The Jewish Holidays; The Meaning of Yeretz Yisrael

by drawing upon classical jewish texts and upon thoughts of many modern jewish thinkers i shall attempt to articulate a number of the historical and spiritual associations which bind the jewish people to air its israel to the land of israel this broadcast is taking place and was approximately the anniversary of the six day war a war which reunited jerusalem as such it is a particularly timely topic of significance to both christians and jews for just prior to and during the war the jewish community was less stunned and endangered when an appeal for moral support was met with a painful songs in the part of too many of the christian clergy how could this have occurred in the era of dialogue and as has been repeated often since that time the reason for christian silence may well have been the result of a failure in communication as stated most recently by father drennan a jazz legend dean of boston college law school the position of jews with respect to israel might have been better understood and consequently

elicited a more sympathetic response her genes only explain it clear what israel really means to them given the limitations of this brief program i would like to address myself to just this question what does eminence you so mean to the jew perhaps my difficulty in describing this emotional religious and historical attachment can be better understood if those were listening would recall that now famous photograph of the israeli paratroopers in a moment of exaltation unabashedly weeping at the western or wailing wall for us is the same goes a picture is worth a thousand words the significance of that photograph is all but impossible to portray in words those men at that moment could find no words they could find no other means of articulating their historically and spiritually rooted emotional response other than to cry as children shedding tears of joy tears of police

giving vent to the pent up anguish following nineteen hundred years of foreign domination how else could they express the accumulated love of more than three centuries how else could they relate the fulfillment of a never abandon hope of more than a hundred generations that the earthly jerusalem the city of peace had been restored to jewish hands the overwhelming emotional reaction of jews throughout the world to the reunification of jerusalem came as no surprise to anyone who was familiar with the single most important anthology of jewish theological writings the sea door the traditional prayer book through daily use of the prayer book ever since the destruction of the temple in jerusalem and even earlier the traditional judaism and taint a constant dialogue with aaron cicero and with jerusalem no significant occasion a lot of joyous or sad is marked with

all dimensions of emiratis row no holiday no prayer service not even a meal passes without a prayer for the restoration of zion each and every day the traditional jewelry calls jerusalem at least a half dozen times and usually more at birth for example the child is welcomed into the community with the words may become more they to ascend in the holy pilgrimage tj of the three festivals and a deaf a bag of earth for merit cicero was placed under the head of the deceased the bereaved are greeted with the words of comfort level or come for you among all those that mourn for zion in jerusalem drew sewell herself rejoices a beach wedding two of the seven blessings recited at the wedding service describes i'm strolling one blessing reads new zion rejoice as her children are restored to her enjoy praise be thou lord who causes on to rejoice at her children's return the other

blessing says praise be thou lord our god king of the universe who created joy and gladness bride and groom mirth song polite and rejoicing love brotherhood peace and fellowship oh lord our god and there soon be heard in the city of juba and in the streets of jerusalem the voice of joy and gladness the voice of bride and groom the jubilant voice of those joined in marriage under their bridal canopy the wedding ceremony is concluded with a breaking of a glass and remembrance of the destruction of jerusalem for since the destruction no joy not even the joy of marriage is complete three full weeks of sorrow each year commemorate the destruction during this period and especially during the last nine days signs of mourning they're observed the very last day the ninth of olive on the hebrew calendar the day in which according to tradition the destruction took

place is a day of fasting as mourners juice it mourning for their land and chanting allowed the book of limitations all holy days for that matter as for example don't keep poor and passover are concluded by jews everywhere with a fervently shouted phrase the sha na humble on the initial i am next year in jerusalem jerusalem a similarly recalled and the graves resigned after all meals we pray have mercy oh lord our god on is really are people in jerusalem your city and on mount zion the dwelling place of your glory built jerusalem the holy city speedily in our days morning noon and night at the three daily service is the jew where every maybe faces in the direction of jerusalem as required by jewish law and petitions the lord these petitioners include a section devoted to the rebuilding of jerusalem and to

jerusalem your city return and mercy and well there and as you have spoken rebuild its own in our days in an everlasting form it isn't these prayers as well as many others too numerous to mention that the jew continually fulfills the words of a song list never to forget jerusalem if i forget the old jerusalem let my right hand fail but my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if i set not jerusalem above my chief joy is specifically through the liturgy and the moment or jiggle religious writings are sighted and studied in the homes and institutions of the jewish community that the jewish people continuously asserted their right and title to address its role in the words of the eminent theologian abraham joshua heschel and i quote this continuous uninterrupted insistence an intimate ingredients of the jewish consciousness is at the core of jewish history a vital element of jewish faith

