Yom Yerushalayim focus with Rabbi Benjy Kramer

It's our young mutual special. A big thank you to the Rothenberg family. Injuryawyer.com. The Rothenberg Law Firm presents our special programming here at JM, including of course today's Yom You Shall I am special. 59 years since the reunification of Jerusalem. Rabbi Benji Kramer is with us live via telephone. He always has a nice contribution on days like today. Um, today of course focused on the city of Jerusalem. Rabbi Kramer It's a pleasure and an honor to be with you on this very very holy day, this day of miracles. And uh we can't we can't forget the great great miracles that happened 59 years ago today. >> Pretty amazing. Pretty amazing. Yes. Go ahead. Uh I wanted to concentrate on one aspect of you that I think people sort of just gloss over and don't realize that we actually both in Tanak and in our we actually refer to as as if it's a person as if it's it's a a human being. It's called in Hebrew like the word is and we personify and I would start with with which does it so clearly the migil the the uh part of that we read on the night of when we're mourning uh the the destruction of uh the city and the beta mdash your in says This city of is like a widow. Rashi says I wouldn't say exactly like a widow because a widow has a husband who has passed away but has is like a widow because the husband has traveled away. He's he's away and and doesn't seem to be returning so so fast. How is it that this city is sitting so alone? How is it that is like a widow going on? The city cried. There's no one comforting the city. It has tears running down its face. You as if the city is a person. He says later, the city has sinned. And later on, the city calls to God. the city of you. So I praise to God. Look at my at my only look at my affliction because the enemy has gotten so great that I have been con conquered. And uh it goes on and on and we have this as well in our keynote in our special uh prayers that we say that we mourn on. We have the last one that we say together as a as a as a congregation. The the city of is crying out from the word from the word crying out and its surroundings are crying out. This is actually a paraphrase from Tasukini Yoel where Yoel says that the city is crying as a woman who just was about to get married, a young woman and her her young uh her young uh um groom has has died. But the but however the uh this lamentation that we say on tishaba on the nth of a it it it says not just we're like a woman who lost her husband a young woman who lost her husband but we are crying like a woman giving birth shedding light on the idea that a woman giving birth I understand is in a lot of pain that's what I hear is in a lot of pain however however she knows that there's a positive outcome in the end. In the end, she's going to have a child. In the end, there's going to be a silver lining in all in all of this all of this pain. And of course we know that one of the most famous enote that we say inabon I'm sorry um uh I'm I'm losing it right now but the ma says he dlaon doesn't have anyone do anyone looking out for her anyone remembering her anyone trying to to get her back and the in a couple of places suka and I believe also shah says that we have a responsibility to be do uh tion to demand so to speak that tion gets gets visited once again. Um and in the positive sense we know that yesahu who lived aund 150 years before yo already was talking after perme that we read after it talks about about talking to you I'm sorry that's sorry we have to seek out the peace of says call out to your we need to to get her back. We say right after this city is seeking um comfort and it says excuse me that uh that it will get comfort and the Jewish people will come back. And in we praise every Friday night we we paraphrase sorry the um that we read inim from nundi wake upon put on your your your clothes of glory put back on your people your people will be reunited with you and it's so beautiful uh alchemist in paraphrases is that because Shabbat every week is is a little bit of what it is to be redeemed again by God and to be brought back to this time when is is uh reunified with its people. The true the true consoling of is to be reunified with its people which we see today and ever since 1967 all the time. But the question I ask is why do we have a right? Why does your mow why does it treat you like a person? What is this ha this personification of the city and now we're both students of Kabyn and Rasha Ravik the older Rav Gulvic the current Raik uncle or great uncle depending on which gold you're talking about used to always say that it's our job in the world to be we take the physical in this world and we have to make it is uniquely kados it's uniquely holy in the sense that it's like a person almost. We know that human beings have a special holiness because we have a a soul inside of us. Shalay has a type of soul inside of us. Things in this world normally don't inspire people to be close to God. Things don't do that. People, we hear people talk. We're next to a an important rabbi and we are inspired to be closer to God, to take our Judaism more seriously. But how often do you have a thing an object that inspires people to be close to God to think about our connection to God to pray with more coven but that is a place a thing that inspires us like people every time you go to you you you're inspired you feel close to God you walk to the place that's closest to the holiest place in the world you walk to the cotto You walk some people walk on haray but you walk in the holy of holies and or not exactly the holy of holies you walk in the holiest place that we can go to and you're inspired is like a person it inspires us Shabbat as says is similar it's a time that inspires us like and therefore we're connected to because that too inspires us I think on this special special Okay. When we we were reunified with Ushallayion, the Jewish people coming back to us in droves after 19 years of being forbidden, illegally forbidden to going there. We are inspired by the place to be closer to God. And I think that's what yan is really all about. >> And this year with it being on air of Shabbat, it makes your words even stronger and more meaningful. >> Absolutely. We have coming to an end and we especially for people who are starting early Shabbat we are saying kind of on right as Shabbat enters very >> pretty amazing right Benji Kramer a big big thank you and Shabbat shalom >> Shabbat shalom >> amazing right all right Benji Kramer with the uh presentation regarding the holy city of Jerusalem and just how inspiring and holy it is. And what a gift, what a miracle we celebrate today on this Yomi. So shall I am