Jerusalem - Yerushalayim
- mentioned in the Bible over 800 times
- one of the most contentious cities in the world
- place of convergence of 3 major world religions
- the capital of historical, Biblical and modern Israel
June 1st we celebrated Jerusalem Day - commemorating 44 years of Jerusalem being the united capital of Israel. 44 years since the six day war in 1967 when the newer part of Jerusalem was reunited with the Old City of Jerusalem, and Israelis were once again able to inhabit the inside of her walls, and worship at the Kotel (Western Wall).
To learn more about the six day war, please click here:
Prophetically, Jerusalem shall be established!
I have posted watchman on your walls, Yerushalayim; they will never fall silent, neither by day nor by night. You who call on Adonai, give yourselves no rest; and give him no rest till he restores Yerushalayim and makes it a praise on earth. Isaiah 62:6-7 (CJB)
For Adonai has chosen Tziyon, he has wanted it as his home. "This is my resting-place forever, I will live here because I so much want to. I will bless it with plenty of meat, I will give its poor their fill of food. Its cohanim I will clothe with salvation, and its faithful will shout for joy. I will make a king sprout there from David's line and prepare a lamp for my anointed one. His enemies I will clothe with shame, but on him there will be a shining crown." Psalm 132: 13- 18 (CJB)
We hope that someday, if you haven't already, you'll come and experience Jerusalem for yourself - the Bible does truly "come alive" - past, present, and future. The best way for us to share with each of you is with pictures. Remember to click on each picture if you'd like to view it larger (then click the back button to return to the blog).
To celebrate this day, the city hosted a Flag parade in which people marched their way through the streets that ultimately ended at the Kotel - where about 40,000 people joined together to rejoice together in song and dance.
We started our evening by walking up Jaffa Road towards the Old City with the hopes of "catching" up with the parade marchers. (In Jerusalem, to go to the Old City or to the Temple area, you always have to go UP). The parade organizers - Am K’Lavia (Nation Like a Lion) - had hoped for the route to travel on Jaffa Road as it had done in the past, but due to the new light rail train (which is not yet running, but conducting daily tests), this route was denied. So, although the parade route had changed, this didn't stop people from walking down the middle of the road on the way to the Kotel...
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| Jaffa Road |
One major intersection became a favorite spot for rejoicing - with music and dancing and shofar blowing. Somehow the traffic slowly continued to cross the road, but even a police car we noticed didn't attempt to make anyone get out of the road, (or blow their horn)...rejoicing takes precedence in Jerusalem...
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| In the intersection on Jaffa Road |
The parade route officially had participants enter the Old City through the Damascus Gate on the North and the Dung Gate on the South. Since the parade had already passed by, we chose to enter through Jaffa Gate on the West and walk through the Armenian and Jewish Quarters to arrive at the Kotel. Plenty of others had the same idea as us :)
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| On the way to Jaffa Gate of the Old City |
Walking through the narrow streets leading through the Jewish Quarter we came upon this group of children selling RC Cola to passers by. There were also many vendors selling popcorn and cotton candy as the festivities were many through the city. We enjoyed several bands and street musicians on our way through the Old City, but this is fairly common during non-holidays as well.
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| "Lemon-aid" stand in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City |
So - our goal was to reach the Kotel Plaza, since this is where the parade was to end. When we reached the stairs and looked over to where we could finally see the plaza (near the Golden Menorah) Jim said, "You want to go down there?" And of course Linda said, "Yes, right in the middle of it!"
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| Our first glimpse at the Kotel plaza on Jerusalem Day |
We made our way down the stairs, through security and squeezed through the crowd. For those who are unaware, when going to pray at the Kotel, men are on one side, and women are on the other. To try and serve such a large crowd, they added additional barriers in the plaza, and young men and women (on their perspective sides) with yellow vests for crowd control, attempted to maintain the segregation of male and female dancing. We, however, wanted to stay together, so we went right smack in the middle (just like Linda wanted to do) where the men and women's sides met.
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| Solidarity |
There was a live band playing with singing over loudspeakers, and people dancing and singing and waving their flags all around us. At one point, both the men's side and the women's side each had a large circle. As you see in the picture, on the women's side, an older women entered the center and began to dance with an Israeli flag, then the younger girls joined in and surrounded her. It was beautiful!
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| Teaching the younger generations |
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| And rejoicing with them! |
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| Band in back center |
This video we shot with our camera isn't the greatest, but it will give a small 30 second glimpse of what we experienced.
After a while, it seemed the party would never end, because as we mentioned before, Israelis are late night people! We decided to make our way back up the stairs to find another view from an overlook. We should have tried to take a picture of hundreds of people (including us...) trying to exit the security area where there is one single turnstile exit - quite an adventure :) We did, however, take this picture after squeezing through this crowd on the stairs.
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| Trying to make our way back up the stairs... |
We wound our way around the many narrow "streets" to this very common overlook. After waiting our turn, we were able to take this picture of the crowd we had just come out of. Yes, it looked like they were still going to be there a while... :)
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Just before exiting Jaffa Gate we saw this police vehicle, waving it's flag in celebration, too.
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| Really cool looking police vehicle |
We have been so honored and blessed here in Jerusalem - to live and serve her people. If you'd like to know how you can help us, so that we can continue serving and meeting the needs of the people in Israel, please contact us.
Pray for shalom in Yerushalayim; may those who love you prosper. May shalom be within your ramparts, prosperity in your palaces. Psalm 122:6-7 (CJB)
The LORD bless you out of Zion,
And may you see the good of Jerusalem
All the days of your life.
Psalm 128:5
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