, and what is related to goodness as what makes us sacred and connected
to the Creator.
The
fact that the verses indicates “establishment” implies that all related to Zion
and Jerusalem is meant to exist for eternity.
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