In the verses before us, the author of the lament shifts from depicting the destruction itself to describing the profound impression that the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash and of Jerusalem left upon the hearts of all who witnessed it. Whoever passed by and saw it stopped, was shocked, and wondered: Is this the city of which everyone spoke with praise? We will examine this verse in depth, both in its plain meaning and its homiletic interpretations, and through it we will understand the essence of Jerusalem and what we lost with its destruction.
סָפְקוּ עָלַיִךְ כַּפַּיִם כָּל עֹבְרֵי דֶרֶךְ, שָׁרְקוּ וַיָּנִעוּ רֹאשָׁם עַל בַּת יְרוּשָׁלִָם: הֲזֹאת הָעִיר שֶׁיֹּאמְרוּ כְּלִילַת יֹפִי מָשׂוֹשׂ לְכָל הָאָרֶץ. - All who pass along the way clap their hands at you; they whistle and shake their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem: "Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?"
There are three expressions of reaction here. "Clapped their hands" - as we find regarding Balak: "and he clapped his hands," meaning: I summoned you to curse, and you blessed instead! Clapping hands is an exclamation of "oy," a cry of grief. "They whistled" - in ancient times it was common for someone seeing something astonishing to whistle in amazement: How could such a thing have happened? "And they shook their heads" - like someone clucking their tongue and shaking their head from side to side: tsk, tsk, tsk, what a terrible tragedy, what immense grief. And all of them wonder: Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?
The Lechem Dimah explains: typically, nations are jealous of one another. There are debates over which country is more beautiful, which attracts more tourists, which is more unique. But regarding Jerusalem - "that they would say the perfection of beauty" - everyone said so about her. It was universally acknowledged. Everyone rejoiced in her, no one envied her, and no one tried to claim, "we have something more beautiful." The entire world conceded that Jerusalem was the perfection of beauty, above anywhere else on earth.
The Elon Bachut explains "kelilat" as being related to "shichlul" (development and perfection): from Zion and Jerusalem, the entire world was developed and brought to completion. The Midrash Tanchuma teaches that King Solomon knew the subterranean channels running through the soil of Jerusalem and where each one led: which vein ran toward Cush, which to Russia, which to America. He would plant along each channel according to the vegetation it sustained: if he wished to plant coconuts, he would locate the channel leading to Africa, plant there, and coconuts would grow just as they do in Africa.
What does this mean? It means that all Divine bounty flows through this place. Jerusalem is the center, the navel of the world. And why is it called a navel? Because the navel nourishes the entire body - a fetus receives its sustenance through the umbilical cord. So too with Jerusalem: all bounty that enters the world descends through it, and from there spreads to the entire world. Therefore, one who knows where the subterranean channels lead across the globe can draw upon the bounty at its very source according to what flows to each land, fitting its proper climate and abundance, planting there and producing flora characteristic of that region. This is the meaning of "kelilat yofi" - that from her, the entire world was completed and perfected.
It is written that any king or ruler who did not build a palace for himself in Jerusalem and in the Land of Israel - his kingdom was deemed of no significance at all. Everyone sought to have a residence, a kind of embassy, in Jerusalem.
The Elon Bachut further explains that "the joy of the whole earth" alludes to the resting of the Shechinah, for the Shechinah rests only amidst joy - and this is the meaning of masos (joy). In the Beit HaMikdash the Shechinah rested, and Shlomo prayed: "Moreover, concerning the foreigner who comes from a distant land to this house and prays toward You - then hear from Your dwelling place in heaven." And should you say: Were there not beautiful, magnificent buildings in Rome and in other places as well? Were there beautiful homes only here? Certainly there were! But can one compare that to a place that is the joy of the whole earth? True joy belongs specifically in a place of the fear of Hashem and the service of Hashem. Beautiful stones can be found in other places too; stones imbued with spiritual substance, an aspect of joy and the resting of the Shechinah - that was only Jerusalem.
