Love of the Land

For the week ending 4 June 2005 / 26 Iyyar 5765

Yom Yerushalayim

by Rabbi Mendel Weinbach zt'l
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As Israel celebrates the 38th anniversary of the liberation of Yerushalayim we recall how this holy city got its name.

When G-d wished to endow His chosen city with a name, He recalled that Malki-Tzedek, who was Shem, the son of Noach, had called it Shalem and that Avraham had called it Yireh.

"If I call it Yireh as did Avraham, the righteous Malki-Tzedek (Shem) will feel slighted, and if I call it Shalem, Avraham will be offended. I will therefore call it Yireh-Shalem, combining both of their names."

And so was born the name Yireh-Shalem which we pronounce Yerushalayim and revere as the eternal capital of Israel.

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