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“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”

Yom Yerushalayim

28 Iyar 5785/ May 26, 2025

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In my early adulthood years, I lived in my parent’s home, albeit somewhat limitedly. It was the best of all worlds. I slept in the yeshiva dorm and was often away for Shabbos. But if I was in the mood for a good, homecooked meal I would come home.

I have one older brother and a younger sister who are relatively close to me in age. Then there is a seven-year gap between my younger brother and youngest sister.

During the occasions when I came home, I was often surprised by some of the privileges my younger two siblings had. There were things that I and my two closer-in-age-siblings had to bargain and haggle with my parents for, that my two younger siblings enjoyed without a fuss. Certain rules and procedures that we accepted as family policy when we were younger were no longer demanded. Things like more rigid bedtimes, certain expectations at the Shabbos/supper table, and other such family rules had fallen by the wayside. 

Although I must admit that I was jealous, I comforted myself that at least our efforts to wear down our parents had paid off for our younger siblings.

It’s been said that yesterday’s luxuries become tomorrow’s necessities. It’s always hard to appreciate things we take for granted.

Immediately after Har Habayis and the Kosel were recaptured during the 6-Day War in 1967, but before the Kosel plaza was cleared and opened to the public, few distinguished personalities were allowed to visit the holy site. One of those privileged individuals was Rabbi Aryeh Levin, the tzaddik of Yerushalayim. Like all other Jews, Rabbi Levin had not been to the Kosel in over 19 years, when the Jordanians assumed control of the Old City during the War of Independence in 1948.  As Rabbi Aryeh approached the kosel, he tore his jacket as halacha dictates for one who sees the ruins of the Beis Hamikdash, and simultaneously fervently recited the beracha of Shehechiyanu (with Hashem’s Name), tears streaming down his cheek. 

Afterwards, Rabbi Levin commented that he only hopes we don’t take our ability to daven at the kosel for granted.

For our ancestors, visiting Yerushalayim and the Kosel was nothing more than a dream. It’s hard for us to truly appreciate the gift we have, to the extent that it takes mental effort to not take it for granted.

The thousands of soldiers who put their lives on the line, and the many who gave their lives in recapturing the Old City of Yerushalayim in 1967, did so that the capital of the Jewish people would again be under our sovereignty.

Alas! We cannot turn back the clocks and we cannot recapture emotions of times past. But there is much lacking because of our inability to do so.

We, thankfully, cannot identify or comprehend the sheer terror the Jewish world felt just prior to the Six Day War. But we must at least minimally understand what transpired.

It was less than twenty years after the Holocaust and all four of the countries surrounding Israel, primarily led by Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, were calling for an invasion that would “push the Jews into the sea”.  

The unexpected miraculous victories of the Six Day War were absolutely euphoric. In fact, every one of the six days is worthy of its own celebration.

The war began with the IDF’s preemptive strike early on the morning of 26 Iyar. That strike utterly decimated the Egyptian Airforce, granting the IDF air superiority and shifting the tide of the war. Later that day, Israel captured the Gaza Strip. On the 27^th of Iyar, the Shomron was captured. On the 29^th of Iyar, Chevron was recaptured, including Me’aras Hamachpeilah which was almost singlehandedly by Rabbi Shlomo Goren. Kever Rochel was recaptured that day as well. On Rosh Chodesh Sivan, the IDF drove the Egyptian army out of the Sinai Desert and on the second day of Sivan, the final day of the war, they conquered the strategic Golan Heights from Syria.  

But all those incredible events were overshadowed by what occurred on the 28^th of Iyar – Yom Yerushalayim – when Commander Motta Gur’s famous radio announcement “Har Habayit b’yadeinu – the Temple Mount is in our hands,” reverberated throughout the Jewish world. 

Instead of the anticipated massacre and disaster that the Jewish world was bracing for, Israel more than doubled its territory and the Jewish world was infused with a newfound pride they hadn’t felt in 2,000 years.

But today the emotion and euphoria of that moment is largely lost. Outside of Eretz Yisroel, even those who mark and celebrate Yom Yerushalayim do so with speeches and a few cookies.

Lest one believe that Yom Yerushlayim and the events of the time was only a celebration for the Zionists, here are just a few samplings of the reaction of those not known to be part of the Zionist camp:  

Rav Yosef Shlomo Kaheneman, the great Ponovezher Rav, was not in Eretz Yisroel at the time of the Six Day War. After the war, he penned a letter to his students:

“My dear brothers! Can we allow ourselves to be small minded at this great and awesome hour? Should we not be embarrassed to remain unobservant of this wondrous period, when we are surrounded by obvious miracles, and even a blind person can sense the palpable miracles… The miracles, wonders, salvations, comforts and battles, that occurred in the Holy Land and in the Holy City and the Temple Mount, even those who saw it with their own eyes, even those who experienced it themselves, cannot manage to express the depths of their emotions.” 

