Jerusalem Day
Jerusalem Day 2007, Jaffa Road
Official name	Hebrew: יום ירושלים‎ (Yom Yerushalayim)
Observed by	Israelis
Significance	The reunification of Jerusalem under Israeli control after the Six-Day War
Begins	Iyar 28
2009 date	May 22
2010 date	May 12

Jerusalem Day (Hebrew: יום ירושלים‎, Yom Yerushalayim) is an Israeli national holiday commemorating the reunification of Jerusalem and the establishment of Israeli control over the Old City in June 1967.The Chief Rabbinate of Israel declared Jerusalem Day a minor religious holiday to thank God for the 6-day victory and for answering the 2,000-year-old prayer of "Next Year in Jerusalem".

The day is marked by state ceremonies, memorial services for soldiers who died in the battle for Jerusalem, parades through downtown Jerusalem, reciting the Hallel prayer in synagogues,^[1] lectures on Jerusalem-related topics, singing and dancing, and special television programming.^[2] Schoolchildren throughout the country learn about significance of Jerusalem, and schools in Jerusalem hold festive assemblies.^[3] The day is also marked in Jewish schools around the world.^[4][5]

[edit] History

Under the 1947 UN Partition Plan, which proposed the establishment of two states in Palestine—a Jewish state and an Arab state—Jerusalem was to be an international city, neither exclusively Arab nor Jewish for a period of ten years, at which point a referendum would be held by Jerusalem residents to determine which country to join. The Jewish leadership accepted the plan, including the internationalization of Jerusalem, but the Arabs turned it down.^[6]

As soon as Israel declared its independence in 1948, it was attacked en masse by its Arab neighbours. Jordan took over east Jerusalem and the Old City. Israeli forces made a concerted attempt to dislodge them, but were unable to do so. By the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War Jerusalem was left divided between Israel and Jordan. The Old City and East Jerusalem continued to be occupied by Jordan, and the Jewish residents were forced out. Under Jordanian rule, half of the Old City's fifty-eight synagogues were demolished and the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives was plundered for its tombstones, which were used as paving stones and building materials.^[7] The area around the Western Wall was turned into a public dump.

This state of affairs changed in 1967 as a result of the Six-Day War. Before the start of the war, Israel sent a message to King Hussein of Jordan saying that Israel would not attack Jerusalem or the West Bank as long as the Jordanian front remained quiet. Urged by Egyptian pressure and based on deceptive intelligence reports, Jordan began shelling civilian locations in Israel^[8] to which Israel responded on June 6 by opening the eastern front. The following day, June 7, 1967 (28 Iyar 5727), Israel captured the Old City of Jerusalem.

Later that day, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan declared what is often quoted during Yom Yerushalayim:^[9][10]

This morning, the Israel Defense Forces liberated Jerusalem. We have united Jerusalem, the divided capital of Israel. We have returned to the holiest of our holy places, never to part from it again. To our Arab neighbors we extend, also at this hour—and with added emphasis at this hour—our hand in peace. And to our Christian and Muslim fellow citizens, we solemnly promise full religious freedom and rights. We did not come to Jerusalem for the sake of other peoples' holy places, and not to interfere with the adherents of other faiths, but in order to safeguard its entirety, and to live there together with others, in unity.^[11]

The war ended with a ceasefire on June 11, 1967.

On May 12, 1968, the government proclaimed a new holiday—Jerusalem Day—to be celebrated on the 28th of Iyar, the Hebrew date on which the divided city of Jerusalem became one. On March 23, 1998, the Knesset passed the Jerusalem Day Law, making the day a national holiday.

One of the themes of Jerusalem Day, based on a verse from the Book of Psalms, is "Ke'ir shechubra la yachdav"—"Built-up Jerusalem is like a city that was joined together" (Psalm 122:3).^[3]

[edit] Religious observance

Religious Zionists gather for special holiday prayers, hold special festive meals and wear holiday clothing.

Although most Haredim are adverse to observing days associated with the modern State of Israel, Yom Yerushalayim is an exception and some will mark it in various ways. This is because it gave the ability for Jews to pray again at the Western Wall.

[edit] 40th anniversary celebrations

Logo of 40th anniversary celebrations, Jaffa Gate

The slogan for Jerusalem Day 2007, marking the 40th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem, was "Mashehu Meyuhad leKol Ehad" (Hebrew: משהו מיוחד לכל אחד‎, Something Special for Everyone), punning on the words "meyuhad" (special) and "me'uhad" (united). To mark the anniversary, the approach to Jerusalem on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway was illuminated with decorative blue lighting which remained in place throughout the year.

[edit] See also

• Yom Hazikaron, Memorial Day
• Jerusalem of Gold, by Naomi Shemer, chosen as the "Song of the Year" in Israel in 1967.

[edit] References

• "Overview: Jerusalem Day". http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Modern_Holidays/Yom_Yerushalayim.htm. Retrieved 2006-05-27. 

[edit] External links

• Jerusalem Day on the official Knesset website
• Hebrew broadcast of the conquering of the Old City, from Voice of Israel Radio, June 7, 1967
• Overview: Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) in My Jewish Learning Web site