THIS YEAR , 5777 / 2017 , is a momentous year in the history of the Jewish People . It is a year when the Jewish People celebrate the 50th anniversary , the Grand Jubilee , of their sovereign return to the ancient and holy city of Jerusalem for the first time in 1 900 years . On 28 Iyar this year , 23 / 24 May , we will , ’ בעזרת ה , celebrate exactly 50 years to the day since the reunification of Jerusalem and our miraculous return to the holy city .
JERUSALEM
THIS YEAR IN JERUSALEM THE HAGGADAH AND THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE REUNIFICATION OF THE HOLY CITY . RABBI DORON PEREZ , CHIEF EXECUTIVE , MIZRACHI WORLD MOVEMENT
company of his sacred texts . Lost in his thoughts , he hesitated a moment at the knock at his door .
He got up , put on his black vest and jacket , adjusted his gold-rimmed spectacles and his black hat , and stepped into the courtyard . There before Weingarten stood a middle-aged British major wearing the yellow and red insignia of the Suffolk Regiment . From his right hand dangled a bar of rusted iron almost a foot long . With a solemn gesture he offered it to the elderly rabbi . It was a key , the key to the Zion Gate , one of the seven gates to the Old City of Jerusalem .
“ From the year 70 AD until today ,” he said , “ a key to the gates of Jerusalem has never been in Jewish hands . This is the first time in eighteen centuries that your people have been so privileged .”
THIS YEAR , 5777 / 2017 , is a momentous year in the history of the Jewish People . It is a year when the Jewish People celebrate the 50th anniversary , the Grand Jubilee , of their sovereign return to the ancient and holy city of Jerusalem for the first time in 1 900 years . On 28 Iyar this year , 23 / 24 May , we will , ’ בעזרת ה , celebrate exactly 50 years to the day since the reunification of Jerusalem and our miraculous return to the holy city .
THE KEYS TO THE GATES OF JERUSALEM
The meaning of this return was described so beautifully in the following remarkable story , which appears in the introduction to the riveting book : O ’ Jerusalem by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre .
Some of us may remember the story as it was also retold by President George W Bush almost a decade ago , in his address to the Knesset celebrating 60 years of the establishment of the State of Israel . The story occurred on 13 May 1948 , one day before the official termination of the British Mandate of Palestine . It speaks of the last British officer to leave the Old City . I quote as follows : Suddenly , as the last British column moved down the street , it stopped and veered left up a twisting cobblestone alley leading toward the vast domain of the Armenian Patriarchate . It stopped in front of the arched stones crowning the entry to No . 3 Or Chayim Street .
Inside , surrounded by his collection of ancient books and silver Jewish artefacts , Rabbi Mordechai Weingarten , the senior citizen of the Jewish Quarter , had passed the afternoon in the reassuring
Weingarten extended a trembling hand to accept the key . Jewish legend held that on the night the Roman Emperor Titus destroyed the Temple , its despairing priests had thrown the keys of Jerusalem to heaven crying “ G-d , henceforth be Thou the guardian of the keys ”. Now the improbable agent of their return to Jewish hands stood to attention and saluted .
“ Our relations have not always been easy ,” he said “ but let us part as friends . Good luck and goodbye .” “ Blessed art Thou , O Lord ,” murmured Weingarten . “ Who had granted us life and sustenance and permitted us to reach this day .” “ ברךּ אתהּ ה ’ אלקינו מלך העולם שהחינו וקימנו והגיענו לזמן הזה ”
Then , addressing the Englishman , he said , “ I accept this key in the name of my people ”.
As we all know , the keys to Jerusalem would not remain in Rav Weingarten ’ s hands for long . The Old City would fall barely two weeks later and all Jewish residents of the Old City were banished . The ancient Hurva Synagogue was detonated and blown up , and all but one of the dozens of synagogues of the Old City were destroyed . The commander of the Arab Legion of the Old City , Colonel Abdulla El-Tell , was moved to see the final Jew leave the Old City , and was quoted saying : “ For the first time in 1 000 years , not a single Jew remains in the Jewish Quarter . Not a single building remains intact . This makes the Jews ’ return here impossible .”
Of course , Colonel El-Tell was wrong . Only 19 years later , during the miraculous Six-Day War and through an extraordinary and unexpected turn of events , the Old City of Jerusalem , the Kotel and Temple Mount would return to
12