Orthodox Opinions: Jerusalem: keep it one, keep it safe, keep it ours

In my last blog I wrote about Jerusalem as a core concept in Judaism. I wrote about its special sanctity, a bit about its history, and about its religious significance. As I continue in these blogs to expand upon many of the core concepts in Judaism, such as Shabbat and Torah, I found it necessary to point out that Jerusalem is also such a core concept, and not merely an important capital city.
 
These days, certainly not for the first time, the world's attention is being directed to Jerusalem. Should it be kept united under Israeli sovereignty, or might it be shared with some Palestinian entity, or perhaps somehow internationalized?

To a person who has the perspective of "core Judaism", the very fact that such discussions are taking place is, to say the least, disheartening. The "core" spiritual experience of Jews throughout history has been the yearning for Jerusalem. The pain of losing the Holy City at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple was seared into the consciousness of every believing Jew. The Jew prayed, and prays still, for the restoration of a rebuilt City of Jerusalem to Jewish sovereignty every day. For one day a year we devote ourselves entirely to  reliving that pain, and even the most joyous  of holidays provides occasion for remembering the bitterness of the loss of Jerusalem.
 
Forty years ago, when Jerusalem was dramatically re-possessed by a Jewish State, all Jews felt that the pain suffered for two thousand years was now alleviated. This was no ordinary military victory, but a historic, if not messianic, event. I will not enter the debate here of whether or not the recapture of Jerusalem should be viewed theologically as a messianic event, but it certainly was experienced emotionally as something uncanny and spiritually thrilling. And no matter how jaded the Jew has become, and we certainly are jaded these days, it is difficult to visit Jerusalem without re-experiencing that thrill.
 
The Orthodox Union, of which I am executive vice president, has reacted to the discussion regarding the future of Jerusalem from this "core" experience of historical remembrance and spiritual enthusiasm. Although our traditional stance has been to not involve ourselves in the political process of the State of Israel (we are after all a Diaspora organization), we think it is necessary to make an exception in the case of Jerusalem. And so we have embarked upon a comprehensive program of "Defending Jerusalem". This program has involved us in advocacy, letter-writing, and discussions with political leaders in Israel and in the United States.
 
But our program also contains two other important components: education and spiritual response. Education for our constituency, to remind Orthodox Jews of the special place of Jerusalem in our religion, and of its special importance to us as a nation. We want to  help our people regain a sense of awe and wonder when the very word Jerusalem is mentioned, and we wish to instill within every feeling Jew a sense of gratitude to the Almighty for bestowing upon our generation a united, and easily accessible Jerusalem, something which our ancestors would have given anything to know.
 
To help achieve this we have designated Shabbat Vayetze, November 17, as Shabbat Yerushalayim. We have distributed to our synagogues, and to all interested institutions, a model schedule for this Shabbat, which includes materials regarding the current status of Jerusalem, the risks it faces, historical overviews, explanation of the ritual sanctity of the city, liturgical materials, excerpts from historical texts, and sermonic material for rabbis. We ask that special attention be given to those prayers which mention Jerusalem, and they are many. I certainly encourage the readers of this blog to look at our specially designed new website www.oujerusalem.org to access these useful materials.
 
I personally wrote a model sermon on the Portion of the Week, connecting it to the theme of Jerusalem. After all, Jacob's Ladder, planted firmly on earth but extending to heaven, was planted firmly, according to our sages, in the earth of Jerusalem. And it is in the week that the phrases "House of God" and "Gate of Heaven", phrases typically applied to Jerusalem, first appear.
 
We will stress, in our teachings and discussion and prayers this Shabbat, that we seek to displace no other faith from its Holy Site. Quite the contrary, we hope to continue the policy of the State of Israel to allow free access to the Holy Sites of all faiths to the followers of those faiths. Our dream of Jerusalem is indeed of a city at peace, and exemplifying peace. But we do not want to surrender the privilege of a Jerusalem united under Jewish sovereignty for the first time in two thousand years. And we do not want to be ungrateful to the Almighty who granted us this precious gift.
 
I hope, in your own way, that you will celebrate this Shabbat along with us as a Shabbat for Yerushalayim. Keep it one, keep it safe, keep it ours.