Hallel: Yom Yerushalayim: Paragraph Five
What will those standing in redeemed Jerusalem sing? They will sing as Jerusalem will sing, which as did Yosef when he became viceroy of Egypt as he had dreamed, when his brothers bowed to him as he dreamed they would, when he greeted the entire family including his father, just as he had dreamed; his dreams were realized. His prayers were answered. He looked back on all that happened with clarity, as the Midrash teaches:
There is a most remarkable identity between the occurrences in the life of Joseph and those in the history of Zion and Jerusalem, and a remarkable similarity in the phrases employed in describing the respective events of each, whether in their adversity or in their prosperity.
We read: “Israel loved Joseph” (Gen. xxxvii.), “The Lord loveth the gates of Zion” (Ps. lxxxvii.).
Joseph’s brethren hated him; “My heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest, it crieth out against me, therefore I hate it ” (Jer. xii.).
Joseph speaks of making sheaves; there are sheaves in connection with Zion (Ps. cxxvi.).
Joseph dreamed: “When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion we were like them that dream” (Ps. cxxvi.).
Joseph was asked, “Wilt thou rule over us?” “Say unto Zion thy God ruleth” (Isa. Iii.). Joseph was asked whether his father and brothers would prostrate themselves before him. “They shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth” (Isa. xlix.).
Joseph’s brethren were jealous; “Thus said the Lord of Hosts, I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy ” (Zech. viii.).
Joseph went to inquire about the peace of his brothers; Zion was to seek the peace of the city where she is captive (Jer. xxix.). –
Joseph’s brethren saw him from the distance; the same is said about Zion (Ezek. xxiii.). Joseph’s brothers contemplated his destruction; so the nations contemplated the destruction of Zion (Ps. 1xxxiii.).
Joseph was stripped of his coat of many colors; concerning Zion, the prophet says, ” They shall strip thee of thy clothes” (Ezek. xvi.).
Joseph was put into a pit; “They have put me alive into the dungeon” (lam. iii.).
The pit into which Joseph was put contained no water. In connection with Zion, Jeremiah was put into a pit where there was no water (Jer. xxxviii.).
Joseph’s brothers sat down to their meal; “We have given the hand to Egyptians and to Assyrians to be satisfied with bread” (Lam. v.).
Joseph was pulled up from the pit; Jeremiah, who in connection with his prophecy about Zion was put into a dungeon -as stated above – was drawn up from the dungeon (Jer. III) (Midrash Tanchumah)
Jerusalem and Yosef, and we who will stand in the completely rebuilt Jerusalem, sing:
“I love that God hears the voice of my prayers, that I am listened to when I call!
Ropes of death strangled me and alleys of the grave found me; I discovered trouble and sadness.
So, I called out in the Name of God: Please God, rescue my soul!
God is proper and just. Our Lord shows compassion. God defends the simple.
I was lowered but then saved.
My soul, return to your place of comfort, for God weaned you with kindness.
For You saved my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my legs from tripping.
I walk before God in the lands of the living.
I kept faith even when I thought that I was destitute,
even when I rushed to say that all people are liars.”