(Last update: May 14, 2021)
In Israel, May 10th, 2021 is called, Yom Yerushaliem--Jerusalem Day. It is a national "holiday", created to commemorate the Day, back in 1967, when Jerusalem was at last reunited as a Jewish city. That day in 1967 marked the first time in almost 1900 years that Jews once again controlled their Holiest City.
That moment 54 years ago was the fulfillment of an ancient Jewish prophecy. That prophecy said that G-d would not only bring Jews back to Israel, but also (implicit in that Promise) He would give Jews once again control over their Temple Mount.
One cannot underestimate the impact of that day in 1967 when Rabbi Shlomo Goren, Israel's then-Chief IDF Rabbi (and later, Israel's Chief Ashkenasi Rabbi) proclaimed from the Temple Mount for all to hear, "Har Habayit shelahnu!" (the Temple Mount is ours!)". With those words, G-d's long-ago Promise became a reality.
When, in November, 1947, the United Nations (UN ) approved the creation of the State of Israel, Jerusalem was intended (by the UN) to be a kind of independent city--"a corpus separatum" (UN Res 181, Part IIIA). It was to be administered by the UN on behalf of the UN (ibid).
Jerusalem was to be a place of "order and peace, and especially religious peace" (ibid). It was to "protect and preserve the unique spiritual and religious interests" of Christianity, Judaism and Islam (ibid).
That did not happen. What happened was, Arabs in Israel ignored the UN intent. They attacked Jews all over Israel. Then, months later, in May, 1948, several Arab nations attacked Israel--to destroy the incipient Jewish State at the moment of its birth (May 14, 1948).
Arabs lost. But Jerusalem fell to Arab hands. It soon became clear that Arabs would not protect or preserve any Jewish spiritual or religious "interests" in Jerusalem. The Temple Mount became "Judenrein"--Jew-free.
That changed in June 1967, when Israel fought its Six Day war. On June 7th, the 3rd day of that war, the Temple Mount fell into Jewish hands. Today, we celebrate that historic victory at this time of year.
To understand the impact of the birth of the State of Israel--and the impact of the later reunification of Jerusalem under Jewish control--consider a story by Rabbl Joseph Soloveitchik--one of the Great Rabbis of his generation (1903-1993).
Rabbi Soloveitchik was the Spiritual leader of Yeshiva University (YU), in new York City. Along with his extraordinary religious accomplishments, he also held a PhD in Philosophy.
He tells a story which he prefaces with the comment that, in the relationship between Jew and non-Jew, there is among non-Jews an "element of blasphemy". He says:
"You have no idea how blasphemous our enemies were during the Holocaust years. In the Hitler years, when six million Jews were destroyed and annihilated, the first tragedy, obviously, was their deaths. But there was also something else. I used to travel by train from Boston to New York and was accosted many times by missionaries who confronted me, sat down next to me, shared a seat with me, and asked me questions...the missionaries...said...'the words of the New Testament are coming true. The Jews will be completely annihiliated and destroyed'. They used to buttonhole Jews and ask, 'What do they say now? Who is right?' ...You see, G-d has abandoned you. He has allowed the complete destruction of the Jewish people. Otherwise, why does He tolerate the holocaust?'"
Then Rasbbi Soloveitchik added, "For me, what is important about Medinas Yisroel [the Stae of Israel], in addition to everything else, is that it has silenced and put a stop to these accusations and false arguments. Many of these problems have been resolved by the State of Israel. The State has wiped away many of these questions...No missionary has approached me since the State of Israel was founded. This is the main zechus, the merit, of Medinas Yisroel. [Israel] was the product of Divine Providence" (The Neuwirth Edition of the Chumash, volume 2, p. 363, the OU Press,2014).
