When it comes to the Land of Israel, there isn't always a big separation between what is political and what is spriritual. We want to explore what insights the letter Lamed, which is the letter for the month of Tishrei, provide for relating to our current challenges. How do the spiritual concepts of the letter Lamed guide us to potential answers to these complex dilemmas?

The letter Lamed is at the heart of the Alef-Beit and physically towers over all of the other letters. It represents the "high point." It is also the central letter of the word Melech
(Mem-Lamed-Chaf), which means (G-d's) Kingship, the central relationship that we
focus on during Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. In fact, our liturgy changes to reflect this focus on G-d's Kingship throughout the 10 days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. And while on Sukkot we don't have those same changes in the liturgy, the entire holiday is about ascending to Yerushalayim to thank and acknowledge G-d as King . And the primary ritual item is the Lulav (Lamed-Vav-Lamed-Beit) which we take in our hand and shake in all directions symbolizing G-d's total Malchut-Kingship.

The Lamed is also connected to the idea of ascending up and flowing down. Its name describes the quality that it is connected to --Lamed means both learning and teaching. Like the word for teaching and learning -- Lamed (Lamed-Mem-Dalet) -- represents a reciprocal flow of information, knowledge, and wisdom from one to another. In Hebrew these two words are the same and they begin with the Lamed. The letter Lamed, then, connects us to all of these ideas -- ascent, flow, centrality, G-d's Kingship, learning and teaching, etc.

Jerusalem-Yerushalayim : At the Heart of the Matter

Yerushalayim, which contains a Lamed, is the place where everything that Lamed stands for is supposed to become a reality. Both are connected to ideas of centrality, ascent, flow, and G-d's Kingship. Whether we were opening our Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur machzors, or reading the newspaper, listening to the news on the radio, or watching CNN coverage on TV, Yerushalayim appears as a central focus. It was particularly apparent this year, and a bit unnerving, to go from reading about Yerushalayim at home to repeatedly referring to and praying for the privilege of ascending to Yerushalayim for the Pilgrimage Festivals at the synagogue.

What is Yerushalayim?

"Ki mi-Tzion tetze Torah u'Dvar Hashem meYerushalayim- From out of Zion will go forth Torah and the Word of G-d from Yerushalayim."

If we understand and appreciate what Yerushalayim is supposed to be, we might have more clarity about what we should be doing. In a strange way, the fact that there is so much emotion about her, confirms that we are not alone in believing Yerushalayim to be a sacred place. Each of three major religions recognizes Yerushalayim as holy. The question is, what is the nature of that holiness and what are we supposed to do with it?

The verse above from Isaiah 2:3 makes it fairly clear: Zion (Eretz Yisrael) and Yerushalayim are the source of flow of G-d's word. Yerushalayim represents the core place from whence will come the flow of ultimate wisdom which is the knowledge of G-d. As such, Yerushalayim is not like other places in the world. It is really "G-d's Place." However, the same texts that describe the purpose of Yerushalayim tell us that Yerushalayim is the inheritance of the Jewish people. Why? Because the Jewish people have the mission of bringing forth this knowledge of G-d to all of humanity. What is important to recognize, though, is that we do not own Yerushalayim.

What is the difference between ownership and inheritance? If I buy your car from you, you cannot tell me where and when I can drive it. Once I own it, I am free to do as I please with it. If, on the other hand, you designate me as the inheritor of your car, you can make certain stipulations regarding my use of the car. You can tell me that it is only to be driven 25 miles per hour on Sunday mornings if you like! If I fail to adhere to your requirements, I am violating the terms of my inheritance.

Yerushalayim is an inheritance, along with the Land of Israel; the word Yerushalayim itself tells us that she is an inheritance. Yerushah [Yud-Reish-Vav-Shin-(Heh)], the beginning letters of Yerushalayim, means inheritance. But who are the inheritors? Is the inheritance individual or communal? The word Yerushalayim speaks to us again. The inheritance is mine, She-li (Shin-Lamed-Yud) as an individual. The admonition, "If I forget thee o Yerushalayim, let my right hand wither..." speaks to each of us as individuals, and as individual inheritors of Yerushalayim. Yet, it is not only mine. All other Jewish people are also inheritors; they, too, have a stake in the Yerushah. What about other people? We read in Zechariah's prophecy on Sukkot that ultimately all nations will ascend to Yerushalayim to acknowledge G-d. Will they, then, also become inheritors?

