For the week ending 4 June 2005 / 26 Iyyar 5765
Yom Yerushalayim
As Israel celebrates the 38th anniversary of the liberation of Yerushalayim we recall how this holy city got its name.
When G-d wished to endow His chosen city with a name, He recalled that Malki-Tzedek, who was Shem, the son of Noach, had called it Shalem and that Avraham had called it Yireh.
"If I call it Yireh as did Avraham, the righteous Malki-Tzedek (Shem) will feel slighted, and if I call it Shalem, Avraham will be offended. I will therefore call it Yireh-Shalem, combining both of their names."
And so was born the name Yireh-Shalem which we pronounce Yerushalayim and revere as the eternal capital of Israel.
