Yom Yerushalayim 5777
Those of us of a certain age will remember exactly where we were when we heard the incredible news – Yerushalayim was back in our hands.
And today, we celebrate the Jubilee, 50 remarkable years since that historic, epic moment during the six-day war. And Baruch Hashem, we have been blessed to be able to celebrate in Yerushalayim, visit the Kotel, live in Yerushalayim – what a remarkable city it is.
Yerushalayim is the centre of our spiritual existence. We pray through it to the Almighty, it is a symbol of the whole Land of Israel. It is a symbol of our people.
Yerushalyim Habinuya K’ir Shechubrah Lo Yachdav. In the same way that Jerusalem is composed of a series of hills and mountains bound together within one city, it is a symbol of all Jewish people bound together as one single national entity. Celebrating our triumphs of the past, remembering our challenges and now facing, please God, a great and glorious future.
So, on this very significant Yom Yerushalayim, we thank the Almighty for the blessing of Jerusalem, in our hands over the past 50 years, for what Yerushalayim has always meant to us. And we also pray, Hapores Sukkat Shalom Aleinu V’al Kol Yisrael V’al Yerushalayim, ‘May the Almighty spread the tabernacle of peace upon us, upon all his people of Israel and the city of Jerusalem’.
Simcha Le’artzecha V’sasson L’irecha, ‘May he grant happiness for all the Land and elation always for that most wonderful of cities, Yerushalayim Ir Hakodesh.
I wish you all a Chag Sameach.
