For some it was a day of thanks to HKBH, recitation of Hallel or possibly just omitting Tachnun. For others, it was a regular day, nothing special added or omitted from davening while for others, black flags adorned their building to display the mourning associated with the day the Zionists took control over occupied areas of the Jewish capital. At Merkaz HaRav Kook is was truly a yomtov, a day where talmidim and rabbonim clad in their Shabbos clothes danced and gave thanks for the privilege of being a part of this miracle, today experienced by the hundreds of thousands of Jews living in Yerushalayim as well as by Yidden worldwide, permitted to visit and daven at the Kosel and live in the holy city. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed the event at Merkaz, vowing to never divide Yerushalayim.
What is for certain is that like Independence Day, it is a day that no longer seems to unite but divide. Perhaps this in its own right is significant as the visible crack in the seam of Am Yisrael’s collective neshama is increasingly visible.
The Flag Parade was held as is customary, well attended, as those who opted to celebrate in this fashion marched through downtown Jerusalem making their way to the Kosel. The parade in recent years has been separate, with men and women apart, both while walking and entering the Old City. A number of Jews were arrested as an altercation took place at Shar Shechem between Jews and Arabs after the latter began tossing bottles and trash at marchers. There are no reports of any Arabs being arrested. Overt 30,000 marchers took part in the Flag Parade.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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6 Responses
Amen Vamen for the kosel once again in Jewish hands. As Rav Tzedka zt”l would say, “The Kotel is waiting for us, the shechina has been yearning for our tefillos”,,he was discourage talmidim who had the opportunity to davean at the kosel to go to kivrei tzadikim.
BH “The Kotel is in our hands”..
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed the event at Merkaz, vowing to never divide Yerushalayim.
He also vowed that the Ulpana neighbourhood in Bet El would never be evacuated. We will see what his vows are worth.
Years ago when he gave Chevron away he vowed that if the Arabs ever shot from the hills the tanks would immediately roll to take them back. We saw what that vow was worth when Shalhevet Pass was killed and there were no tanks.
Besides which, why are the outer neighbourhoods Yerushalayim more important than Chevron or the Shomron?
nice article!
Yes, there is a crack, but not in the neshoma, but rather a crack in the curtain of Falsehood.
YWN, why do occupy yourself with such shtussim?
This day is a blanket “hetter” for wild teenagers to drink and act otherwise inappropriately on public streets and buses.
I boarded a bus last night, and I was extremely disappointed. I said “ברוך שפטרני” to myself when so many of these passengers got off at Ben Yehuda Street (I’m sure many of the readers know what goes on there at nights).
So please YWN, fill your pages with news that pertains to – as your names suggests – the Yeshiva World !
What is for certain is that like Independence Day, it is a day that no longer seems to unite but divide.
Now THAT’S shtussim! I was at the Kosel & saw black-hat Yeshiva bachurim, Chassidishe yungeleit, dancing with flags, & with soldiers & young men in knitted kippas. If that’s not unity, what is?
Let me quote what a newly-arrived Rav from America just wrote about this:
“There is a difference between an observant person, and a person who actually feels G-d in his life. There is a difference between a scholar and a Tzaddik. Gershom Scholem was the world’s foremost authority on Kabbalah, but no one ever came to him for a bracha. IMHO those who do not feel the need to acknowledge G-d’s miracles on Yom Ha’Atzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim, have as much religious feeling as Woody Allen, no matter how knowledgeable they are about Jewish texts. Whether you say Hallel, with a bracha or without a bracha, or don’t say Hallel at all, but like Purim, make a special meal; witnessing miracles demands a religious response. Let us all acknowledge the special miracle of Israel and Jerusalem.”
AMEN!