The Lechem Dimah further explains that this contains a condemnation of the false prophets. They would console the people and say: "The perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth" - could the Holy One, Blessed is He, destroy such a thing? How could one even entertain such a thought? A city so beautiful, so perfect, the joy of the entire earth - Hashem will not destroy it! And after the destruction, passersby would wonder in astonishment: Is this the city about which the false prophets said, "the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth," even while it was full of sins? Look at its end! Was it this city they praised so lavishly? That which the prophets cited as proof that it would never be destroyed turned into a stinging question. Apparently its beauty was merely external, while inside it was eaten away by their sins.
The Lechem Dimah also observes: When any other city is destroyed, there is hope that it will be rebuilt at some stage. Especially, as explained previously, in those times they would hasten to rebuild a ruined city because an existing city already had infrastructure, whereas building a city from foundation to roofbeam is far more complex and difficult. Not so with Jerusalem, concerning which it was said, "Raze it, raze it to its very foundation!" Therefore every passerby would exclaim: "Is this the city that they will say is the perfection of beauty?" - in the future tense: Can one still say of such a city that it will yet be the perfection of beauty? A city ruined from its base, razed to its very foundation - do you still expect it to be rebuilt? This was their utter astonishment: nothing will ever come of it again; it will never be rebuilt.
Another explanation in Lechem Dimah: There are cities that boast unique houses, and cities that distinguish themselves through beautiful streets. Jerusalem excelled in everything - in every single aspect, combining all perfections. Not only in beauty, but also in sustenance: the source of abundance was here, and it bestowed bounty upon the entire world - "the joy of the whole earth," gladdening the entire world through the abundance emanating from it. Note also the acronym: "sharku vayaníu rosham al bat Yerushalayim" (they hissed and shook their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem) - the first letters form the word osher (עושר, wealth), teaching that this city was filled with wealth, and from its wealth the entire earth was sustained.
It is brought in Eicha Zuta: Come and see the difference between Jerusalem and all other lands. Other lands praise themselves - they wish to boast and there is no one to praise them, so they glorify themselves. Tyre declared: "I am the perfection of beauty." Sanheriv said: "Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land" - boasting that his land is like yours, a special land. These lands praise themselves. But Jerusalem - others praise it. The whole world called it "the joy of the whole earth" and yearned to see it. And "the perfection of beauty" (כלילת יופי) has the numerical value (gematria) of "Jerusalem" (ירושלים), to teach you that this is the title most fitting and appropriate for it.
The Rav of Worms cites a Midrash: Rabbi Yochanan ben Elazar said, there was once an incident involving a merchant who went to Jerusalem to sell his merchandise. He sat there and could not make a sale. He exclaimed: Is this the city about which it is said, "the joy of the whole earth"? Does it bring joy to the entire world? An hour later, he sold all his wares. He then exclaimed: "Fair in climate, the joy of the whole earth!" How fittingly do they speak of it!
And our Sages said: All coins were accepted in Jerusalem. There are places where you arrive with a particular currency and they tell you, "Not accepted." But Jerusalem, where everyone came to trade, was a metropolis - as Chazal describe it - that is, a central crossroads. The Land of Israel sits at an intercontinental axis, and Jerusalem was connected to all lands, with everyone coming to trade there. "Fair in climate, the joy of the whole earth": whatever currency anyone brought, in Jerusalem it was fully negotiable.
Our Sages say: Ten miracles were performed for our ancestors in Jerusalem. Never did the sacrificial meat spoil; never did a woman miscarry from the aroma of the sacrificial meat; no person was ever harmed or injured in Jerusalem; no serpent ever bit anyone in Jerusalem; no person ever stumbled in Jerusalem; a fire never broke out in Jerusalem; there was never a building collapse in Jerusalem; and a person never said to his fellow, "I could not find an oven in which to roast pesach-offerings in Jerusalem."
And how many pesach-offerings were roasted there? Once, Agrippa conducted a census and counted the kidneys, reaching the figure of one million two hundred thousand. And we have a tradition that at least ten people were registered for each pesach-offering. Where inside Jerusalem can you roast one million two hundred thousand offerings? Yet no person ever said, "I could not find an oven." How? Miraculously. Just as they stood crowded together and prostrated with ample room, so it was here. Moreover, a person never said to his fellow, "I could not find a bed to sleep on in Jerusalem" - twelve million people arriving, and not one person said he could not find a bed! How? It was a miracle, and when there is a miracle, one does not ask questions. And never did a person say to his fellow, "The space is too cramped for me to lodge in Jerusalem" - no one ever had to dash off to sleep in another town; in Jerusalem, there was room for everyone.
