In the Merit of Yerushalyim I Shall Split the Sea for Them
We can now answer our question about what connection there is between Yerushalyim and splitting the sea. We find a very special quality to Yerushalyim. The Gemara says, Yerushalyim is a city that connects all Jews and makes them friends. In other words, it takes individuals and unifies them into a group. True, the city of Yerushalyimm did not exist at the time of the splitting of the sea, but the unifying concept of Yerushalyim that unifies into one group is similar to the miracle of splitting of the sea, which unified them as one.
There Were No Better Holidays Than Tu B’av and Yom Kippur
To interject a timely matter in this vein: This parshah is read on Shabbos which falls out this year on the fifteenth of Av – Tu B’av. The Gemara tells us that there were no better holidays than Tu B’av and Yom Kippur. It then asks what is so special about Tu B’av in contrast to Yom Kippur, which is clearly special, because of the pardon and atonement of the day, and the second Tablets were given on that day. It answers that it was the day that those wandering in the wilderness stopped dying. We can say that Yom Kippur represents a day of pardon for all of Yisrael, for whom atonement is achieved through one korban. Tu B’av, however, involves each individual, who enters Israel to get his individual portion in Israel.
The Group Includes the Individual
Now let us take the idea of the Sfas Emes, differentiating between the group and the individual, and add the idea that a group includes the individual. The service of the group is based on the work of each and every individual, according to the customs each inherited from his predecessors, with each having his own unique way. Only when they all combine to serve Hashem with their individual ways, is the work of the King of Kings complete. Each must look favorably at his neighbor, despite their different approaches, and only then is the divine service complete. If we truly work at this, we will merit rectifying all baseless hatred, and He will speedily redeem us and build our Beis Hamikdash speedily in our days, Amen.