in our search for the roots of this love for aaron cicero the logical place to begin is at the very beginnings of jewish history as their history unfolds in the biblical narrative the initial association of the people of israel with the land of israel is uniquely conceived where as all other nations of the world for made binding relationship to their homelands by virtue of their experience in those lands that show in israel are bound eternally to their homeland erases well even before they enter of cicero such is the character of the promised to abraham get the fourth to the land which i will show you god gives the land of canaan to abraham and his descendants as an eternal possession before abraham has ever seen the land or had a child to inherit it such is the reaffirmation of god's of moses a promise to lead the children of israel from the bondage of egypt to the land of their fathers abraham isaac and

jacob a land flowing with milk and honey this land is special is different from all other lands as described in deuteronomy it is a land which the lord your god looks after and which the lord your god always keeps his eye from years beginning to year's end biblical faces affronted by any attempt to impugn the vital link between the people of israel and the land of israel one meaningful example must suffice the sin of the golden calf the great sin of the people in the wilderness that sin was forgiven but when after the report of the scalps the israelites lost their faith in ever entering earth's israel that's in was unforgettable as a consequence of that sin an entire generation was condemned to death in the wilderness god four gave those who demean

his honor he would not so to speak forgive them who slander the promised land just as there is his role as a special land so to jerusalem as a special city was in that land tradition has linked the martin upon which abraham offered isaac as having been in jerusalem the references and deuteronomy to the place which the lord will choose was after king david understood only as jerusalem an abiding sanctity was attached to the city and to the temple of solomon which it housed the psalmist refers to jerusalem as the city of god the holy us dwelling place of the most high and again the perfection of duty the joy of the whole earth the city of the great king jerusalem from the time of david was the central city of paris cicero she symbolize both the place of god's presence and peace

the psalmist again captures the spirit pray for the peace of jerusalem near they prosper that love you peace and be within your walls and prosperity within your palaces for my brother and in companion sake i will i'll say peace be within you the destruction which over to the temple in jerusalem was viewed by the profits as a sign that the people had not acted in a manner worthy of keeping her the theological interpretation of history of the prophets you'd the destroyers as the rot of god's anger chastising his people but those same profits as well as second isaiah and others who follow the destruction also had words of comfort and hope it was very who articulated the promise of a redemption which was to include both the rebuilding of jerusalem and the temple as well as in gathering of the exiles this restoration would take place as a result of an inner

reformation of the people this restoration would simultaneously demonstrate to the whole world that god alone rules of the universe the second isaiah describe the in gathering of the exiles as follows behold i will lift up my hand to the nations and set up my ensign to the peoples and they shall bring your songs in their bosom and your daughters shall be carried upon their show bears and king shall be your foster fathers and their queens your nursing mothers they shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth and lick the dust of your feet and you shall know that i am the lord for those that weighed for me shall not be ashamed the stages of the period of the second temple who inherited the biblical tradition from the prophets and the rabbis who follow them after the destruction of a temple in the year seventy of the common

era interpreted the biblical literature and exploded about six hundred thirteen commandments they said there are ten degrees of holiness and as cicero is the holy of storms the walled city of jerusalem is holier than the other cities of parrots a stroll eventually the rabbis come to the holiest place of all namely the holy of whole leaves in the temple itself for religious purposes the importance of her sister elle is emphasize by the fact that they divide the world into only to geographical localities one was haaretz land meaning israel the other was owned slow arts or outside the land and just as haaretz signified their its use of the l so too hot here the city referred to jerusalem to the sages these were more than figures of speech that

cicero was the land the pivot about which all religious life should revolve to quote historian person cohen however literally such an kono orser monica rhetoric were understood these were in the final analysis but symptoms of the actual place which the land occupied in the life of the people the sensuality of the holy land or jewish religion derives from the fact that scripture makes a considerable part of its law and ritual contingent upon possession of the country by the people all of the agricultural laws of scripture are of course specifically connected with the killing of the soil of the whole deal and moreover with a different comic restriction of the sacrificial called to jerusalem the temple service became confined to one area within the holy land in the area of civil law the cities of refuge for persons guilty of manslaughter

could be established only in palestine in short the toll road itself makes it plain that its law can conceivably be fulfilled in its entirety only in the land of israel it is with this area of ritual performance namely with the law's contingent upon the land that's fully one third of rabbinical aha rabbinic law is concerned and quote accordingly a third century midrashic source raised the following question why was moses our teachers so eager to enter the land of israel was he in need of its fruits or its bounty moses however pleaded with the almighty the people of israel have been given many commands which can only be fulfilled in the land permit me to enter that i too they fulfill them personally listener josh oregon a comely is supplemented by hundreds of others

intended to encourage the people living in israel to remain while at the same time to entice others to return from ago from exile during the period following the destruction especially after the defeat of barco bar in the year one thirty five life in the land was not easy in any began to emigrate in search of livelihood and physical security and so to emphasize the importance of living in air of cicero rabbis of that time were quoted in their sermons and writings as making such statements as robbie open and sad one who walks a distance of six feet and heiresses row may be confident of a share in the world to come another rabbi was quoted the merits of living and as cicero is equal to the merit of observing all the other commandments but the rabbis did more than just preach to discourage immigration

