1. Jerusalem is hope: The Bible recalls the cry of the Jewish exiles in Babylonia. “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand lose its strength.
Many groups have faced tragedy and exile. Many more have been oppressed and persecuted. Those who survive find a source of hope.
For Jews it is Jerusalem. Jerusalem symbolizes return. It symbolizes home. It symbolizes freedom.
2. Jerusalem is myth: Jerusalem is not just a city. It is a story. It tells of dreams and values.
We dream of physical strength (symbolized by the physical borders of Jerusalem) and spiritual growth (symbolized by the heights of Jerusalem).
Consider this legend: What, asked a Jewish sage 2000 years ago, will the Jerusalem of the future look like? The answer: “Its borders will reach the gates of Damascus. Its hills will reach God’s holy throne.”
3. Jerusalem is eternal: Our lives are shaped by the ebb and flow of history. What we experience is limited by the time in which we live. Not Jerusalem.
In the Jewish imagination, Jerusalem lives outside of history. It is a home for God. Within its walls we encounter voices from every era. We hear echoes of eternity. All of those voices will unite in the future.
The book of Isaiah describes this time: “It shall come to pass, in the end of days, that the mountain of God’s house shall be held high. And all the people shall come unto it… And out of Zion shall come forth the Torah, and God’s word from Jerusalem.”
We need not take Isaiah’s vision literally to see its beauty. It triggers our imagination. It evokes a world of peace. It describes a time of unity.
Each of us is on our way to Jerusalem. We may not get there in our lifetimes. We will arrive there someday.
