Shabbat Forshpeis
A Taste of Torah in Honor of Shabbat
PARSHAT BEHAR
THE DREAM OF LIVING BEYOND WALLS:
REFLECTIONS ON YOM YERUSHALAYIM
MAY 16-17, 2003/ 15 IYAR 5763
The Torah, in this weeks reading, proclaims that a house
in a walled city may be sold in perpetuity, but the owner has the right of repurchase during the first year of the sale. (Leviticus 25:29,30)
Strangely, the phrase "in a walled city" (lo spelled with a vav) is written in the Torah as "in an unwalled city" (lo with an aleph). Rashi explains this to indicate that the law applies to a city that has no walls today, as long as it had walls when Yehoshua (Joshua) conquered Israel.
A thought related to Jerusalem may also explain the intersection between a walled and an unwalled city. For nineteen years Jerusalem was split in two with a wall dividing the new city from the old. Could it be that the Torah here hints to events of contemporary times when Jerusalem with its dividing wall (lo with a vav) will become a city without walls (lo with an aleph), forever one, forever united?
In his Ikvei Parshiot, Rabbi Duschensky takes this idea a step further. The Torah may be hinting that while the fortification of Jerusalem symbolized by walls is necessary for its defense, God's help is at least as important to protect the city. To paraphrase Rabbi Duschensky, only if we realize that Jerusalem has no walls (lo with an aleph)-in the sense that we cannot only rely on ourselves but on our Father in Heaven who gives us the power to defend ourselves-will the city have true walls (lo with a vav).
And perhaps it can be added, that only when the inhabitants of Jerusalem remove the walls surrounding themselves, i.e., when the religious and irreligious come to love each other, will there be a city that is secure, at peace, whole - walled.
So the deflection from "walled city" to "unwalled city" has contemporary meaning especially during this time of year when we celebrate the reunification ofJerusalem (Yom Yerushalaim). It remains our challenge to see to it that Jerusalem never again be divided. And it remains our challenge to forever recognize that it is the spirit of God that makes Jerusalem whole. This will happen not only when we achieve peace with the enemy, but also when we shed the barriers between ourselves.
Then Jerusalem will be what its name means - Yeru, Aramaic for city, of Shalom. Shalom may come from the word shalem, whole, undivided. Shalom is also one of Gods names. And shalom, of course, means peace. Only when Jews will be whole, Godly and at peace, will the city without walls be secure and whole and walled.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Avi Weiss
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