they enacted laws which made living in hordes florida's outside the land less desirable and within the land more desirable at least for the scrupulous observers hands anyone leaving heiress israel became automatically defiled and was required to undergo ritual purification one rabbinic lot even stated if the husband wishes to go to artists rail but his wife refuses she may be compelled to go if she refuses to comply she may be divorced and forth as her marriage contract conversely if she wishes to go and he refuses he may be compelled to go if he still refuses is compelled to divorce her and pay her marriage contract in full from these sources and others we can see the traditional judaism always taught that to live an air of cicero even when it was populated and governed by non

jews was considered a great religious privilege and virtue one was expected to forego affluence and personal comfort so as to dwell on a land where you might experience the divine presence regardless however of how much the rabbis may have encouraged ali are or immigration to bear its israel and discouraged you retire or emigration from aaron cicero they never legislated anything which would sever the bond with jews living outside the wind it was their genius to have transcended the limitations of land temple and clergy as pre requisites for personal religious fulfillment in essence what they did was to make the observance of the law outside jerusalem and israel possible only to the extent that the obligation was personal rather than territorial nonetheless the emphasis on the territory was understandable

their vision of restoration was motivated by the same forces which motivated the prophet's namely it was felt that the optimal conditions for maintaining a flourishing created jewish culture could exist only in the jewish homeland under jewish self government and so following the destruction the rabbis instituted new ceremonies and new liturgical forms to keep busy so i'm constantly in the mind of jews everywhere these institutions were called is in lahore bomb memorials to the destruction a number of which i mentioned earlier also at this time as proof that territorial destruction did not mean rejection by god the messianic ideal of scripture acquired new significance one popular belief held that on the day the temple was destroyed the messiah was

born alija who according to the bible did not die became the herald of the messiah a symbol of jewish suffering in jewish pope similar to massage elijah became the symbol for the whole people exiled and tortured but alive and hopeful throughout the long and bleak medieval period the jews never gave up their tenuous foothold in the land of their fathers the messianic expectation of restoration if anything grew stronger over the course of centuries the land was conquered and we conquered more than a dozen times and yet the jew firmly believed that these were only temporary phenomenal someday these interlopers would yield to the messiah my monitor news foresaw the jewish resettlement of jerusalem as a precondition of the messianic era an era of peace

poets wrote of exile and redemption other groups after the crusades began filtering back to the land taking up residence and establishing good babies and learning in sixteenth century suffered and jerusalem of that period other door mcgeary expressed his feelings and the feelings of his people for jerusalem and the following pool which has since been such a music become a favored of jews everywhere from the summit in moscow opus i bow me down before the from the summit of mount scope this truce will migrate they a hundred generations i have dreamt of the hoping once more to see you by face jerusalem jerusalem shine forth upon my son by rulers a jerusalem i will rebuild each one from the summit in moscow this truce will migrate they thousands of exiles from

afar lift up their eyes to the a thousand blessings we will sing city and temple of arcane jerusalem jerusalem i will lobster from hear jerusalem jerusalem come on messiah come near them are anchored in jewish history beginning with the air of emancipation brought without high hopes and grave disappointments the zionist movement and its newest form was a product of this post emancipation era but as i have attempted to demonstrate it was only an illogical and activist descendent of a messianic hopes of the jewish people throughout the ages the story however leading to the rebirth of the state of israel and the reunification of jerusalem is a subject for another occasion the fact that in religious circles this present time is referred

to as the beginning of the redemption and restoration and not the final redemption itself is mirrored in the words of abraham joshua heschel to quote dr heschel this generation is suddenly devoid of the ability to be loyal of the ability of fidelity which means of the ability to dream to have a vision two thousand years we have dreamt we have a dream two thousand years we have waited prayed and it is the result of that dreaming about waiting that israel came into being what is necessary now is to realize that we are at the very beginning of a great development but we need a new dream we still have to dream of a great and beautiful israel we have to teach our children of what we anticipate what we pray for what we work for we must teach our children hold a dream of a great and peaceful and human

israel and israel in which we can witness key needs see own kids i had to rock the tall rod the law of the lord coming forth from xi'an our children have to dream we have to be involved in their dream inspire them with a great train show the young people in america today who are waiting to be taught how to dream a great dream this twentieth century dream the professor heschel speaks of is the underlying dream of the jewish people because of this dream paratroopers can cry profits can give hope and playing people can pray for the redemption no one has expressed this yearning for the restoration of zion that her the most almost over twenty five hundred years ago and his poetic symbolism was also in terms of a dream i conclude by reading the one hundred twenty seventh song when the lord brought that those the return

to zion we were like and to them the dream that was our mall filled with laughter in our tongue with song then said they among the nations the lord has done great things for them the lord has done great things for us we're at we rejoiced turn our captivity oh lord as the streams in the dry land they've had so into years shall reap enjoy though he goes on his way weeping bearing the store of seed he shall come back with joy bearing his shoes