If we look again at the word She-li, which means mine, we recognize the root of the word
which is Shel (Shin-Lamed). Shel is simply the possessive and takes different endings
depending on who is the possessor. However, with different vowels, the word can be read
as Shal (also Shin-Lamed) which means to remove, let go of, or relinquish -- the opposite
of possession. When Moshe experiences the Burning Bush, G-d tells him, Shal n'alecha-
remove your shoes... (Exodus 3:5). How can we understand this paradox?

Perhaps, the paradox of possession, without possessiveness, is the stipulation for the
inheritance. Perhaps we learn (Lamed) that in order for G-d's word to come forth from
Yerushalayim, we have to take possession of (She-li) of our inheritance (Yerushah), but
that we cannot be possessive of the inheritance.

What does it mean to take possession, but not be possessive?

It means that just because something belongs to me, doesn't mean that it doesn't also belong to you. In Psalms we read, "Pray for the well-being of Yerushalayim; may those who love you be at peace." (Psalms 122:6) Yerushalayim is like a child who is loved completely and unconditionally by her mother and is also loved completely and unconditionally by her father. Yet, we know that if a mother and father divorce, that love can can turn into possessiveness that effectively "cuts the child in half" and potentialy destroys her. Where there is true love, there must be true peace (Shalom) and wholeness (Shalem). As King Solomon (Shlomo) decided in the case of the two women both claiming the same child as hers, the one who was willing to have the infant cut in half and shared was not the real mother. Ultimately, Yerushalayim belongs to G-d. It is the Place where G-d has chosen to place His Name.

The inheritors are all those who are willing to claim the inheritance and adhere to the
provisions of it. Perhaps this is one reason why there are the Shalosh Regalim, the three
Pilgrimage Festivals. (Interestingly, both words contain a Lamed). We need to ascend,
La'alot (also with a Lamed) to claim our inheritance. When we ascend three times, we are
committing ourselves to being true inheritors.

A hint of this inheritance relationship exists with the Levi'im-Levites who we are told
over and over, will have not have a land inheritance in the Land of Israel. G-d is their inheritance. But, as the Lamed that begins their name suggests, they will ascend to
serve G-d and facilitate the flow of G-d's Presence to the rest of the Jewish nation. They are the ones who are the Lameds, the ones who learn and teach G-d's word and facilitate the flow of that word to the rest of the world. While they will serve in the Beit haMikdash on the Temple Mount, the Temple Mount will never belong to them. It neither belongs to the Levites (and Kohanim) nor to anyone else. This is the Levites greatest teaching to the rest of the nation.

The Levites live by the maxim expressed in Pirkei Avot where one who is scrupulously pious says, "What's mine is yours, and what's yours is yours." (Pirkei Avot 5:13). According to the Kozhnitzer Maggid, this refers to our relationship with G-d. A pious person says, "G-d, all that is mine, I know comes from You and is yours; further, what is Yours is Yours."

Perhaps the true inheritors, the ones who have a Yerushah in Yerushalayim, are those who recognize what Yerushalayim is and what its requirements are. Yerushalayim can only be inherited, it cannot be owned. Yerushalayim is She-li, and the possesor (She-li) is G-d. Therefore, we cannot change the terms of the inheritance and it cannot be renounced. We are individual as well as communal inheritors who are required to come and claim our inheritance and then live to make the purpose of Yerushalayim a reality: "For out of Zion shall go forth Torah and G-d's Word from Yerushalayim."

May we all see the day when we merit to posses without possesiveness (the inner message of living in the Sukkah) and that all who love Yerushalayim will be at peace.