Tuesday, June 14, 2022

You Can Remain in Yerushalayim Even When You are Not Physcially Here

When Ha-Rav Yisrael Be'eri, the son-in-law of Ha-Rav Yaakov Moshe Charlap, left Yerushalayim with his wife, Ha-Rabanit Chava Dina, and their children to serve as the Rabbi in Nes Tziona, Rav Charlap wrote him a letter with advice about how to stay in Yerushalayim.

He told him: May Hashem be with You, and strengthen your eyes and hearts towards the Holy Mountain of the Beit Ha-Mikdash, the earthly Yerushalayim which is directed towards the heavenly Yerushalayim (Ta'anit 5a).  "Remember Hashem from a distance, and let Yerushalayim enter your heart" (Yirmiyahu 51:50), the Rememberance of Yerushalayim is a Segulah for Purifying the Heart.  There is a known adage: "Any place where a person's thoughts are, he is located there".  Your thoughts should therefore always be about Yerushalayim and the Beit Ha-Mikdash.  And Yosef is the prime example of this.  While he was in Potiphar's house and surrounded by immorality, his thoughts were of holiness and he was therefore not negatively influenced (see Rashi on Bereshit 39:6-11).  Thus, through holy thoughts, you can truly remain in Yerushalayim (Igrot Marom, p. 112).  

And we can add that it is written in the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 94:1) that when one Davens he should face Eretz Yisrael, Yerushalayim, the spot of Beit Ha-Mikdash and the Kodesh Ha-Kodashim.  The Mishnah Berurah (#3) adds that even if one cannot face towards these places, he should feel in his heart and thoughts as if he is standing in Yerushalayim, in the Beit Ha-Mikdash, in the Holy of Holies.

Turn your heart and mind to our Holy City, and you will be with us in Yerushalayim… even when physically you are not [yet!] here.


No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

The Deep Message in the Shabbat Zemer 'Tzur Mishelo'

  We say in the Zemirot of Shabbat, in the Zemer 'Tzur Mishelo': " May the Temple be rebuilt, and the City of Zion once again b...