Shem did not pray for the people of his generation to cause them to repent, and from this we learn that his essential trait is that of “din” – strict judgment. When Shem calls the place “Shalem,” he expresses the idea that not everyone will enjoy God’s abundant blessing, but only those people who are “shelemim” – spiritually perfect. In this sense Jerusalem is the combination of “chessed” and “din.”
Concerning the prophecy of Yishayahu (54:12) regarding Jerusalem at the end of days, “I shall make battlements of rubies,” the Gemara comments (Bava Batra 75a):
“Rav Shmuel bar Nachmani said: Two angels disputed in the heavens – Gavriel and Mikhael; they said: There are two Sages in the West (Eretz Yisrael), and who are they? Yehuda and Chizkiyahu, sons of Rabbi Chiya. One says “Shoham,” the other says “Yishpa.” The Holy One said: Correct, and correct.
The Maharal, in his Chiddushei Agadot, comments that in the future, the Holy One will rebuild the wall of Jerusalem in accordance with the views of both of them: “Michael, who is appointed over goodness, kindness and merit, says that the form of the holy city should indicate a city of goodness, cleaving to kindness and goodness, and therefore the wall of shoham (a type of stone), for shoham is white, a color indicating kindness and goodness… and Gavriel, who represents strict judgment, says that the nature of the place is yishpa, which is a color representing strict justice… And since the Holy One includes everything, both strict justice and kindness… the Holy One gives it [the city] an all-embracing quality, such that it includes everything.”
The significance of Jerusalem as unifying “chessed” and “din” is a very broad subject. Here we have seen one expression of it, as a continuation of the nature of the two people who gave Yerushalayim its name – Avraham, the man of chessed, and Malki-Tzedek, representing the trait of strict justice (din).
Avraham drew the Divine Presence down earthward, while Malki-Tzedek is “priest to the Supreme God” – Who transcends any human understanding. The Holy One joins together these two opposite aspects of the city, and the beauty of Jerusalem reflects the unification of external and internal opposites
5. Jerusalem – city of Divine choice and city of peace
Rav Mordekhai Breuer [8], in an article about Jerusalem, addresses two episodes that we have addressed at length in previous shiurim, involving Avraham: his encounter with Malki-Tzedek and the story of the Akeida.
The story of the Akeida gives expression to the Divine selection of Jerusalem as the place representing the ideal of Divine service. The Divine service of the Akeida is the antithesis of pagan worship, which finds its most extreme expression in human sacrifice to Molekh. From this perspective, Jerusalem expresses the perfect manifestation of the RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MAN AND GOD.
In the encounter with Malki-Tzedek, King of Shalem, Jerusalem is depicted as the city of justice and the dwelling place of peace; the place where righteousness and justice are maintained. In this sense Jerusalem stands as the antithesis to the evil and outcry of Sodom. In other words, Jerusalem expresses the perfect manifestation of the RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MAN AND HIS FELLOW MAN.
Rav Breuer explains that both aspects of the city are also expressed through the two kings that built it: David and Shelomo. David represents the aspect of “re’iya” and “yir’a,” while Shelomo embodies the manifestation of “shalom.”
These different manifestations of the city are also expressed in the verses that describe it:
“Yir’a” – “Shelomo began to build the House of God in Jerusalem, on Mount Moriah, where God had appeared to his father, David…” (II Divrei Ha-yamim 3:1);