And Rabbi Yochanan said: There was an arched chamber for accounting outside Jerusalem, and anyone who wished to make financial calculations would go there - so that he would not calculate inside Jerusalem and become distressed, because it says, "the joy of the whole earth." Hear what a marvelous thing this is: a person needs to sit down with his ledger and pore over it. They tell him: Sir, not in Jerusalem. This is a place of joy. Financial calculations might cause you grief - you suddenly see how much you lost and how much you have to spend. Go to the chamber outside the city - a kippah was a kind of building or hall - and there, all those who seek complex reckonings would sit. There you can check your bank statements and look at everything that causes you distress. There are people about whom it is said that bank overdraft statements fall out of their pockets - and this brings a person grief. Would you calculate that in Jerusalem? Step outside and calculate there, as it says, "the joy of the whole earth."
And why all this praise? Because it is "the city of the great King." And once Jerusalem was destroyed, joy waned. When Hashem rebuilds Jerusalem, He will restore the joy, as it says: "Hashem has comforted Zion, He has comforted all her ruins, and He made her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of Hashem," and it continues: "gladness and joy shall be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of melody." That very city which is the joy of the whole earth will once again become a place of gladness and joy. So says Midrash Rabbah.
And the reason they went outside of Jerusalem: in Jerusalem, the mind is devoted to spiritual matters. A person's contemplation there is focused on the service of Hashem, for it is the resting place of the Shechinah and a place of holiness, and in this lies true joy, and that is the "joy." But if you preoccupy yourself with other calculations, you distract your mind from holiness and from the service of Hashem - and consequently, this is not the place for it.
"The perfection [kelilat]" - our Sages say - stems from the root kol ("all"): all beauty belongs to her. Ten measures of beauty descended to the world; Jerusalem took nine, and the rest of the world took one. Another explanation: every beauty in the world is found within her. And that is why it is said, "all are brought up to Jerusalem" - every good and superior thing is brought up to Jerusalem.
It is written in the holy books that all prayers from outside the Land ascend first through the Land of Israel. And so we recite: Behold, I pray facing the Land of Israel, and facing Jerusalem the Holy City, and facing the Beit HaMikdash, and facing the Holy of Holies, between the two cherubim that are there, the resting place of the Shechinah. First of all, we see from here that divine service is gradual - one does not say, "I go straight between the two cherubim"; one does not leap directly to the cherubim. Furthermore, we see that prayer ascends by stages until it reaches the epicenter, the place where the Shechinah rests.
And so Yaakov Avinu saw. Where did he lie down? Directly opposite the Holy of Holies. And what did he say about that place? "This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." And he said: Had I known that this place was so holy, I would not have slept in it. Even though the angels of God were revealed to him, he would have been willing to forgo all of that - but to sleep in such a holy place? King Solomon also said, "And they shall pray to You by way of their land" - prayer ascends through the Land of Israel. And it is stated a third time in the Writings: Daniel - "and windows were open for him in his upper chamber facing Jerusalem," windows opened for him in the attic where he would stand and pray, facing Jerusalem. Thus, prayer ascends facing Jerusalem. This is the city that is the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth - through which everything ascends and all abundance flows.
The Rav of Worms explains: "Vayan'u" is written defectively, missing a letter yud (with a numerical value of ten), alluding to the ten matters mentioned in Parashat Nitzavim. The prophecy there states that the foreigner coming from a distant land will see the plagues of the land and its sicknesses, and the nations will whistle in astonishment and desolation, asking: "Why has Hashem done this to this land? What is the heat of this great anger?" If we pay close attention, ten things are listed there: "And they shall see the plagues of that land" - one; "and its sicknesses" - two; "sulfur" and "salt" - three and four; "it shall not be sown," "nor bear fruit," "nor shall any grass grow upon it" - five, six, and seven; "like the overthrow of..." - eight; "Why has Hashem done this to this land?" - nine; and "What is the heat of this great anger?" - bringing it to ten. These are the ten things about which the nations express amazement.
