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5 aspects of Jerusalem Day and the Six-Day War

הצנחנים בכותל
Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
1. Just as we celebrate the liberation of Jerusalem, we also need to celebrate the rescue of Tel Aviv, Gedera, and Hadera. The young State of Israel, only 19 years old, stood against an existential threat in 1967, to be or not to be.
2. The direction of history changed for the better. A common quip heard in those days was: "May the last person leaving Ben-Gurion Airport please turn off the lights." But the lights were not extinguished; instead, brighter lights were lit. An older couple from New York recently told me how before the war they suggested to relatives in Israel to come and live with them in the US, but after the war most of their own children made aliyah.
3. The State not only survived, but its area expanded threefold. Tiny Israel tripled in size, triumphantly securing the Golan Heights, the Sinai Desert, Yehuda, Shomron, and all of Jerusalem. We returned to
the same wells, town squares, and marketplaces that our forefathers knew in ancient times.
4. It only took six days. The Arabs call it "The June War" and not "The Six-Day War" in order not to be reminded of their swift defeat. Seven armies, including those of Iraq and Saudi Arabia, were destroyed in less than a week.
5. The joy on our side was without precedent. Today such words would never be written in a newspaper, but after the liberation of Jerusalem, a reaction in Haaretz read as follows: "There are no words to express the emotions now stirring in our hearts as even the concept of a Holy Temple has become more tangible at this hour."
Have a wonderful Jerusalem Day!

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