Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Jerusalem Division + Unity



“Jerusalem” speaks division, but promises unification.  Isaac Mozeson, Jerusalem Day 2017

An “East Jerusalem” of the קדם  QeDeM, the east or past, was called שלם  Shalem/Salem (complete, peaceful).  This was the city of the gentile spiritual leader  מלכי-צדק Malki-Tsedeq of Genesis 14:18.  Just as Esau got his 12 tribes right away, the city of  שלם  Shalem/Salem was already established when Abraham, the first wandering Hebrew, arrived. The non-Jews are loved unconditionally. A king whose King is Righteousness, מלכי-צדק  , earns the kingdom right away.

The Jews are loved, but conditionally, with the tough love of a very involved parent. Abraham doesn’t get a land, but a Promised Land. A “West Jerusalem” of a future time when the sun will set. Abraham is commanded to leave  his homeland for a place that he will be shown (Genesis 12:1). Then, he is sent on a Mission Impossible again to an unknown place. It is seen only from far off in Genesis 22:4.  For the Jew in Exile for thousands of years, a Jerusalem would only be a prayer for “next year.” After his encounter with the future Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Abraham names the place in future tense יראה  YiREH (will see)… Genesis 22:14,   B’HaR HaSHeM YeyRAeH, on the Eternal’s mountain it will be seen. Here is the Jewish “Jeru” half of JERUsalem that would one day be unified with the SALEM half of the JeruSALEM of the righteous gentiles.

I was in Junior High not far from Salem, Massachusetts in June 1967 as the news promised Holocaust II, not Temple III. 50 years to the day has passed since Jerusalem has become where this Jerusalemite can stand inside your gates, O Jerusalem, in a built-up city that that has been united (Psalms 122: 2,3). May we see peace.