Today beloved, we celebrate Jerusalem Day. On this day, Iyar 28, in 1967 Israeli paratroopers completed their capture of the Old City of Jerusalem, restoring control of the Temple Mount. Judaism's holiest site. Soldiers danced, sang and cried at the Western Wall, the site of Jewish prayers for centuries. A plaza was cleared in front of the Wall, and one week later, tens of thousands of Jews flocked to the site on the holiday of Shavuot, commemorating the reunification of the Holy City.
The video below captures the event, and captures the heart and soul of what the Wall means, to not only the Jews, but to all the nations of the world. It is a place where all people can come together and peacefully pray to their creator.
We Need this Shabbos Blessing! Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen
‘I shall take you to Me for a people,’ it means: Your social lives are to be guided by My wisdom; your social lives are to be a revelation of My spirit.”
(Deuteronomy 4:5).
(Exodus 6:8).
(Zechariah 2:14, 15).
“I shall take you to Me for a people,” is referring to the ideal of the Torah and mitzvos which Hashem put before His redeemed people. Rabbi Hirsch reminds us that the attainment of this ideal is an ongoing process, and he writes:
‘Hashem will never cast off His people nor will He forsake His inheritance’ (Psalm 94:14). Hashem will be with them through the centuries of trials and darkness, through pain and deprivation, until they reach their pinnacle of perfection, the goal set before them by the Torah, and the fullness of joy that it promises.” (The Hirsch Haggadah – Essay on the 4th Cup)
“And I have placed My words in your mouth, and with the shade of My hand I have covered you, to implant the heavens and to set a base for the earth and to say unto Zion, ‘You are My people!’ ” (Isaiah 51:16)
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