And why is the yud missing? Because in truth, they feel no genuine sorrow. Ten miracles once took place in Jerusalem, and now that yud of ten miracles is gone; in its place, they look upon another ten - the ten afflictions we just enumerated upon Jerusalem. They feign sorrow, as if to say: "Woe, how could Jerusalem have suffered ten plagues!" But "vayan'u" lacks the yud - in reality, you feel no grief at all. The non-Jew stands there feigning astonishment, saying, "What a pity," while in his heart thinking: Thank God this city is finally destroyed; thank God the Jewish people are suffering. He rejoices in our misfortune, and that is why the yud is missing.
On a simple level, clapping hands, whistling, and shaking the head seem to be gestures of grief: Woe, is this that glorious, unique city? But the *Lechem Dim'ah* cites an alternative explanation in the name of his teacher, which fits our historical familiarity with the nations far better. When the gentile sees our ruin, he does not shed a single tear; at best, it leaves him entirely indifferent, and at worst, he actively rejoices that someone else did his dirty work for him.
This applies even to the most civilized of nations. This does not refer only to Germany, but even to America: when Rabbi Weissmandl sent detailed blueprints on how to bomb the crematoria operating at full capacity in Auschwitz and other camps, they showed virtually no interest, even though their planes flew right nearby. Bombing the crematoria could have delayed the executions by a month, and who knows how many lives might have been saved. Yet the entire matter meant nothing to them. Perhaps deep down they were even content that someone else was doing the work for them and solving the "Jewish problem" - after all, did they want a flood of refugees? It is well known that vast numbers of immigrants arrived in America; here in the Land of Israel we were a minority, while the majority was there. Deep down, they were not truly pained by what was happening to us.
Therefore, the *Lechem Dim'ah* explains that "all who pass along the way" refers to the nations of the world, who transgress (*overim*) the path (*derech*) of the Torah. The Holy One, blessed be He, established a path, and that path is the way of the Torah, yet they violate it. When they saw what befell the Jewish people, they rejoiced; they "clapped their hands" in celebration. And what do crude, reckless people do when they wish to mock someone? They jeer and whistle in derision - and that is "they whistled." Whistles of malicious joy and contempt, celebrating our downfall as if to say: How wonderful, someone is dealing with them and settling the score for us.
Based on this, Rabbi David HaKohen Seltzer in *Vayichtov Mordechai* explains the verse in another way. The Gemara in Yoma (53b) teaches that on Yom Kippur, upon exiting the Holy of Holies into the outer sanctuary, the Kohen Gadol offered a special prayer: that the prayers of wayfarers regarding rain should not be accepted. Why? Because in the winter, when it is cold, rainy, and muddy, travelers in wagons or on foot get their clothes ruined and risk falling ill, so they stand and pray: "Master of the Universe, let it rain - but in two hours, or in two days, just let me reach my destination first." Each person looks out for himself. Under such conditions, it would never rain, for there is always a traveler on the road pleading for the rain to be delayed. Therefore, the Kohen Gadol stood and prayed that the prayer of wayfarers should not enter before Hashem.
Commentators have remarked: Does the Kohen Gadol really need to summon heavy artillery against a fly? A simple traveler stands praying that it should not rain, and to counter him, the Kohen Gadol on the holiest day of the year, in the holiest place on earth, must intervene? The answer is that this illustrates the immense power of a heartfelt prayer. The Kohen Gadol had to deploy the heaviest spiritual weapons because that traveler caught on the road in the pouring rain prays from the very depths of his heart - he is suffering right now. To neutralize such a sincere prayer requires the most powerful spiritual force: the prayer of the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur as he emerges from the Holy of Holies.
