In life, as in geology, there are many strata: of substance, of meaning, and of energy.
And in life, as in geology, there is physical causality, in which things move and are understood according to physical laws and reasoning.
This physical causality – which some might call "real life" – is one level of existence.
There is also another, higher and very different level of causality – a spiritual one – in which there are rewards and punishments for good and evil.
Usually, there are no connections between the physical and spiritual strata; they don't mix.
People may move from one level to the other, but they don't mix.
But there are – in spirituality, as in geology – points at which the levels touch, where two strata of existence somehow come together in one point, like a corner formed by two walls.
The corner has no substance of its own, but – like a lap – exists because of the relationship of two other planes.
This juncture is what Jacob called the ladder or gate to heaven, a place where influence, power, and insight can move either way, between the spiritual and material worlds.
Such a point is Jerusalem.
No one knows why it should be so, but Jerusalem is a fault-line in the stratification of the world order.
Just as water may spurt forth from a geological fault, so, too, Jerusalem is a gushing wellspring of existence, a source of goodness and benefit.
Because this point where the physical and spiritual worlds meet is the place where they can work together, things happen in Jerusalem that do not conform to ordinary rules.
Here, more than anywhere else, the smallest events take on a cosmic meaning and enigmatic complexity that are beyond our understanding.
An event that happens in Jerusalem reverberates all over the world, yet a similar incident elsewhere passes almost unnoticed.
Only here does the causality of the material world become entangled with the entirely different causality of the spiritual world.
The energy of justice and the energy of power are pulled toward Jerusalem, as toward a lightning rod, and become entangled, sending shock waves around the globe.
Jerusalem is a place of power and resonance, waiting – perhaps hoping – for a voice that will be heard all over the world, a voice that will renew the message of peace and wholeness and holiness that has always issued from this holy city.
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From an essay, "The Resonance of Jerusalem" by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz