Yom Yerushalayim (יוֹם יְרוּשָׁלַיִם)

 

It is bitter/sweet that I share this blog today, especially in light of the recent and growing tensions and conflicts in Jerusalem.  Today is Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day), which commemorates the reunification of the city of Jerusalem after the Six-Day War on June 7, 1967.  It is celebrated on the 28^th of Iyar.  Before the war portions of the Old City were under Jordanian control and Jews were not allowed to enter.  Today, Jerusalem is part of Israel and people generally are allowed to visit the holy city and her sacred sites that are significant to Jews, Christians, and Muslims, though there are exceptions.  Both Jews and Christians are presently not allowed to visit the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, though again there have been exceptions to this rule.  When I visited Israel in 2017, I was allowed to visit the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, but not the Dome of the Rock.  However, in 2015 Pope Francis was permitted to visit the Dome of the Rock. In a more recent account, a none Muslim was allowed to visit and capture a video of his tour of the Dome.        

Among the tensions in Jerusalem today, the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif seems to produce some of the highest tensions in the city of Jerusalem.  Some Palestinians accuse Israel of wanting to tear down the Dome of the Rock and build the Third Temple on the mount.  Not all Jews wish for this to happen, but some groups advocate the building of the Jewish Temple, groups such as the Temple Mount Faithful, which was founded in 1967 by an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) officer named Gershon Salomon, whose goal is “the building of the Third Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in our lifetime in accordance with the Word of G-d and all the Hebrew prophets and the liberation of the Temple Mount from Arab (Islamic) occupation so that it may be consecrated to the Name of G-d.”

However, this apparently was not the view of everyone following the Six-Day War.  On June 7, 1967, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan stated,

This morning, the Israel Defense Forces liberated Jerusalem. We have united Jerusalem, the divided capital of Israel. We have returned to the holiest of our holy places, never to part from it again. To our Arab neighbors we extend, also at this hour - and with added emphasis at this hour - our hand in peace. And to our Christian and Muslim fellow citizens, we solemnly promise full religious freedom and rights. We did not come to Jerusalem for the sake of other peoples' holy places, and not to interfere with the adherents of other faiths, but in order to safeguard its entirety, and to live there together with others, in unity.

Moshe Dayan is also known for a pivotal decision during the Six-Day War.  During the war, Mordechai (Motta) Gur and his paratroops were the first to visit the Western Wall and the Temple Mount during which time he became know for his recorded words, !הר הבית בידינו‎, Har HaBayit BeYadeinu! “The Temple Mount is in our hands!”  Ezra Orni, the chief communications officer for the brigade, hung an Israeli flag over the Dome of the Rock.  However, Dayan was watching through binoculars from nearby Mount Scopus and radioed Gur saying, “Do you want to set the Middle East on fire?”  As a result, the flag was taken down.  Later, Dayan visited the site with Yitzhak Rabin to commemorate the return of the city of Jerusalem and the sacred site to the Jews.  At the Western Wall, Rabbi Shlomo Goren, the IDF’s chaplain, blew the shofar to honor the event. 

For more information, see The Six-Day War: Background & Overview.    

Israeli Paratroopers at the Western Wall (Photo: Rubinger)