Today marks the 49th Anniversary of Jerusalem Day, commemorating the reunification under Israeli rule of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem has been at the core of Jewish life, the focus of our prayers and yearnings for over 3,000 years, ever since King David established Jerusalem as the capital of his kingdom, and King Solomon built the Temple, "Bet ha’Mikdash," in Jerusalem.
Fast forward to Israel's remarkable victory in the Six Day War, and to the three words perhaps most often associated with that victory: "Har Habait Beyadeinu" – The Temple Mount is in our hands.
These three words were proclaimed by Mota Gur, the commander of the paratrooper brigade which had retaken the Old City, from which a millennial old Jewish community had been expelled during Israel’s War of Independence. Their historical significance was as evident to those paratroopers, who had rushed to the Western Wall and broken down in tears of joy, as it is to all of us today.
For 19 years since Israel's independence, Jews the world over had yearned for that moment and on June 7, 1967, that moment arrived.
There is a sacred vow which many a Jewish groom makes on the day he binds his future to that of another for the rest of his life. On that special occasion we not only wed our futures to our new life partners, but also to Jerusalem, our life partner for the past 3,000 years and for eternity, as we recite the following words from Psalm 137:5, “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember you, let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.”
Such is our commitment to Jerusalem. Such is its significance in our lives. Our love for it is encapsulated eloquently in the following words written in the Talmud: "Ten measures of beauty descended on the world. Nine were taken by Jerusalem, and one by the rest of the world. There is no beauty like that of Jerusalem."