Page 9 - Hamizrachi #30 USA 2021 Yom Yerushalayim - Shavuot

MIZRACHI EDUCATORS TORAT MIZRACHI

Rabbanit Shani Taragin

Yerushalayim of Gold:

The Crown of Torah Continuity and Commitment

abbi Akiva consistently saw and between the lines. These crowns rep- is it to go out with a City of Gold orna-
the beauty of Yerushalayim, resent Divine depth and beauty beneath ment? Only an important woman, and
even in the direst of circum- the surface, yet were evident to Rabbi in that case there is no concern, as an
stances. While his peers Akiva as clear as day. For Rabbi Akiva, important woman does not remove orna-
Rresponded to the site of the the crowns of the Torah linked him to the ments and show them to others.
destroyed Temple and jackals emerging Torah of Moshe Rabbenu and inspired I learned from my esteemed and
from the Kodesh Kodashim with cries, his commitment for the future of Torah beloved mentor, Rabbanit Malka Bina
Rabbi Akiva laughed; he saw a different continuity in every aspect of his life. (Yikirat Yerushalayim 5781), that each
Yerushalayim – one that would be rebuilt That’s why when Rabbi Akiva and his Tanna is expressing a different view
(Makkot 24b). beloved wife Rachel were married and regarding one’s commitment to Yerusha-
Rabbi Akiva’s unshakable faith and were so poor that they would sleep in a layim/Torah. Some see the crown of
vision were rooted, as Rav Kook explains storehouse of straw, Rabbi Akiva would Yerushalayim/Torah as a burden to
(Alumah 1936), “in a profound love of gather strands of straw from her hair and remove when convenient. Others see
G-d. This love so filled his pure heart that say, “If I had the means I would place on affiliation with Yerushalayim/Torah as
the future was a certain reality, leaving no your head a Jerusalem of Gold (a golden an ornament to display and “show off”
room to mourn over the disasters of the crown with an engraving of the city of one to the other. Rabbi Eliezer’s explana-
present.” This love enabled him to look Yerushalayim).” 1 tion, as taught to Rabbi Akiva, is that an
and learn beyond the present, beyond the Where others saw yellow straws of “important woman” recognizes that the
letters before his eyes, and instead, see poverty, Rabbi Akiva saw the golden crown of Yerushalayim/Torah shall never
crowns of glory waiting to be interpreted. crown of Jerusalem, the commitment to be removed from one’s head, from one’s
The Gemara (Menachot 29b) records Torah his wife had displayed by marrying consciousness; it is not a burden, but a
that when Moshe Rabbenu ascended him, leaving a life of opulence and send- badge of honor!
to receive the Torah, he found G-d sit- ing him off to study Torah. Rabbi Akiva For Rabbi Akiva, the crown of Yerusha-
ting and attaching crowns to the letters. already saw her in the full glory of the layim is a crown of commitment to
When Moshe inquired as to the purpose future, with her golden crown yet to be Torah. When he sees Yerushalayim in
of these crowns, G-d replied, “There is adorned. bleak desolation, and his wife’s hair with
one man, Akiva the son of Yosef, who will Chazal refer to this “Jerusalem of golden straw, he sees the black letters
in the future expound many laws from Gold” adornment as a diadem that may of the Torah with crowns of light. He
every crown.” These crowns are not just or may not be worn as one goes out to reminds us that we shall never remove
the literal crowns found on seven let- the public domain on Shabbat (Shabbat these crowns from our heads and hearts
ters in the Torah, but rather the golden 59a-b): for they will bring us from the past to the
crown on the “curly locks, black as a Rabbi Meir holds that it is considered future, from jackals to Jerusalem of gold,
raven” described in Shir haShirim, refer- a burden and not an ornament, and one from cries of pain to glory and laughter.
ring to every stroke of the black letters who carries a burden into the public
of the Torah (Eruvin 21b). Rabbi Akiva domain is liable to bring a sin-offering. 1 Nedarim 50a.
examined every crown, every nuance and The Rabbis hold that it is an ornament.
inflection of every letter and verse of the Why, then, did they prohibit going out Rabbanit Shani Taragin is Educational
Torah and extrapolated numerous mid- into the public domain wearing it? They Director of Mizrachi and the Director of the
rashei halacha. are concerned lest she remove it, and Mizrachi Matan Lapidot Educators’ Program.
Rabbi Akiva saw beyond the simple show it to another, and come to carry it
reality of “locks of the hair” and appre- in the public domain. A member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau
ciated the golden crowns of letters above Rabbi Eliezer holds: Whose manner mizrachi.org/speakers

| 9