Judaism DIR
Happy Yom Yerushalayim, everyone!
It's still fine to celebrate the tremendous miracle Hashem did for us. After all, the war lasted 6 days.
In fact, on the day after Yom Yerushalayim, which is today, the people of Chevron celebrate Yom Chevron, in commemoration of the freeing of Chevron, one day after Yerushalayim.
I had the great merit of hearing two nights ago Rabbi Aryeh Shalom speak about his experiences during the war. Rabbi Shalom was Rabbi Shlomo Goren's driver during the Six Day War. At the time, Rabbi Goren was the Chief Rabbi of the IDF, one of the few CRs to receive the rank of Major-General, which means that he was part of the General Staff of the IDF, and one rank beneath the IDF Chief of Staff, who at the time was Yitzchak Rabin.
One of the stories he shared was how Israel even came to free Yerushalayim. At first, it was agreed that King Hussein of Jordan would remain neutral during the war. However, Hussein had been convinced by false radio transmissions from the Egyptians and Syrians that they were almost at Tel Aviv (when, in fact, Operation Moked had wiped out both of their air forces during the first couple of days of fighting). As such, he decided to enter the war and began bombing Western Yerushalayim. When that happened, Rabbi Goren and his driver went to Yerushalayim to join the paratroopers, led by Motah Gur, a friend of the rabbi, when entering the Eastern part of the city. Because of Jordanian fire, it took 2.5 hours to advance from the Gate of Shechem and reach the Rockefeller Museum (normally about a five minute walk, if I'm not mistaken). When they managed to clear out that area, they were commanded to stop. Moshe Dayan, the Israeli Minister of Defense at the time, was worried from potential international backlash should they advance into the city. Rabbi Goren immediately started calling up as many cabinet members as he could track down, to call for a vote on the matter. He even called up Menachem Begin and told him to tell Dayan that if he doesn't take this opportunity, the Jewish people will never forgive Israel for this missed chance. Finally, late at night, the cabinet voted to move forward. Our forces began preparing for the upcoming battle.
The next day, they advanced through the border and into the Old City. The battle was fierce and difficult and many soldiers fell. But eventually the city was ours once again. May we merit to keep it that way, with Hashem's help.
Happy Yom Yerushalayim, everyone!
It's still fine to celebrate the tremendous miracle Hashem did for us. After all, the war lasted 6 days.
In fact, on the day after Yom Yerushalayim, which is today, the people of Chevron celebrate Yom Chevron, in commemoration of the freeing of Chevron, one day after Yerushalayim.I had the great merit of hearing two nights ago Rabbi Aryeh Shalom speak about his experiences during the war. Rabbi Shalom was Rabbi Shlomo Goren's driver during the Six Day War. At the time, Rabbi Goren was the Chief Rabbi of the IDF, one of the few CRs to receive the rank of Major-General, which means that he was part of the General Staff of the IDF, and one rank beneath the IDF Chief of Staff, who at the time was Yitzchak Rabin.
One of the stories he shared was how Israel even came to free Yerushalayim. At first, it was agreed that King Hussein of Jordan would remain neutral during the war. However, Hussein had been convinced by false radio transmissions from the Egyptians and Syrians that they were almost at Tel Aviv (when, in fact, Operation Moked had wiped out both of their air forces during the first couple of days of fighting). As such, he decided to enter the war and began bombing Western Yerushalayim. When that happened, Rabbi Goren and his driver went to Yerushalayim to join the paratroopers, led by Motah Gur, a friend of the rabbi, when entering the Eastern part of the city. Because of Jordanian fire, it took 2.5 hours to advance from the Gate of Shechem and reach the Rockefeller Museum (normally about a five minute walk, if I'm not mistaken). When they managed to clear out that area, they were commanded to stop. Moshe Dayan, the Israeli Minister of Defense at the time, was worried from potential international backlash should they advance into the city. Rabbi Goren immediately started calling up as many cabinet members as he could track down, to call for a vote on the matter. He even called up Menachem Begin and told him to tell Dayan that if he doesn't take this opportunity, the Jewish people will never forgive Israel for this missed chance. Finally, late at night, the cabinet voted to move forward. Our forces began preparing for the upcoming battle.
The next day, they advanced through the border and into the Old City. The battle was fierce and difficult and many soldiers fell. But eventually the city was ours once again. May we merit to keep it that way, with Hashem's help.