In the September 1967 edition of Jewish Observer, Noted Knesset Member for Agudah, Rabbi Menachem Porush, wrote:

“On that Tuesday when Hussein (King of Jordan) flew to (Egyptian President) Nasser, the atmosphere in the Knesset was that of Tishah b’Av—without exaggeration…       

“The preparations in the hospitals were dreadful… Hundreds of graves were dug… The b’nei Yeshivas donated blood—they gathered the crops, they worked in the hospitals… Day and night groups said Tehilim, the cries tore the heart. Women stood alongside every Aron Hakodesh, crying and pleading for Divine Mercy.

“And the war began.

“Yerushalayim stood embattled face-to-face with the enemy, surrounded on all sides by Jordanian forces… Yerushalayim was under the threat, G-d forbid, of destruction, were it not for the super-human bravery of the men of the Israel Defense Forces, their demonstrations of bravery and strength, their indescribable self-sacrifice. Soldiers gave their lives, knowing that they were saving many others….

“These were great days, awesome days. For generations fathers will tell their sons of the Mighty Acts. One could talk for a thousand nights and not do justice to the miracles and wonders we saw…

“Those who were optimistic about the outcome of the war felt they would be fortunate if they remained alive. They could not foresee that we would enlarge our boundaries Westward and Eastward, to the North and to the South. This we dared not even hope for.

“We did not dream, it occurred to no one at all, that we would yet merit the freeing of the Holy Places: the Kosel Ma’aravi, the Me’oras Hamachpelah, the Tomb of Rachel, Har Hazaisim, the graves of Yosef Hatzadik, Shmuel Hanavi, Shimon Hatzadik. Who could have thought that the Har Habayis, the site of the Beis Hamikdosh would be in our hands—that we would have to caution Jews not to enter the site till the coming of Moshiach? The Har Habayis in Jewish hands—it still seems unbelievable.

“Who can record our feelings as we entered the gates of Yerushalayim, standing opposite the Har Habayis and approaching the Kosel Ma’aravi; or as we entered Me’oras Hamachpelah, which a Jew was forbidden to enter for the last 800 years?”

In a lecture given in the Mirrer Yeshiva in June 1967, Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz zt”l said:

“I am not a prophet. I am a simple man, but it is clear to me that were we to have a prophet today, he would declare: “Your throne is established of old! Praise the Lord, all nations; laud Him, all peoples. For His mercy is great toward us; and the truth of the Lord endures forever. Hallelukah. The Lord is a man of war, the Lord is His name.”

“The Vilna Gaon wrote in a letter to his mother: “If I merit to stand beside the gates of Heaven, I will pray for you.” He did not merit it, but we have merited it, and with God’s help we will stand beside Heaven’s gates—the Western Wall—to pray on behalf of the Jewish people. We will give praise and thanks, “Your throne is established of old.”

The meaning of the day gets lost in passionate debates about many side issues. On the 28^th of Iyar we should at least take a moment to thank Hashem and appreciate the miracles He did then, and continues to do for us every single day.

In the sheva berachos recited during the week after a wedding,  Yerushalayim is mentioned twice. “May the barren one rejoice intensely and exult when her children gather in her midst with gladness,” and “Quickly, Hashem, our G-d, let there be heard in the cities of Yehuda and the courtyards of Yerushalayim, the sounds of joy and gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride”.

Perhaps the blessing speaks to our generation particularly. The text references the barren one – Yerushalayim – rejoicing with the ingathering of her children. It speaks of a time when her children have begun to return and yet she is still “barren”. As long as the Beis Hamikdash has not been rebuilt, the holy city remains barren. Yet, she has begun to feel and celebrate the joy of greater days that are coming because her children have begun to return to her.

For centuries, those words were recited as a dream and a prayer for the future. Today, we are blessed to witness and be part of the fruition of the dreams of our ancestors. We pray that we witness the completion of its fulfilment when the unified city once again assumes its ultimate splendor with the return of the Avodah in the rebuilt Beis Hamikdash.

It’s no small feat to come home after being away for so long. Now we need to restore our home to its original grandeur.    

Yom Yerushalayim Sameiach,

Gut Chodesh & Chodesh Tov,

R’ Dani and Chani Staum

stamtorah@gmail.com

Strivinghigher.com