The k’dushat hayom, blessing for the festival day, acknowledges the Divine gift of special seasons of joy on which we unite in worship: Pesach, season of our freedom; Shavuot, season of our receiving Torah; Sukkot, season of our thanksgiving and Atzeret-Simchat Torah, season of rejoicing.
These three festivals – Pesach, Sukkot, andShavuot (Atzeret-Simchat Torah being the concluding day of Sukkot), are called "shalosh regalim" (derived from the Hebrew word "regel", or foot). In ancient Israel, it was customary for the Israelites to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem on these festivals to offer sacrifice at the Temple and bring offerings of the produce from their fields. Since the holy city is on higher ground than the surrounding areas, no matter where you began your pilgrimage, the journey always involved going up to Jerusalem. Thus on each Yom Tov of the Shalosh Regalim we are reminded of the Torah (Devarim 16:16) commandment of aliyah laregel, of our collective pilgrimage to Yerushalayim.
After the destruction of the Temple, the actual pilgrimage on these holidays was no longer obligatory. Yet, each time I return to Jerusalem I feel as if I am a pilgrim, going up to a place of deep spiritual significance. I may visit so-called “tourist sites”, but I experience them differently than when I travel to France, Italy, Mexico, Japan or Bali.
The Yiddish poet Yitzhak Yasinowitz captures this experience in the following poem, which the editor of Mishkan Tefillah wisely placed alongside the traditional festival kedushat hayom:
To Jerusalem: One does not travel to Jerusalem, one returns one ascends the road taken by generations the path of longing on the way to redemption.
One brings rucksacks Stuffed with memories To each mountain And each hill. In the cobbled white alleyways One offers a blessing For memories of the past Which have been renewed.
One does not travel to Jerusalem One returns.
Each visit to Israel connects me to my past, to a sense of collective memory. I experience Jerusalem as an essential part of my spiritual identity. I return, as Shlomo Carlebach wrote, in the song “Return Again”, “to the land of my soul”. Carlebach says we can “Return to what you are, return to who you are, return to where you are…”.
Searching the web, I came across a Christian website, seetheholyland.net. Although not written for Jews, the content is instructive:
“A pilgrim is not a pious tourist. A pilgrim and a tourist may follow the same itinerary, but the pilgrim is on a sacred journey in which God is encountered through places, people and situations.”
“The tourist sees sights, discovers new places, learns interesting facts, takes photographs and accumulates souvenirs. The tourist returns home the same “
“The pilgrim gains insights and discerns new truths about oneself. The pilgrim travels with the expectation that the one who returns will not be the same person as the one who set out.” (as Carlebach’s song continues, “born and reborn again”)
“The outcome of the pilgrimage will be the transformation that has taken place inside the person. The pilgrim will return with an impression imprinted on the soul, rather than in the memory of a digital camera.”
Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, in his book Israel: A Spiritual Travel Guide (Jewish Lights Publishing) also distinguishes between the tourist and the pilgrim:
“If they come for enjoyment, a break from the routine before returning home to work, they are tourists….Pilgrims come because being in this place is part of who they are, a necessary segment in the story of their lives. If they are on a journey, not to leave home, but to come home to a deeper place in their soul, then they are pilgrims….returning home – home to their history, home to their people, home to the place where it all began.”
When we pray, we face to the east, toward Jerusalem. When we recite birkat hamazon after a meal, we pray that God will "rebuild Jerusalem speedily in our days." We say "Next year in Jerusalem," at the end of the Passover Seder, and at every wedding we pray for the return of Zion's children to Jerusalem and for the sound of joyous nuptials to be heard in its streets.
Each time I return to the holy city it is a homecoming. There is something indescribably familiar about the people and places. It is always a blessing to be in this place where memory comes alive; every day in Jerusalem is a holy day.
Barbara Shuman is a member of Temple Sinai, Pittsburgh, PA, a trustee of the URJ North American Board, and serves on the Joint Commission on Worship, Music and Religious Living.Barbara coordinated the URJ Study and Spirituality Kallot from 1988-2005 and is currently VP of Pittsburgh's Agency for Jewish Learning. Her Jewish journey reflects a personal commitment to lifelong learning. She has completed both the Morei Derech training in Jewish Spiritual Direction and Kivvun, a program for contemplative leadership with the Institute for Jewish Spirituality.
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