Jerusalem

(5) But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put His name there, to his dwelling place you shall seek, there you shall come;

(2) He gathered dust from all the land from the four directions, so that in every place he would die in, the earth would receive him for burial. Alternatively, he took his dust from the place upon which it says, "An altar of earth you shall make for Me" (Exodus 20), He said, 'If only it may serve as atonement for him, and he may be able to stand'.

(10) ... Abraham called it "Yireh", as it says "And Abraham called the name of the place Hashem Yireh." Shem called it Shalem, as it says "And Malchitzedek, the king of Shalem..."(Genesis 17) The Holy One, Blessed be He, said "If I call it Yireh, as Abraham called it, then Shem, who was a righteous man, will be upset-- but if I call it Shalem, then Abraham, who was a righteous man, will be upset. Instead, I call it Yerushalayim, as they called it together: Yireh Shalem. Jerusalem.......

(8) "All the streams flow to the sea" (Ecclesiastes 1) -- All of Israel gathers together only in Jerusalem, and they go up at the times of each festival each and every year.

"Yet the sea is never full" (Ecclesiastes 1) -- Yet Jerusalem is never filled. As it was taught "They stand crowded, [yet] they bow spaciously". Rav Shmuel Bar Chova said in the name of Rav Acha who said, "Four cubits space between each and every one of them, and one cubit on each side, so that no one would hear the prayer of his friend and come to err".

"To the place the streams flow [there they shall return again]" -- To the place Israel gathers in this world, there they shall gather in the world to come, in the future to come, as it is said (Isaiah 27) "And it shall be in that day, that a great horn shall be blown; and they shall come, those that were lost in the land of Assyria, and those that were dispersed in the land of Egypt; and they shall worship G-d at the holy mountain in Jerusalem"

(15)... "When you go out to battle against your enemies... When you approach a city to fight against it, proclaim peace unto it" (Deuteronomy 20) See how great is the power of peace...

A human of flesh and blood, if his friend does evil to him it does not leave his heart for ever. But the Holy One Blessed Be He is not so, rather Israel was in Egypt and the Egyptians enslaved them with mortar and brick, and after all the evil they did to Israel, the Torah has mercy on them and it says "You shall not abhor an Egyptian for you were a stranger in his land", but rather pursue peace as it is written "seek peace and pursue it". (Psalms 34)

Alternatively: Dear is peace, that the Holy One Blessed Be He gave it to Zion, as it says "Ask for the peace of Jerusalem". (Psalms 122)

Alternatively: Dear is peace, that the Holy One Blessed Be He gave in the heavens, as it says "He makes peace in His high places". (Job 25) ...

Alternatively: Dear is peace, that the Holy One Blessed Be He did not give it to the wicked, as it says "There is no peace, said G-d, for the wicked". (Isaiah 48) ...

Alternatively: Great is peace, that the Holy One Blessed Be He doesn't announce to Jerusalem that they will be redeemed except in peace, as it says "Announce peace..." (Isaiah 52) ...

Alternatively: Dear is peace, that the Holy One Blessed Be He only comforts Jerusalem with peace. From where do we know this? As it is written "Behold I will extend peace to her like a river" (Isaiah 66). ...

R' Shimon Ben Chalafta said: See how dear peace is, when the Holy One Blessed Be He asked to bless Israel he found no vessel that could hold all the blessings to bless them with except for peace. From where do we know this? As it says "G-d will give strength unto his people, G-d will bless his people with peace". (Psalms 29)

Be pleased, Lord our god, in your people Israel and in their prayers, and return the service to the inner sanctuary of Your house. And receive in love the fire-offerings of Israel and their prayers. And may the service of your people Israel be always in your favor. And let our eyes behold your return to Zion in mercy. Blessed are You, G-d, who returns His Presence to Zion.

... And R' Yirmiya the son of Elazar said, there are three openings to Gehenom, one in the wilderness, one in the sea, and one in Jerusalem. In the wilderness as it is written "And they and all that was theirs went down alive to Sheol" (Numbers 16). In the sea as it is written "From the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice" (Jonah 2). In Jerusalem as it is written "[thus] proclaimed G-d, Whose fire is in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem." (Isaiah 31). And the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught "whose fire is in Zion" that's Gehenom, and "His furnace in Jerusalem", that's an opening of Gehenom.

R. Yitzchak said: “Ekron shall be rooted out”: this is Caesarea, the daughter of Edom, which was a metropolis of kings. There are those who say that this means that kings were brought up there. And there are those that say that kings were appointed from there.

Caesarea and Jerusalem: If one says to you that both are destroyed, do not believe him; if he says that both are flourishing, do not believe him; if he says that Caesarea is waste and Jerusalem is flourishing, or that Jerusalem is waste and Caesarea is flourishing, you may believe him, as it says, “I shall be filled, she is laid waste” (Ezekiel 26:2); if this one is filled, that one is laid waste, and if that one is filled, this one is laid waste. R. Nahman b. Yitzchak derived the same lesson from here: “And the one nation shall be stronger than the other nation” (Genesis 25:23).

(2) And it is a tradition accepted by all, that the place where David and Solomon built the altar at the threshing floor of Arauna was the place that Abraham built the altar and bound Isaac upon it, and that was the place that Noah built upon when he left the ark, and that was the altar upon which Kain and Abel sacrificed, and upon which Adam the First sacrificed when he was created. And from there was born the saying of the sages that "Man was created from the place of his atonement."

And to Your city Jerusalem return in mercy, and dwell within it as You have spoken, and build her soon in our days into an eternal building. And prepare the thrown of David within her speedily. Blessed are You, G-d, who builds Jerusalem.