Jerusalem is not just my home of 15 years.
It is not just a sprawling city of hundreds of thousands nestled among the Judaean Hills.
It is not just a political hotspot or a contested capital.
It is a symbol of the most basic collective human dream – of society together in harmony and fellowship.
It transcends the pettiness of politicians, the exploitation of capitalists, the violence of racists.
It is an emblem of a new and holy world order, founded on the idea that the human being is a living ikon of the Creator and created by the choices we make on a daily basis, in the halls and in the streets of this great city, to give respect, love, and grace.
It is a home for all seekers and lovers, and if you’ve ever gazed across its amber, twinkling lights from a moonlit rooftop and contemplated its past and its future, you know I do not lie.
Jerusalem call us and transforms us, and ever grows to embrace new souls and their lives, their sins, and their dreams.
No one – not one person, not one million people – can ever lay exclusive claim to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is beyond the ownership of any group of men – it is the inheritance and the destiny of all humankind.
The day will come when Jerusalem is united, when the Big House stands again atop the ancient hill, when the poor man is saved and the vulnerable are protected, in the name of God.
We build towards that day.
שיבנה בית המקדש במהרה בימינו