לרפואת בתי היקרה עדינה בת שבע בת נעכא גיטל בתוך שח"י
The
Beis Yosef [188] writes in the
name of the Mordechai that the third bracha of Bentching concludes בונה ברחמיו ירושלים – He builds
Yerushalyim with mercy. The Kol Bo, Orchos Chaim and others write that this is
not accurate because Yerushalayim will be built with JUDGMENT as the pasuk
says in Yeshayahu ציון במשפט תפדה. The rejoinder is that the pasuk
in Zecharya says שבתי
לירושלים ברחמים ביתי יבנה בה – Yerushalayim
will be built with mercy, as we say in our Bentching.
But how are we to understand the
seeming contradiction in the psukim?
The Darkei Moshe explains that Tzion
will be redeemed in the MERIT of judging honestly but the actual redemption of
Yerushalayim will be with mercy and not with judgment.
Another possible explanation: The
gemara says that the Shchina only dwelled in the first Beis Hamikdash. The
Maharal says [Netzach Yisrael 4] that the first Beis Hamikdash which had the
Shchina was destroyed when the Jews committed the three cardinal sins which
expelled the Shchina. The 2nd Beis Hamikdash existed because the Jews
were unified and was destroyed because of sinas chinam and a lack of unity.
The Medrash Yalkut at the end of
sefer Melachim says that we will we only be redeemed after we do teshuva and we
will only do teshuva when Eliyahu comes, as it says והשיב לב אבות על בנים.
The word והשיב denotes teshuva. However, at the
end of Mishnayos Eduyos it says that Eliyahu will only come to make peace
between people, as it says והשיב לב
אבות על בנים.
So here the word והשיב is understood to mean "peace". The Rambam in his
Peirush Hamishnayos explains that the peace will be removing the barriers
between people.
Based on the foregoing, explained the
Rinas Yitzchak [Yeshayahu p. 12] that the teshuva will be to bring peace between
people, so the Mishna in Eduyos and the Medrash in Melachim are saying the same
thing.
It emerges that in fact Yerushalayim
will be built במשפט – according to strict deserved
judgment, because we will have fixed the sin of sinas chinam and peace among
us will reign. However, the SHCHINA will not return in judgment because we
did nothing to merit its return and will thus only be restored out of Hashem's
mercy.
ציון במשפט תיפדה – The
actual building of the Beis Hamikdash will be in accordance with the standards
of strict judgment.
שבתי לירושלים ברחמים – The Shechina
will return in mercy, for that we don't deserve.
An interesting note: In Shmoneh Esrei we say ולירושלים עירך ברחמים תשוב and ותחזינה עינינו בשובך לציון ברחמים - as we say in Bentching [and unlike the opinion of the Kol Bo and Orchos Chaim].
