Jerusalem Anthology - Shalem

Midrash Aggadah (Buber) Bereshit Lech Lecha 14:18 ‘And Malchitzedek king of Shalem’ This was Shem, the son of Noach, who was king in Jerusalem as it says, “His Tabernacle was in Shalem, and His dwelling place in Zion.” (Tehillim 76:3) ‘brought out bread and wine’ Everywhere that wine is mentioned it makes an impact, and what impact did it make here? That he lost the priesthood as it says, “…you are a priest forever because of the speech of Malchizedek.” (Tehillim 110:4) Why is this? Because he (Malchitzedek) blessed Avraham before he blessed the Holy One. Even Shem asked of the Holy One that He give the priesthood to our father Avraham because he saw through his holy spirit that no offspring fit for the priesthood would come from him, but Avraham was decent, a master of the Torah and fit for the priesthood. And so the Holy One did, and gave the priesthood to him. Shem accepted this and immediately gave him (Avraham) his tithes as it says, “…and he gave him a tithe from all.” (Bereshit 14:20) As it says – to Avraham and he was the priest of the Most High God, because thus his father had blessed him, “…and may He dwell in the tents of Shem…” (Bereshit 9:27) And why did Malchitzedek go out to Avraham when he came back from war? In order that Avraham know that Malchitzedek had no hatred in his heart against him for killing Elam, because Elam was Shem’s son as it says, “The sons of Shem were Elam…” (Bereshit 10:22)

Shelah HaKodesh – Toldot Adam, Bet HaShem and Bet David The midrash in Bereshit Rabba (Vayera 56:10) can be explained in light of what I wrote, and this is the midrash: Avraham called it Yireh “will see”, as it says “And Abraham named that place, The Lord will see…” (Bereshit 22:14) Shem called it shalem “whole”, as it says “And Malchizedek the king of Shalem…” (Bereshit 14:18) The Holy One said, if I call it yireh like Avraham – the righteous Shem will be angered, and if I call it shalem, Avraham the righteous will be angered. Rather I will call it Yerushalayim, like both of them yireh-shalem – Yerushalayim. R’ Berachiya said in the name of R’ Chelbo, before it was whole (shalem) the Hole One made it his tabernacle (sukkah) and would pray in it, as it says “His Tabernacle was in Shalem, and His dwelling place in Zion.” (Tehillim 76:3) And what would He say? ‘Let it be that I see the building of my House.’ Another version: It teaches that the Holy One showed him (Avraham) the Holy Temple destroyed and built, destroyed and built. Built, as it says “And Abraham named that place, The Lord will see…” Like what it says “Three times in the year, every one of your males shall appear (yireh) before the Lord…” (Devarim 16:16) “…as it is said to this day: On the mountain, the Lord will be seen.” This is destroyed, as it says “For Mount Zion, which has become desolate…” (Eicha 5:18) ‘the Lord will be seen” means built and perfected in the time to come, as it says “For the Lord has built up Zion; He has appeared in His glory.” (Tehillim 102:17) There is a problem with this teaching – why does Avraham come before Shem? First, when it says ‘Avraham called it yireh’ ‘Shem called it shalem.’ Second, when the Holy One then says ‘if I call it yireh…’ He agains gives Avraham precedence over Shem. Then again a third time, when the city is called Yerushalayim, yeru comes before shalayim. One can answer this in a simple sense, and this will also answer why the Holy One didn’t use the same language when he mentioned Shem as when he mentioned Avraham. In regard to Avraham it says ‘if I call it yireh as Avraham did’ but in regard to Shem it says ‘if I call it shalem,’ and not ‘as Shem did. This is the explanation – Shem never gave the city any name, it had been Shalem forever and he called it that as well; Shem did not originate this name. But Avraham originated the name yireh, and therefore because Avraham was more independent through giving a name he has precedence. In truth, according to this, one must delve deeper and ask – what honor is there to Shem from such a situation, that the city should continue to be called shalem, seeing as he did not originate the name? One can answer this by saying the following. Since he was known as Malchitzedek, the king of Shalem, if the name of the city would change then we would not know of the greatness