This request is full of hints about Jerusalem’s uniqueness. Indeed, there is something about Jerusalem that makes it more special than any other city in the world. Let’s first take a look at how the blessing ends: “Blessed are You, YHVH, who builds Jerusalem.” As we pointed out earlier the concluding blessing is always in the present tense. Therefore, here too, God is constantly building Jerusalem. The question is, do we notice it? Even when Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jewish people were banished into the current 2,000-year-old exile, it was all part of the building of Jerusalem. Compare it to planting a seed; the rotting is the beginning of the blossoming. The blessing also describes Jerusalem as “Your city”—meaning, the city of God. People of every religion, from all over the world, come to Jerusalem to experience the city’s tangible holiness. As the Torah teaches us, right behind the Western Wall is the Temple Mount—the site of both the first and second Temples. This is also the exact point where God created the world, and the spot where Yaakov dreamed of a ladder to heaven, and where Avraham brought Yitzchak to be sacrificed. The Western Wall itself, according to Jewish tradition, is a physical reminder to the Jewish people that God is still with us despite the exile. Clearly, Jerusalem is deeply identified with the presence of God. Even many non-religious admit that the holiness here is so strong one can feel it even though one can’t touch it. Jerusalem has an aura of timelessness, which is reflected in its architecture. In fact, Jerusalem has an architectural law that requires all its structures to be built of Jerusalem stone. Both these physical and spiritual qualities give Jerusalem a special inspirational ambiance. The prayer attests to this unique quality when it states, “build it quickly as an eternal structure (binyan olam.)” A binyan olam could mean a building that lasts forever, or a building where we sense timelessness. The difference is that an “eternal building” lasts for eternity, while a “building of eternity” embodies eternity. When you come to Jerusalem, you feel the eternal. While holiness of Jerusalem exceeds any other place on earth, it is true that other cities have their own unique energy. When I traveled to England, I remember thinking that London felt very majestic. There’s something about the city that shouts: “the Queen lives here.” Everywhere I looked—not only at Buckingham Palace, where the guards looked like regal chassidim wearing shtreimels—there was regimentation and perfection. The roadside hedges were cut in perfect geometrical shapes, and even in Hyde Park the ducks seemed to be on duty. Paris has a completely different ambiance. Paris is romantic. It must be something about the cafes, museums and people strolling along the Champs Elysee. Then there’s Los Angeles, where you feel that you are perpetually hearing the Beach Boys. Everyone there is relaxed, and it feels as though the California raisins are going to surf right by you. When you come to Jerusalem, the ambiance is holiness. Although you can’t touch it with your hands you can feel it with your heart and soul. And a holy city is exactly what we are now praying for. As the prophet declared “from Zion will come forth Torah, and the word of God from Jerusalem.” The Torah is the word of God, His timeless message revealed over 3,000 years ago. However, the “word of God that comes from Jerusalem” refers to the personal ongoing connection to God that is happening right now—transmitted to the rest of the world through Jerusalem. According to our tradition, at the center of the Temple Mount is a foundation stone known as the even shetiyah—“the drinking rock.” The word shetiyah hints to shat Ya. Ya is one of the names of God, and the letters shin tav form the root of sh’tiyah (“drink”). Therefore, we drink the waters of God from here. The entire world draws its spiritual sustenance from this place. The Midrash tells us that Shlomo HaMelech (King Solomon) understood how the spiritual energies of the world emerged from the Temple Mount and traveled outward to the rest of the world. He planted around Jerusalem rows of various agricultural species—plants and trees—based on the unique vectors of spiritual energy emerging from Jerusalem to nourish the rest of the world.