This is the article that I had published a few weeks ago, a revision of an earlier blog post from here. Enjoy.
At a wedding I went to a few weeks ago, one song that they song caught my attention. The song was was Yershalayim Oro shel Olam: “Jerusalem is the light of the world, and Who is the light of Jerusalem? The Holy One Blessed be He.”
What does this song mean?
The land of Israel has a very significant location. Israel is nestled between the three Old World continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa – Asia to the east, Europe to the northwest, and Africa to the southwest. Trade routes often went through Israel, and because of this, ancient Israel was a prime spot to be conquered by any new power who wished to control those trade routes. On many medieval maps, the three continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa were drawn as three petals of a flower with its center in Israel. Israel was seen as the middle of the world, and Jerusalem, in its center, as the exact center. We know today that the world has seven continents and not three, and that you can’t really define any point on a sphere as the center of the world. But this idea has a deeper message that is no less relevant today as it was in the days of spice caravans and the silk route.
Jerusalem, as the center of the Jewish people, is supposed to be the city from which Torah, including moral ethics, shines to the world. “Ki Mitzion Teitzei Torah, uDvar Hashem miYerushalyim - For from Zion will come forth Torah, and the word of God from Jerusalem.” Jerusalem today is the home of many hundreds of yeshivas, but academic study alone is insufficient to spread the word of God to the rest of the world. We must serve as a positive example as well. People look to the Jews, especially those in their “home turf”, as a model of moral behavior. When we do the right thing, or the wrong thing, people look to us as an example. Oftentimes, especially in the Diaspora, we only have the chance to be an example as individuals; when we exist in Jerusalem, in a country with Jerusalem as its capital, we are a national example.
This month, Israel, and by extension the entire Jewish people, is under the spotlight for its actions in Gaza. When people see what Israel does, they see it as reflecting the Jewish people, the Am Hashem. When Israel acts in a moral and ethical way, that creates a kiddush Hashem, a spreading of God’s light from Jerusalem. If they act otherwise, it creates a chilul Hashem, a darkening of that light.
I will leave it to others more knowledgeable to comment on whether all of Israel’s actions in Gaza were appropriate, but it’s important to remember that appearances are important too. Ethical behavior alone will not create a Kiddush Hashem if it’s not accompanied by impeccable appearances. This just creates the obligation for us, even if we are not generally political people, to do what we can in the area of hasbara, explaining to people how Israel’s actions are not just morally justified but morally positive so this light can continue to go forth.
My prayer as I sang the song, and as I write this article, is that we should continue to do the right thing, and that we should succeed in spreading the light of Judaism and the light of moral ethics to the world. It’s our job to take the light that God graciously shines on Jerusalem, and spread that light to the world. Let Jerusalem be seen rightfully as the source of light to the world, and may God be seen as the true source of light and ethics to the Jewish people and the entire world. Amen.
