FOR RE'EH
MAKING IT HOME
We were kibitzing with a dear friend earlier this week, when a discussion of spending Shabbos together ensued. As we chatted about which weekend would work for both families, the friend remarked, “The truth is, it is difficult to find an appropriate week for us. You see, my family, including our children and grandchildren, spends Friday nights together each week. After our children left home for schooling, we waited for this blessing for many years. Now that we are all living in close proximity, we cherish this wonderful opportunity as much as it is possibly available.”
Despite getting together almost each weekend, they were reluctant to commit to a weekend with us, so their family can be together yet again. How meaningful. How beautiful.
Families who can get together once a week, once every two weeks, or once in a while at a fixed and predictable time, create a cohesiveness which is unparalleled. This is how memories and traditions are established.
It is what family is all about.
It is also the secret of survival of the Jewish people. There are built-in frequent times – such as Shabbos and the festivals – in which the family predictably gathers for meals. These gatherings strengthen ties and bonds, proven to being pivotal for Jewish continuity.
As a large family extending from the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, the Jewish nation is instructed to gather, as a nation, three times a year at the minimum. These gatherings are to take place at the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, in honor for the three “Pilgrimage Festivals.” This mandate appears in this week’s Torah portion, “Re’eh: “Every male among you must appear before the Lord, your G-d, three times in the year, in the place He (G-d) will choose: on the festival of ‘unleavened bread’ (Passover), on the festival of ‘Weeks’ (Shavuos), and on the festival of ‘Tabernacles’ (Sukkos).” (D’varim (Deuteronomy) 16:16.) Some five-hundred years after these directions were related to the Jewish people, during the time of King David, this “Chosen Place” was identified as the holy city of Jerusalem.
And so, during the hundreds of years of Jewish people living in the Holy Land of Israel prior to the construction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and then during the 410 years of the first Temple, and again during the 420 years of the second Temple both in Jerusalem, families traveled from far and especially from near, to “Rejoice before the Lord your G-d.” (16:11;15.) Normally, entire families would make this pilgrimage. [It should be self-understood that, as a family unit, the women would normally attend these festivities. Women were exempted from this obligation for several reasons. Nonetheless, as part of the family, the women usually chose to be present.]
The gathering of all these people was an incredible spectacle. It makes perfect sense for the Jewish people to be instructed to gather, as a people, every so often. Their Father in Heaven wanted them at His “table,” and, as an extended family, it was important for the people themselves to renew ties on every level.
The question, though, begs to be asked: Since the gatherings in Jerusalem were so important on a national level, why would the Torah not specify the place? The Torah, just in this week’s portion alone, refers to Jerusalem as “the place G-d will choose” thirteen times! The Torah could have saved lots of space by calling it “Jerusalem.” True, the full name of the Holy City had yet to be revealed. Still, the future location of Jerusalem was known as “Shalem,” which is the name the Torah uses for this place previously in the days of Abraham (B’raishis (Genesis) 14:18)!
The answer is about family gatherings. Jerusalem is the eternal home of the Almighty and the Jewish people. As the verse clearly states,” The Lord, the G-d of Israel, has given rest to His people, and He dwells in Jerusalem forever.” (1 Chronicles 23:25.) Jerusalem was the city which, “when is built like a city united all together. For there the tribes ascended… for there the seats of justice were located, the thrones of the house of David” (Tehillim (Psalms) 122:3-5). It served as the uniting city for all Jewish people from the days of King David until the tragic destruction of the Second Temple by the hands of the Romans in the year 70 CE.
It did not end there, though. In addition to the city never once bereft of its (Jewish) people, throughout history, the city of Jerusalem continued to the uniting focal point of all the Jewish people. For over two millennium, each time a Jewish man or woman rises for the thrice-per-day seminal “Amidah” prayer, he or she faces Jerusalem. In the more important and intense moments of the year, Jerusalem is always recalled. As the Psalmist puts it: “If I will forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither (137:5).
And it will be the central location of the future. On the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the eternal Third Temple will be built, at the advent of the Messianic revelation. This is the city of the Almighty; this is the city of the Almighty’s nation.
Yet, no one would ever have to wait to arrive in Jerusalem to practice their Judaism, to be holy, to be G-dly, or to be unified. While Jerusalem is the unquestionable epicenter, anyone, in any place or location, has the opportunity to sanctify his or her environment through prayer, through Torah study and through virtuous and noble deeds.
By not specifying the precise location and name of Jerusalem, the Torah is imparting the fact that a mini-Jerusalem can be experienced anywhere, by following that which the Almighty specifies to be performed there.
And one of those performances is to gather together, like a family, on specific days. There is precious little more sanctified than family time.
SUMMARY: Becoming a citizen of the Holy City of Jerusalem can be achieved through performing positive and good deeds in one’s personal location.