Tehillim 122 | “Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem”

This psalm captures the emotions of excitement while ascending to Jerusalem. Some commentators explain it as a song of the pilgrims-goers to Jerusalem, while others see it as a song sung by the exiles returning to Jerusalem. It’s also possible that this psalm was used in the days of the First Temple as a song for the pilgrimage-goers, and that those who returned from exile and merited to ascend once more to Jerusalem reused it, now as a psalm that gave voice to their feelings of renewal and excitement. The psalm praises Jerusalem, the place of justice and judgment, and calls on all who enter or leave it to pray for its peace. This is not only a spiritual metaphor, but also in the physical state, Jerusalem has always served as a mirror of the people’s condition: When Jerusalem is devastated, the people shared in its devastation, and when it is rebuilt, the people experience redemption. This psalm served as inspiration for the famous lament of Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi, “Zion, will you not seek the pease of your captives?” (צִיּוֹן הֲלֹא תִשְׁאֲלִי לִשְׁלוֹם אֲסִירַיִךְ). Throughout all these years, those who came to Zion prayed for her peace. And in exile, Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi reversed the plea, asking Zion to fulfill her duty and inquire after the peace of her children who yearn for her.

The psalm highlights Jerusalem’s uniqueness as “as a city joined together” (122:3). The Jerusalem Talmud teaches that this verse means Jerusalem is “the city which confers fellowship on all of Israel” (Chagigah 3:6). According to that interpretation, Jerusalem creates inner unity within the people of Israel. The Babylonian Talmud takes the verse in a completely different direction: “Rabbi Yocḥanan said as follows: The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: I shall not enter Jerusalem above, in heaven, until I enter Jerusalem on earth down below” (Ta'anit 5a). Here, the unity is between heaven and earth — between the sacred and the secular. In his book, 'Tehilla', Rav Binyamin Lau suggests that the two ideas are connected, and Jerusalem brings about unity on every levels. First, along the horizontal plane,  among the people themselves. and then along the vertical plane, joining the sacred and the secular. And perhaps this ties back to the earlier point as well, Jerusalem can only dwell in true peace and security when there is genuine unity among the people of Israel, and an honest connection between the sacred and the secular.