Eternity is Jerusalem
By HaRav Dov Begon, Head of Yeshivat Machon Meir
On the verse spoken by King David, of blessed memory, “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the splendor, the eternity, and the glory,” Rabbi Akiva interprets: “The term ‘eternity’ is Jerusalem” (Berakhot 58a). The Maharsha explains: “for Jerusalem is the victory of Israel.”
Indeed, the victory of Israel over its enemies, in the past, present, and future, is revealed and made manifest through the sovereignty of the Jewish People in Jerusalem, as it is written: “For there thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David” (Psalms 122), and as we pray daily: “And to Jerusalem, Your city, return in mercy… and speedily establish the throne of David within it” (Amidah prayer).
Even today, not only in the past, the eternity and the glory of God are revealed in Jerusalem (Daniel 9) as a result of Israel’s victories. In our generation, the generation of Israel’s national rebirth, which has been marked by wars, eternity was revealed in Jerusalem through a crushing victory over our enemies in the Six-Day War, which was the War of the Liberation of Jerusalem.
However, our enemies have still not come to terms with Israel’s victory and continue to plot evil and fight us in an attempt to conquer Jerusalem and extinguish the light of the world. But it shall not arise and shall not be! As it is said: “Why do the nations rage, and the peoples imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His anointed” (Psalms 2). Not only do the Arabs fight us with terrorism, war, and so-called “peace” in order to conquer Jerusalem, but also Europe and other countries in the world join them and encourage them, for it pains them to see Am Yisrael rise to life again in the Land of Israel and in its eternal capital, Jerusalem. They wish to make “Jerusalem and Your people a reproach” (Daniel 9), but they will not succeed. On the contrary, we will prevail over all of them with a great victory, as the prophet Ezekiel declares: “Upon the mountains of Israel you shall fall, you and all your hordes and the peoples with you…” and as a result: “I will be magnified and sanctified, and I will make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they shall know that I am the Lord…” – as He promised: “They shall dwell in the Land that I gave to My servant Jacob, wherein your fathers dwelt, and they shall dwell therein, they and their children and their children’s children forever, and My servant David shall be their prince forever. And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them. I will establish them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever” (Ezekiel 39: 4-7).
As the Prophet notes, critical to this triumphant victory is the ingathering of the exiles. When her children return to her borders, Jerusalem is infused with a Celestial Blessing more powerful than atomic bombs. Mashiach ben David leads the Divinely-Empowered Israelite Nation to everlasting victory and the Beit HaMikdash ushers in a new era of eternal peace. The key is in our hands. The ingathering has long ago started and Jerusalem is waiting for all of her scattered children to come home. May it be soon. Amen.
[In honor of Jerusalem Day, Tzvi Fishman, a long-time student of HaRav Begon and a teacher at Yeshivat Machon Meir, has created an uplifting musical video “My Children are Coming Home”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfIY9hEEPtE].
