Page 46 - Hamizrachi #30 USA 2021 Yom Yerushalayim - Shavuot

THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND

Rabbi Chanan Morrison

Tzion and Yerushalayim:

A Warning from Eretz Yisrael

hanania was a great scholar, penetrates and uplifts the inner life of
among the greatest of his distant peoples.
generation. But even after he In short, Tzion looks inward,
left for Babylon, Chanania emphasizing the city’s internal significance
Ccontinued to set the Jewish for the Jewish people, while Yerushalayim
calendar, deciding whether to add a leap looks outward, stressing the city’s universal
month and determining the first day of role as a spiritual focal point for the world.
the month. It is axiomatic that the spirit of Torah and
The sages sent Chanania the following its ideals can only flourish when the Jewish
warning: “If you insist on setting the people observe the Torah’s mitzvot. For this
calendar outside of Israel, then go build reason, the verse first stipulates that “Torah
your own altar and publicly declare that will go forth out of Tzion.” First the Jewish
you and your community in Babylon people must follow Torah and its mitzvot;
have left the Jewish people and no longer only then can G-d’s word disseminate from proper balance between the lunar year of
belong to the G-d of Israel.” The Talmud Yerushalayim to the rest of the world. The Israel and the solar year of the nations —
(Berachot 63b) explains that the Sages’ two parts of the verse thus correspond to this corresponds to the universal message
response was based on the verse, “For the dual aspects of Yerushalayim. First there emanating from Yerushalayim.
Torah will go forth out of Tzion, and must be Torah in, focusing inward. Then
G-d’s word from Yerushalayim” (Isaiah “the word of G-d” - the universal prophetic The Torah of an Entire Nation
2:3). The source of Torah - including message - can spread to the rest of the But why must the Jewish calendar be set
determining the Jewish calendar - is world, emanating from Yerushalayim, the in the Land of Israel? The restriction on
Yerushalayim and the Land of Israel. international quality of the holy city. setting the calendar in Eretz Yisrael reflects
Why is it so important that Yerushalayim a fundamental axiom of Torah. For the
be the center of Torah instruction? The Sun and the Moon Torah to influence and enlighten the world,
What does all of this have to do with it must be established as a complete Torah,
Tzion and Yerushalayim setting the calendar? According to Rav a Torah that governs all spheres of life.
We must first understand what the Kook, there are two aspects to setting the By setting the calendar outside of Israel,
difference is between Tzion and Jewish calendar. The first is to determine Chanania disconnected the Torah from
Yerushalayim in this verse. the hour of the new moon, and the second the myriad aspects of life as a nation living
Rav Kook (Ein Ayah vol. II on is to calculate whether it is necessary to in its own Land. He reduced the Torah to
Berachot 63b) explains that while Tzion intercalate an extra month so that the lunar a personal religion that only relates to the
and Yerushalayim refer to the same locale, cycle will remain in sync with the solar year ethical refinement of the individual and
they indicate different aspects of the Holy and the seasons. one’s private connection to G-d. Such an
City. Tzion literally means ‘marked’ or In rabbinical literature, the sun is often a approach impoverishes the multifaceted
‘distinctive.’ It refers to those inner qualities metaphor for the nations of the world, while richness of Torah. As the Sages warned
that distinguish the Jewish people, “a the moon represents the Jewish people. him, this was akin to setting up a private
nation who dwells alone” (Bamidbar 23:9), Thus the two calculations of the calendar altar to serve G-d - an irreparable break
with their own unique spiritual traits correspond to the two aspects of Tzion- from the true goal of Torah and the people
and aspirations. The name Yerushalayim Yerushalayim. We need to determine the of Israel.
indicates the city’s function as a spiritual time of the new moon in order to observe Adapted from Silver from the Land of Israel.
center for the entire world, influencing the the special lunar calendar of Israel — this
nations of the world. Yerushalayim is the is the internal Torah of Tzion. And we Rabbi Chanan Morrison is the author of
means by which Israel’s spirit of holiness need to declare a leap year to maintain the several books on Rav Kook’s writings.

46 |