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From 1995-2007, when I served as rabbi of the Lake Success Jewish Center, more than two thirds of our members resided in North Shore Towers, a complex of three high-rises for seniors. But where is North Shore Towers? Ah, that depends who you ask.
North Shore Towers straddles the border between Queens and Nassau County, Long Island (Great Neck, more specifically). The buildings are in Queens, but the golf course is clearly in Nassau County. And don’t even think about making a right on red at the end of the driveway, which is in Queens and, hence, New York City, where right on red is illegal. As I like to joke, when the taxman comes, you live in Queens; when your friends come, you live in Great Neck.
Are there other borders which are also defined so rigidly? Well, how about the borders of the city of Jerusalem, and the Temple courtyard? While our Torah reading speaks primarily about the materials needed for construction of objects in the Tabernacle, and later the Temple in Jerusalem, our Sages saw allusions also to the dimensions of both the Temple itself and the city of Jerusalem. Can these borders be altered, or are they fixed for all time? The 11th century Yalkut Shimoni (#339), commenting on our Torah portion, Terumah, remarks:
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One does not add to the city of Jerusalem or the Temple courtyard except according to the decision of a court of seventy-one. Also, one may add to the city of Jerusalem and the Temple courtyard via the declaration of a true prophet or via the priests using the urim and tummim (holy stones kept by the priests and used for Divine communication). What is the Biblical source for this? “Exactly as I show you—[the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings]—so shall you make it (Jerusalem/the Temple)” (Exodus 25:9) – for all generations.
Although defining borders can seem a bit arcane, it does have practical ramifications. Did you know that the accepted halacha until the 1980’s was that it was forbidden for traditional/Orthodox Jews to ascend the Temple Mount, lest they inadvertently walk upon or too near the area where the Holy of Holies stood? (Now, everyone goes there, it seems). Or that during the Oslo Accords, there was a proposal to satisfy both Palestinian demands for a capital in Jerusalem and Israeli demands for a unified city by placing the seat of government in Abu Dis – which Palestinians, but not Jews, say is part of Jerusalem?
When Elijah the Prophet comes to answer our questions, we’ll know the exact borders of both the Temple and the city of Jerusalem. Who knows – we might even discover that it’s permitted to make a right on red when you leave North Shore Towers?
- Rabbi Scott Hoffman
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