The Pepper Trader Who Proved Zion Is the Joy of All the Earth

"The joy of the whole earth" (Psalms 48:3). Rabbi Yonatan ben Eleazar said: There is a story about a certain merchant (a shepherd) who went to the Land of Israel to sell peppers. He went and sat down, but he did not sell anything. He said: Is this the place about which they said "the joy of the whole earth"? In a single hour he sold all his merchandise. He said: Surely this is "the joy of the whole earth, Mount Zion, the far reaches of the north, the city of the great King." And all this praise is on account of what? On account of its being "the city of the great King." Once Jerusalem was destroyed, all joy passed away, as it is said: "The joy of the whole earth has gone into exile" (Isaiah 24:11). What is the meaning of "has passed away (ʿarvah)"? It became dark; "qavelah" (it grew dark), as they say (in Aramaic). It is like that which is said: "and there was evening (ʿerev)" (Genesis 1:5). In this world the joy of the whole earth has ceased. When the Holy One, blessed be He, returns and rebuilds Jerusalem, He will bring back the joy, as it is said: "For the Lord has comforted Zion; He has comforted all her ruins, and He has made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of song" (Isaiah 51:3).