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| Praised are you O Lord, who
in mercy rebuilds Jerusalem. Amen. |
Barukh ata adonai boneh berachamav yerushalayim.
Amen. |
Found on page 347 of Siddur Sim Shalom
The subject of Jerusalem is a difficult one for
the Jewish community. It represents for our people the very center
of our spiritual life, as the Mishna in the tractate of Brachot
points out, our hearts should be focused Jerusalem while we are
in prayer. It symbolizes the place of the Holy Temple where the
Jewish people, through the high priest met God face to face. It
is the place from where we gained inspiration and it is was the
place that saw some of our greatest defeats. There have been many
who have died in protection of it and more recently have died
in its re-establishment. Jerusalem is arguably the Holiest place
on earth with the three major religions, Judaism, Christianity
and Islam each laying claim to portions of it.
While we understand the necessity of sharing it
with others, we also believe we must maintain control over it.
While we realize the important role portions of the holy city
play in the spiritual life of the other religions we also recognize
the political pawn it has become in the development of the modern
city. It is for those reasons that a true compromise has yet to
be found about its administration. Each president of the United
States has stated they will move the United Sates Embassy to Jerusalem
in recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, yet none
have done so. There are Jews who claim we ought to retake the
temple mount while others or willing to divide Jerusalem and give
East Jerusalem to the Palestinians for a capital. We are
at odds with ourselves over the future of this sacred place. But
no one would deny its centrality and its sanctity.
This bracha is the third of four brachot of Birkat
HaMazon. It prays for the future of Jerusalem because Jerusalem
sustains our souls in the same way food sustains our bodies. If
you have ever traveled to Jerusalem the very ascension to the
holiest of places will move you in ways you could never imagine.
The touch of the Kotel, the Western wall becomes ingrained on
the subconscious. The smells are embedded in our beings. The images
are emblazoned on our souls.
This bracha reminds us that, although we like to
believe we control our fate, our destiny and our future, we ought
to remember history in the hands of God. Even if we could arrive
at a consensus about the status of Jerusalem, we must recognize
the city does not belong to us but to God, and that our use of
the city depends on our use of the city.
The key idea in this bracha is our asking God to
rebuild Jerusalem with mercy. No matter the end result of Jerusalem
the reconciliation must be found with compassion. Israel
finds itself faced with the dilemma, as The Jewish Week states
it in it cover story this past week, of a humane security. We
ought to understand the value of human life over bricks and cement,
human existence over archeological cites. If we are to have a
place to meet God it must be place founded on understanding not
built with blood. We may think we control it, but it is the ideals
God has set forth for us in our sacred tradition that will determine
its future. We have yet to find a fair result, maybe it is time
we turn to God for some answers.
Copyright © 2001 Rabbi
Yohanan Stein. All rights reserved.
New Jersey Region United Synagogue
of Conservative Judaism
PO Box 390; 1025 St. Georges
Ave
Linden, NJ 07036-0390
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2003 New Jersey USCJ. All rights reserved.
Last Updated: July 2003
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