Today in Israel, on Jerusalem Day, the enemies of Israel still blaspheme Judaism, the Jewish Israel, Jerusalem and the Temple Mount--but in a more dangerous way. yes, they still blaspheme the Honor and the Name of G-d. But today's enemies of Israel in Israel insist that Israel, Jerusalem and most important, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, are not Jewish; they are all Islamic!
Let's call a spade a spade. We are talking about Muslims in Israel. They fight a Muslim-Jew war. Their war is a war of total conquest. Their goal is to control all of Israel--and to turn it Muslim.
The riots we have seen so far in Israedl are part of that war. That's why Hamas shoots rockets at Israel. It's why Hamas sends into Israel fire ballons to burn Jewish farmland.
All of these actions have one goal: to push out the Jew, then take over.
These enemies have even convinced the anti-Jew UN to agree with them. The UN has passed a Resolution stating that the Temple Mount has nothing Jewish about it. Nothing. The Temple Mount, the UN decrees, belongs exclusively to Islam. It is an Islamic site only.
In an instant, the UN helped the Muslim Cause against the Jew. The UN made the Jewish character of the Temple Mount to disappear.
The Palestinian Authority proclaims, "the Jews have no right to the Temple Mount" (here). Can you imagine the world-wide uproar should any Jew say Palestinians have no right to the Temple Mount?
The world is absolutely silent when Palestinians say this about Jews. Why is that?
On Israel's day to celebrate Jerusalem Day 2021, what do Muslims in Israel do? They go to the Temple Mount--because Israel's Jerusalem Day fell this year during the Islamic holy period, Ramadan. They crowded by the tens of thousands onto the Mount. They went there to pray--and then to riot.
They rioted--and show the world exactly how they feel about the religious freedoms the Jewish Israel has given to them, rights they had themselves refused to give to Jews when Arabs had controlled the Mount between 1947-67.
On the Temple Mount, on Jerusalem Day, Arabs rioted against Jews. They rioted against police. They rioted against Israel. Unlike those missionaries of 1940's America, these enemies use violence not only to blaspheme G-d's Holy name, but to blaspheme G-d's Holy dwelling place, the Temple Mount.
Rabbi Soloveitchok was lucky. He had been dealing with rational people. The missionaries who accosted him understood that history had proven them wrong.
But today, rationality does not exist. The only thing that seems to exist is Jew-hate.
The only thing that counts today is the mob. The mobs we have seen in Jerusalem do not care for reason. They seek to destroy everything Jewish. Everything.
They call Jews Satan with a tail (here). They call Jews wretched pigs (here). They call Jews barbaric apes (ibid). They go up to the Temple Mount, which they call their holy place, and trash what's there. They run amok on their own self-described holy place.
Can you imagine if Jews behaved this way? The UN, the EU and the US today would scramble to be first to condemn the Jew.
But not the Muslim. To such behavior by Muslims, the world is indifferent. That is, the world is indifferent until Jews defend themselves or try to restore peace. Then, the world reacts.
World media says, 'Look at what those Jews do!' World media demands, who's to blame for this violence? world merdia has one answer: Jews are to blame.
When 70,000 Muslims crowd onto the Temple Mount, it is to worship. But when 50 Jews go to the Temple mount, they are "storming" the Mount. They are "defiling" the Al Aqsa mosque (which Jews do not dare to approach) (here).
Just ask these Arabs on the Temple Mount this past week: Jews want to kick good Muslims off the Temple Mount. Jews want to 'storm' the Temple Mount. Jews want to harm innocent Palestinians who have just come to pray on the Temple Mount.
Really?
Yes, Jerusalem Day 2021 in Israel is special, all right. It is a Day when Muslims riot. It is a Day for raw, violent Jew-hate--and, perhaps, another war against the Jewish state (here). Indeed, it is a Day when the world has sent TV crews to our Holy City to show the Jewish G-d what the world's media think of His Chosen.
You can bet G-d watches this blasphemy. You can also bet He is 'taking names' (to understand this just remember the Jewish prayer service for Rosh Hashannah).
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