Yom Yerushalayim, the day of the capturing of the old city in the 1967 Six-Day War, is many times overshadowed by Yom Ha’atzmaut. We celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut, and then, to many, Yom Yerushalayim is kind of an afterthought. However, the truth is, in many ways, Yom Yerushalayim is more important that Yom Ha’atzmaut.

To really appreciate Yom Yerushalayim, you need to go back to the very day that General Mordechai “Motta” Gur exclaimed with enthusiasm, “Har Habayit BiYadeinu” )“The Temple Mount is in our hands”).

The date was June 6, 1967. Israel, only 20 years young, was managing to fight off four Arab armies on three fronts, and stay alive. However, the Israeli Defense Force wasn’t just surviving, but actually thriving. Then Minister without Portfolio Menachem Begin, recognizing the history of the moment and the opportunity that Israel was presented with, suggested to Prime Minister Levi Eshkol that the IDF capture the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount. Eshkol initially responded by saying that Begin had “an interesting idea,” and suggested it to former IDF Chief of Staff, legendary Israeli war hero and two-day-old Defense Minister, Moshe Dayan. Eshkol had appointed Dayan defense minister just the day before, handing Dayan over a post that Eshkol had been serving in even while serving as prime minister. Dayan was very hesitant to enter the Old City, saying that doing so could possibly cause damage to the holy places of all religions within it, sparking the Arabs into an all-out riot.

In the early hours of the morning of June 7^th, Menachem Begin called Levi Eshkol, waking him. He told Eshkol that the soldiers were outside the walls of the Old City, awaiting word on what actions to take. Eshkol phoned his cabinet, and called for an emergency meeting at 4 a.m. At the meeting Begin spoke for most of the time. He asked the cabinet how they could tell the soldiers waiting outside the Old City with an opportunity to capture the Temple Mount to not even enter the walls of the city. He argued that if the IDF didn’t take action now, the opportunity would be lost, and the entire cabinet would be looked at as fools in Israeli history. Begin had still not convinced Dayan, but he did convince Eshkol of the unbelievable opportunity the IDF had to change history. At the end of the meeting, Eshkol gave the order. The IDF was to storm the Old City at precisely 7 a.m., pushing all their forces toward the Western Wall and, in turn, the Temple Mount.

In his book, Rabbi Shlomo Goren, Torah Sage and General, Shalom Freedman describes the emotion of the moment when Rabbi Shlomo Goren, Chief Rabbi of the IDF, charged to the Har Habayit. The order had been given to stay close to the walls and creep through the alleyways slowly, so as to have as much protection from enemy fire as possible. However, Rabbi Goren, in an act to inspire his soldiers, charged into open daylight, in the middle of the road, through the Lion’s Gate. He carried with him in one hand a sefer torah dedicated in the memory of a soldier who had fallen in the War of Independence, and in the other a shofar. Rabbi Goren was criticized by many after the war for doing what seemed to be such a foolish and dangerous act. Rabbi Goren responded to this by saying that as he ran in the middle of the road to Har Habayit with his shofar and sefer torah, he knew that there was no way that Hashem would allow him to be hit by gunfire.

The evidence to the emotion and feeling of that moment was shown everywhere in Israel that day. Shuls recited full Hallel with a bracha all over the country. There was even a considerable debate on whether the third Beit Hamikdash be built. After all, Jewish sovereignty had just been restored to the Temple Mount and the Old City after 2000 years of Jews unable to visit.

So, as we see, much attention should be paid to this day that is sometimes overshadowed by Yom Ha’atzmaut. May we be able to visit the city of Jerusalem from now until the time when the third Beit Hamikdash will finally stand in the exact spot the paratroopers liberated and reunified Jerusalem just 46 years ago. Chag Samaech!

By Doni Cohen Jewish Link Intern – TABC