Today is Yom Yerushalayim, another one of those holidays that I knew nothing about while living in the States, but that has so much meaning for us now that we are part of life here. On this day, in 1967, Motti Gur’s Paratroop forces managed to break through into the Old City and to recapture this incredible location. Can you imagine what those soldiers were feeling, re-entering the Old City and allowing the Jewish people to finally answer the 2,000-year-old prayer of “Next Year in Jerusalem?”

My kids all went to school in blue and white today, and we headed out to work wearing the same. Three of my children have “Jerusalem” written on their American passports for place of birth – but nothing in the space where it says country. Can you think of anywhere else in the world where your child’s place of birth isn’t acknowledged as being part of the country in which you live?

Today, we celebrate the reunification of Jerusalem – the capital of Israel.

This is the radio broadcast of the recapture of the old city. Yossi Ronen was the news broadcaster reporting the event. Rav Shlomo Goren, who was the Chief Rabbi of the IDF at the time (and also held the rank of General, having served as a soldier in the Haganah – Israel’s pre-state army), joined the Paratroopers at the Kotel HaMa’aravi (Western Wall) and led them in prayer. Colonel Motti Gur was the Military commander of the forces that recaptured the old city.

http://www.isracast.com/article.aspx?ID=374&t=Liberation-of-the-Temple-Mount-and-Western-Wall&play=1#

And here is an amazing video highlighting pictures from the past and present of the Old City. Enjoy – and may we always be privileged to enjoy, build in, and love our eternal, re-unified city of Jerusalem.