of Shem. Who would have known that he had ruled over the holy land, “a land the Lord, your God, looks after…” (Devarim 11:12) In the course of generations it would be forgotten what Shalem was, perhaps people would think some foreign land was called so. In truth, this is the explanation of this teaching from our Sages. But indeed, one can delve deeper into it and broaden the exploration. One can pose another challenge. When Gd made a compromise between the two names and called the city Yerushalayim, why didn’t He call it Yirehshalem? After all, Avraham called it yireh, not yiru. And among the words of R’ Berachiya, one must explain the matter of this prayer and its nature. In truth, we find in many places in the Talmud and the midrashim similar statements. Many commentators dove into these mighty waters and brought up nothing. And we have nothing other than the words of the living Gd, and to build upon the words of those wise in truth, which are true. Their words are “The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him…” (Tehillim 25:14) Also, what does it mean ‘destroyed and built, destroyed and built?’ And in truth I saw that there are versions which erase the first usage of the word ‘destroyed.’ But indeed, when one can settle the text we have in a satisfactory manner, how good and how sweet that is. I have also come to explain why Yerushalayim is always written lacking the final letter yud, but always read as if it were there. 291. Introduction. Our Sages said (see Baba Batra 75b) ‘Yerushalayim - her name is just like her king’s as it is written “…and the name of the city from that day will be ‘The Lord is There.’” (Ezekiel48:35) Don’t read it as there (shama), but rather her name (shma). Our Sages also said (Ta’anit 5a) “In your midst is the Holy One, and I will not enter a city” (Hoshea 11:9), I will not enter Jerusalem above until I enter Jerusalem below. The simple explanation is that Jerusalem below is the Jerusalem which is here in the holy land, whose rebuilding we expect speedily in our day. This Jerusalem is aligned with the one above (Tanchuma Pekudei 1), which is the secret of the supernal land, ‘the desirable land’ (Malachi 3:12), the palace of Gd of which it is said “But the Lord is in His Holy Temple. Silence the whole earth before Him.” (Habakuk 2:20) The secret of the lower union, vav with hey. Jerusalem above is the connection of wisdom (chochma) and understanding (binah), the secret of the upper union, yud with hey, as is explained in the Zohar and Tikkunim (Tikkun 69 107a), and brought in the Pardes (sha’ar 8) in chapter 13 from the gate of essence and behavior. So taught Eliyahu in Zohar Shir HaShirim (Zohar Chadash 62a). The upper union, which is understanding (binah) requires arousal from the malchut. See further in the Pardes (sha’ar 8), chapter 20 from the gate of essence and behavior, and in chapter six from that gate, regarding the arousal of the union between glory (tiferet) and kingship (malchut) which is Jerusalem below that arouses the union of wisdom and understanding – which is Jerusalem above. And Jerusalem which is built below, below in reality here in this world, is aligned with the levels above. Shem the son of Noach was the first to go and conquer and merit to Jerusalem, and the first in thought is last in action. That is, his name hints at the aspect of the Name, that when it is whole (shalem) the letters of vav hey are united just like the letters of yud hey in the manner of the secret of yihiyeh (yud hey yud hey) which I explained above (288-289.) This was the origin of thought in the secret of “let there be light” (Bereshit 1:3), which was hidden away and never actualized. Nevertheless, the first to seize hold of Jerusalem here below is called Shem, hinting to this, and he was ‘king of Shalem’ because Shalem (wholeness) is the secret of the whole name (shem shalem) – Jerusalem which is above and beyond, the secret of yihiyeh. Afterwards, the land of Israel was given in promise to Avraham our father, “And the Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your land and from your birthplace and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you.” (Bereshit 12:1) And it is know what the Sages taught, “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created (b’hibaram)…” (Bereshit 2:4)