Choice of Yerushalayim/2

Choice of Yerushalayim

Exegetical Approaches

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Religious Significance

Yerushalayim was picked as David's capital for its religious significance. The city was considered holy and Divinely chosen from the very creation of the world.

Center of the world and site of creation – According to TanchumaKedoshim 10About the Tanchuma,¹ Yerushalayim lies at the heart of the world² and from there the heavens and earth were created,³ as alluded to in Tehillim 50, "מִצִּיּוֹן מִכְלַל יֹפִי אֱלֹהִים הוֹפִיעַ".

Continuous site of worship – Rambam, following Chazal,⁴  maintains that Yerushalayim (and the site of the Mikdash specifically) had a history of holiness, being a site of Divine worship throughout the ages.  It was the place where Avraham set up an altar to bind Yitzchak, and where Adam, Kayin, Hevel, and Noach all sacrificed to Hashem.⁵ This was no coincidence, but a result of the location's inherent selection.  It should be noted, however, that there is no textual evidence in Sefer Bereshit that any of these individuals, except for Avraham, sacrificed in Yerushalayim.⁶

"וַיִּקְרָא אַבְרָהָם שֵׁם הַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא י"י יִרְאֶה" – Rambam learns from Avraham's name of the site of the Akeidah (י"י יִרְאֶה) that he already declared it to be the future site of the Mikdash in Jerusalem.⁷  Rambam adds that this fact was known to many, so that in the time of Moshe it was said of the mountain, "בְּהַר י"י יֵרָאֶה".

Beit El: "אֵין זֶה כִּי אִם בֵּית אֱלֹהִים" – According to  Bereshit Rabbah69:7About Bereshit Rabbah Yaakov declares, "this is a house of God and gateway to heaven" after his dream in Beit El, not because God was especially present in Beit El, but because in his dream, he saw Jerusalem (the midpoint of the ladder marked the site of the Beit HaMikdash). RashiBereshit 28:11Bereshit 28:17About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki, drawing on Bavli SanhedrinSanhedrin 95bAbout the Bavli, goes a step further to suggest that  Mt. Moriah was actually uprooted and brought to Beit El.  Neither of these suggestions, though, match the simple sense of the verses.

"הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר י"י" – According to this approach, this verse refers specifically to Yerushalayim. Various reasons are given as to why, then, it is not mentioned by name:

• For the nations – Rambam maintains that had the nations known the elevated stature of Yerushalayim they would have either fought violently to control it, or destroyed the city so as to prevent others from having it.
• For Israel⁸ – Keli Yekar, in contrast, suggests that Hashem wanted to keep the name a secret lest people belittle the earlier sites of Gilgal, Shiloh, Nov and Givon which housed the Mishkan.  Rambam adds that Hashem wanted to prevent the tribes from fighting over the site, as each would have desired that it be in their tribal territory.⁹

Why wasn't Yerushalayim  the first center?

"וָאֶבְחַר בִּירוּשָׁלַ‍ִם לִהְיוֹת שְׁמִי שָׁם "

Moving the ark – The fact that David's first actions after conquering Yerushalayim are to bring the ark there and request to build the Mikdash, might support the understanding that the reasons behind the choice of city were religious in nature.

Military and Economic Advantages

David chose Jerusalem as his capital due to a combination of strategic factors including its defensibility, central location, and availability of water and other resources.

Security – The City of David it is relatively secure on all sides but the north as it is surrounded by the Kidron valley to the east, the Tyropean valley to the west and the Hinnom valley to the south. That said, it is not the highest of the cities on Israel's mountainous ridge, nor is it even the highest in its vicinity.¹⁰

Water sources – The City of David was close to two springs, the Gichon and Ein Rogel.  It is likely that it was this proximity to water sources which led to the preference for the Western hill,¹¹ despite this necessitating a compromise on security.

Central location – If David wanted his capital city to be accessible to all the tribes, a central location within the country was necessary.  Jerusalem is situated fairly in the middle of the country, fitting this criteria.

Eye on enemies – It is likely that David wanted to keep an eye on the Philistines, the biggest foreign threat during his reign.  Jerusalem was well situated to do so.

Trade routes – Jerusalem does not lie on either of the two international trade routes, the "Way of the Sea" (דרך הים) or the "King's Highway" (דרך המלך), though it was not far from the "Patriarch's Highway" (דרך האבות) that connected Shekhem and Chevron.¹²

Natural resources and agriculture – As Jerusalem cannot boast of many natural resources or rich agricultural land, these were probably not among David's reason for choosing the site.

Political Move

David's choice was political in nature, a part of his effort to unite the various tribes (especially Yehuda and Binyamin) into one centralized nation.

Jerusalem's status in the Patriarchal period – This approach maintains that the simple sense of Torah does not support the idea that Yerushalayim was a religious center in the Patriarchal period.  The forefathers call out to Hashem and set up altars in many locations, including Shechem,¹³ Beit El,¹⁴ Chevron¹⁵ and Be'er Sheva and it was these which were the spiritual centers of the era. Only the Akeiah took place in Yerushalayim, and the text does not even highlight the fact, only mentioning the specific site of Mt. Moriah.¹⁶  In fact, Yerushalayim is not named even once in all of Torah.

"הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר י"י"

"וַיִּקְרָא אַבְרָהָם שֵׁם הַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא י"י יִרְאֶה"

¹ See also Tosefta YomaYoma 2:12About the Tosefta, Yerushalmi YomaYoma 5:3About the Yerushalmi, and Bavli YomaYoma 54bAbout the Bavli who all speak of Jerusalem as the site of creation, though they do not mention it being in the center of the world.

² This idea is pictorially represented by Heinrich Bunting, in his famous clover leaf map of 1581.

³ See also RashiYoma 54bAbout R. Shelomo Yitzchaki on Bavli Yoma 54b, "ציון נבראת תחילה וסביביה נדבקו רגבים עד סוף העולם מכל צד."

⁴ See Bereshit Rabbah34:9About Bereshit Rabbah, Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 2323About Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, and Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 31331About Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer.

⁵ See also Bavli PesachimPesachim 88aAbout the Bavli which has Yitzchak and Yaakov praying at Mt. Moriah as well. The Bavli derives that Yitzchak did so from the verse, "וַיֵּצֵא יִצְחָק לָשׂוּחַ בַּשָּׂדֶה" (Bereshit 24:63) where "שיחה" is understood as prayer and "שָׂדֶה" to refer to Jerusalem and the site of the Mikdash, as in the verse, "צִיּוֹן שָׂדֶה תֵחָרֵשׁ" (Mikhah 3:12).  See also the NetzivBereshit 24:63About R. Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin there who suggests that Yitzchak was not actually in Jerusalem, but that he prayed towards the site.  Yaakov, too, is said to have prayed at the Mt. Moriah when he was enroute to Charan.  See Bavli SanhedrinSanhedrin 95bAbout the Bavli which reads the phrase "וַיִּפְגַּע בַּמָּקוֹם" to refer to his praying at "the" place, ie. the known site of the Mikdash.  See similarly Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer35About Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer and the discussion regarding the identification of Beit El with Jerusalem below.

⁶ Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer31About Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer asserts that when speaking of the altar on which Avraham placed Yitzchak, the verse writes, "וַיִּבֶן שָׁם אַבְרָהָם אֶת הַמִּזְבֵּחַ", with a definite article, suggesting that this was a known altar that had been used before. However, no sacrifice of Adam is even mentioned in the text, and there is no reason to believe that Kayin and Hevel's offerings were given in Yerushalayim specifically. Similarly, since the ark landed on the mountains of Ararat it would be likely that Noach offered his sacrifice thereabouts rather than on Mt. Moriah.

⁷ Avraham announces, "Hashem will see", declaring that this place will later be one of revelation. See also Targum Onkelos, who does not explicitly mention the Mikdash but explains similarly: "וּפְלַח וְצַלִּי אַבְרָהָם, תַּמָּן בְּאַתְרָא הַהוּא, אֲמַר קֳדָם יְיָ הָכָא יְהוֹן פָּלְחִין דָּרַיָּא".

⁸ This position assumes that though the city already chosen, the fact was not yet known to the masses.

⁹ For a full discussion of why Yerushalayim is never named in Torah, see R"Y Levy's article, Why Does the Torah Not Mention Jerusalem by Name?

¹⁰ It measures 690 meters above sea level, as opposed to the 770 meters of the Upper City (Mt. Zion, the Jewish and Armenian Quarters of today), or the 900 meters of Chevron and Beit El.

¹¹ At first glance the name of the city "ציון", from the root "ציי" meaning dry or desolate, would argue against the possibility tht the city was remarkable specifically due to its water sources.  See, though, R"Y Elitzur, מקום בפרשה (Tel Aviv 2014): 261-272, who suggests that Zion originally referred to the larger area surrounding the City of David, which was indeed barren desert.  Mezudat Zion, then, referred to the fortress in the area of Zion. See Elitzur's article for other explanations of the name, including the possibility that it stemmed form the root "צין" which could be related to the Arabic  root "צון", meaning to watch or guard.

¹² See the story of the Concubine in Givah in Shofetim 19:11, where the servant tells his master, "לְכָה נָּא וְנָסוּרָה אֶל עִיר הַיְבוּסִי הַזֹּאת וְנָלִין בָּהּ".  The fact that they have to veer off the path, means that Yevus (Yerushalayim) was somewhat off the highway.

¹³ See Bereshit 12:6-7 and Bereshit 33:18-20.

¹⁴ See Bereshit 28:12-19 where Yaakov names Luz, "Beit El" declaring it a "House of God and Gateway to Heaven".

¹⁵ See Bereshit 13:18.

¹⁶ Had it not been for the verse in Divrei HaYamim II 3:1 which locates the site as being where David sacrificed on the threshing floor of Aravnah the Jebusite, the reader would never have known that it was in Yerushalayim at all.