From here we come to the interpretation of the verse: all this applied when the Beit HaMikdash stood. But in our times, we have no Kohen Gadol to stand and offer this supplication; there are no Kohanim at their service, no Levi'im at their song and platform, and no Israelites at their stations. It turns out, then, that the prayer of wayfarers is dangerous - it might actually be answered. This explains "all who pass along the way clapped their hands at you": when the wayfarers heard that the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, they clapped their hands as the *Lechem Dim'ah* interprets - clapping with joy. How wonderful, now there are no worries; one can pray that it should not rain and the prayer will be accepted, for there is no Kohen Gadol to neutralize it. To be sure, this is said as a witty homily (*derech tzachut*), and heaven forbid we think that anyone would actually wish for the Beit HaMikdash to be destroyed just to avoid mud on their shoes. But as a homiletical insight, it is a delightful idea.
The author of Nachal Eshkol, and Rabbi Chaim Palagi likewise quotes in his work Tenufah LeChaim: "Hazot ha'ir sheyomru kelilat" ("Is this the city that was called the perfection") - the final letters spell out "Torati" (My Torah). What does this mean? Chazal expounded on the verse, "And the gold of that land is good" - there is no Torah like the Torah of Eretz Yisrael. When people were filled with awe, they would say: Is this the city of which they said, the perfection of beauty? And what was its perfection of beauty? The Torah. There is no Torah like the Torah of Jerusalem, "For out of Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the word of Hashem from Jerusalem."
The approach of Rav Ovadia Yosef is well known: that the custom of Jerusalem is binding upon the entire Land and the entire world. In many matters where all Sephardim are unified today, the customs follow his halachic rulings, as he instituted the custom of Jerusalem: regarding putting on tefillin on the morning of Tisha B'Av, and in many other areas. So too regarding eating meat: most Sephardim were accustomed to abstain starting from the day after Rosh Chodesh, whereas Rav Ovadia instituted the custom of Jerusalem to abstain only during the week in which Tisha B'Av falls, and that is how most Sephardim practice today - "and the word of Hashem from Jerusalem."
We see that there is a special power in Jerusalem, and a special power in Eretz Yisrael. The Gemara relates that when Rabbi Zeira moved to Eretz Yisrael, he observed forty fasts so that he would forget the Torah of Babylonia and start learning the Torah of Eretz Yisrael anew. Who can comprehend such a thing? If only we would fast to remember Torah, yet he fasted to forget - so that from then on he could study without the Babylonian method confusing him, because the Torah of Eretz Yisrael is on a far higher and more sublime spiritual level.
This can be seen even today: the greatest Torah scholars are found in Eretz Yisrael more than in the Diaspora. Rav Ovadia Yosef left no equal in the Diaspora; Rav Elyashiv left no equal in the Diaspora; along with other giants of recent generations, where the sages of Eretz Yisrael surpassed the Diaspora sages of their generation by multiple levels. To be sure, there were tremendous giants in the Diaspora as well - Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, Rabbi Aharon Kotler, Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky. This is not referring to earlier eras when all the sages were in the Diaspora, but rather to recent generations. Still, we see that there is no Torah like the Torah of Eretz Yisrael. This is "Is this the city that was called the perfection" - the final letters spelling "Torati": the perfection of beauty is the uniqueness of the Torah of Eretz Yisrael.
A single verse, "All who pass along the way clap their hands at you," opens a window for us into the greatness of Jerusalem and the depth of its loss. It was the perfection of beauty by universal consensus, the place from which all of creation was perfected and through which all divine abundance descended, the navel of the world. It was the joy of all the earth - a city where the Shechinah rested and a place of joy, from which even distressing reckonings were cast out; a city of ten miracles, of ten measures of beauty, through which all prayers ascend, and possessing a Torah without equal. Once Jerusalem was destroyed, all joy vanished, and passersby wondered whether it would ever be rebuilt. Meanwhile the nations, who are "passersby" that transgress the path of the Torah, clapped their hands and whistled not out of sorrow, but out of malicious glee - and therefore the word vayani'u is spelled without a yud. Yet we await the fulfillment of the promise: "Hashem has comforted Zion, He has comforted all her ruins," and may there be realized within her once more: "Joy and gladness shall be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song."