The Multifaceted Relationship between Jerusalem and the Land of Israel
SICHOT OF THE ROSHEI YESHIVA
YOM YERUSHALAYIM
SICHA OF HARAV
The Multifaceted Relationship between
Translated by
"A song, a
psalm of the sons of Korach: Great is the Lord, and highly praised, in the city
of our God, the mountain of His holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of
the whole world
In these opening verses of the chapter of Tehillim recited on Mondays,
the psalmist speaks of Jerusalem as an independent location both in terms of
esthetics, "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole world," and in terms
of the Divine Presence dwelling there "Great is the Lord, and highly praised,
in the city of our God, the mountain of His holiness." However, there is also
another perspective on the holy city one that views
The relations between Eretz Yisrael and
In Hilkhot Terumot (1:5), the Rambam writes that Eretz Yisrael
attained its holiness for all future generations only through the conquest and
settlement at the time of Ezra:
"All of the lands
that [the Jews] who ascended from
In contrast,
in Hilkhot Beit Ha-bechira (6:14), the Rambam writes that Jerusalem was
consecrated for all generations already in the building of the First Temple. He
goes on to explain the difference between the two categories of holiness:
"Why do I say that the original consecration sanctified the Temple and Jerusalem
for eternity, while in regard to the
consecration of the remainder of Eretz Yisrael,
in the context of the Sabbatical year, tithes, and other similar [agricultural]
laws, [the original consecration] did not sanctify it for eternity?
Because the sanctity of the Temple and Jerusalem stems from the Shekhina
(divine presence), and the
Shekhina can never be
nullified
In contrast, the [original] obligation to keep the laws of the Sabbatical year
and tithes on the Land stemmed from the fact that it was conquered by the
[Jewish people, as a] community.
Therefore, when the land was taken from their hands [by the Babylonians,] their
[original] conquest was nullified. Thus, according to Torah law, the land was freed from the
obligations of the Sabbatical year and of tithes because it was no longer Eretz Yisrael.
Thus, as explained in
Hilkhot
Teruma, it is necessary to keep the laws of the Sabbatical years and
the tithes [on this land] even though it was taken from [the Jewish people in
later years]." (ibid., law 16)
The Ra'avad (ad loc.)
disagrees:
"This is the Rambam's own conclusion; I do not know how he arrives at
it. For in several places in the Mishna we find, 'If there is no
The Ra'avad seems to suggest that the two levels of holiness the holiness of
Eretz Yisrael and the holiness of
Ra'avad does, however, agree that the holiness of
The mutual relations between
Here, again, the national status of
Specifically in our times it is important to emphasize the mutual relationship
between
On the other hand, there is a sense that among other groups the recognition of
Even if we lack influence on the political level, it is important that we, as
students in the beit midrash, uphold this view on the ideological level.
On this day, as we commemorate and celebrate
(This sicha was
delivered on Yom Yerushalayim 5760 [2000].)