All of this happened because the ingathering of exiles must precede the rebuilding of Jerusalem, as it is written (Berachot 49a): “’The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem; He gathers the exiles of Israel.’ When does the Lord rebuild Jerusalem? The Prophet also describes that due to the abundance of Jews returning to Jerusalem, all the ruins and desolate places will be rebuilt, and the abundance of children will demand an even greater expansion of building throughout the city that had been desolate and destroyed: In the Midrash, the verse “overlooking Damascus” (Shir HaShirim 7:5) is interpreted as follows: “Rabbi Yochanan said: ‘In the future, Jerusalem will extend all the way to the gates of Damascus,” as it says (Zechariah 9): “The burden of the word of the Lord upon the land of Hadrach... What is Hadrach?
Author: Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu
Published at: 2025-05-24 20:15:13
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