Yom Yerushalayim 5770
A Publication of Supplement Editor: Elliot Resnick
2 | May 2010
Hallel On Yom Yerushalayim: To Say Or Not To Say? Rabbi Gil Student
Sometimes, it's brief and simple statements that best capture man’s deepest aspirations. What Neil Armstrong’s memorable words after landing on the moon said about human progress, Col. Motta Gur’s three words on army communications on 28 Iyar 5727, “Har HaBayit b'yadeinu – The Temple Mount is ours,” said about spiritual achievement. They declared the fulfillment of nearly 2,000 years of prayer and the vindication of an even older biblical worldview. How does a religion filled with ritual react to such a stunning event as the Six-
miracle of the oil burning eight days, not live in the land of Israel are considered cite Hallel with a blessing on Yom Yerushthe hidden miracle of the Jews defeating the part of the “congregation of Jews.” (Both alayim, some recite it without a blessing, Greeks in battle. the Minchas Yitzchak and Rav Ovadiah and some do not recite it at all. All practicRav Moshe Tzvi Neriah, however, rejects Yosef dispute this latter point, arguing es are advocated by different great authorMaharatz Chayes’s position because we that this rule only applies to a specific ities, and each river should follow its own recite the blessing “She’asah nissim – Who area of halacha.) proverbial course. performed miracles” on Purim even though Yet, something should still bother us: More discussion on the overlapping subthe miracle we celebrate on that holiday the reality on the ground. Even if we be- jects of reciting Hallel on Yom Ha’atzmaut was hidden. Clearly, such a stunning hid- lieve we are currently witnessing the be- and Yom Yerushalayim can be found in R. den miracle as the one celebrated on Pu- ginning of the great redemption promised Shlomo Goren, “Yom Ha’atzamaut Be’or rim is also considered worthy of ongoing by the prophets – as many great rabbis do Ha’halachah” in Toras Ha’moadim; R. Moshe commemoration. – the unfortunate fact is that the salvation Tzvi Neriah, “Eimasai Korin Es Ha’hallel” in Furthermore, the Gemara (Pesachim is still far from complete. The military se- Hilkhos Yom Ha’atzmaut Ve’yom Yerushalay117a) tells us that the prophets instituted curity of the State of Israel has not yet im; R. Ralph Pelcovitz and R. Solomon Rythe recitation of Hallel whenever we are reached the level prophesied by Yishaya- bak, “Reciting the Hallel on Yom Haatzmaut” redeemed from misfortune. Nowhere, Rav hu and the spiritual state of the Jewish in The Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Neriah points out, does the Gemara require people seems even farther from its Mes- Society Spring 1984; R. Meshulam Rothe, a miracle for Hallel to be recited. sianic ideal. Indeed, for this reason Rav Kol Mevaser 1:21; R. Hershel Schachter, NefSimilarly, the Gemara (Megillah 14a) Yosef contends that one need not recite esh HaRav pp. 94-96; R. Ahron Soloveichik, states that the only obligation the proph- Hallel on Yom Yerushalayim (although Logic of the Heart, Logic of the Mind, part 2 ets added to the laws of the Torah was the he still advocates some form of praise for ch. 8; R. Moshe Tzuriel, “Yom Yerushalayreading of Megillah on Purim. The Gema- the salvation we experienced). Rav Yisrae- im Va’amiras Hallel” on Yeshiva.org.il; R. ra objects that this law is not an addition li, however, disagrees, and maintains that Yitzchak Weiss, Minchas Yitzchak 10:10; R. because it can be logically derived from one must recite Hallel despite the Jewish Shaul Yisraeli, Eretz Chemdah (2nd edition), the Torah itself: If, after being redeemed people’s less than ideal physical and spir- addenda to sec. 1 ch. 4; and R. Ovadiah Yofrom slavery in Egypt, the Jews praised itual state. sef, Yabia Omer 6:OC:41. God, surely they should do so after being While we have overturned only some delivered from certain death! These state- of the stones in this boundless discussion Rabbi Gil Student is the managing editor of OU Press and blogs at ments in the Gemara presumably create a of Torah, space limitations require that we TorahMusings.com. biblical obligation to recite Hallel to com- end here and simply note that some rememorate the salvation we experienced during of the Six-Day War. Some suggest, howevNaomi Shemer (1930-2004) originally composed this song for The Israel Music Festival in May 1967. The last stanza was added a month later, after Israel’s conquest of Jerusalem’s Old City. er, that this obligation only applies to the time a miracle occurs. Hence, saying Hallel was appropriate in 1967 – just like he Jews said HalThe mountain air is clear as water © £ æ è ¦ã¦ ° §£² ²£ lel immediately after they The scent of pines around §£ ª² ¡£ ² left Egypt – but not today. § £ ß ² ¬ ¡ã² ß Þ ª Is carried on the breeze of twilight, Rav Shaul Yisraeli, though, .§£ ª ¨ ¬ í ¦ ± §¬ And tinkling bells resound. disputes this view, suggesting that the Hallel we recite The trees and stones there softly slumber, © © ¦£ ´¨ á ² ´ ã on Pesach every year com⨠¦ ¡ ß £ã Û A dream enfolds them all. memorates the Exodus. ´ Û £ ß ²Û ²£¬ So solitary lies the city, Hence, we too must praise . ¨ ¡ ß ¦ ã And at its heart – a wall. God every year for the miraculous victory of the Six ¡ ª ¦Û ¦Û § £ ¦Ûã² £ Oh, Jerusalem of gold, and of light and of bronze, ² ¦Û ´Û Day War. .² ë è £ ª Í £²£ Û ¦ ¥ ¦ Ï I am the lute for all your songs. Another possible reason for not saying Hallel The wells ran dry of all their water, ,§ £ê ´ ² ß ãÛ £ ¥£ ±£ ² ±ãÝ ² è è on Yom Yerushalayim reForlorn the market square, ´ £ ß ² ´ ± í ©£ The Temple Mount dark and deserted, volves around the opinion . ±£ ò ¬ ²£¬ ß In the Old City there. of Rabbeinu Tam, who rules that we only recite Hallel for ¬ ¦ì ß ²Û ´ ² ¬ê ã And in the caverns in the mountain, miracles that saved the entire ´ ¡ã² ´ ¦ é £¨ The winds howl to and fro, Jewish people. Since most ¡ ¦ ê § £ ¦ ² £ ©£ And no one takes the Dead Sea highway, Jews lived outside of Israel . ¡£² £ ¤² ß That leads through Jericho. in 1967, Rabbeinu Tam’s position argues against saying ... ¦Û § £ ¦Ûã² £ Oh, Jerusalem of gold… Hallel. But R av Shlomo ¤ ¦ ²£Û ¦ § æ £ ß Í But as I sing to you, my city, Goren demurs, stating §£² ´ è ² ³± ¦ Í ¦ And you with crowns adorn, that even Rabbeinu Tam ¤ £ ª ß ²£¬ î ¨ £ò ª ¢± I am the least of all your children, would support the reci.§£² ² Ûê © ² ¡Ò¨ã Of all the poets born. tation of Hallel. He draws attention to the obli§ £´ ®Þ ´ ² ° ͨ Û £ è Your name will scorch my lips forever, gation of ripping one’s ² Ü ´±£ Û ª è Like a seraph’s kiss, I’m told, garments in mourning § £ ¦Ûã² £ Î ¡ èÛ § If I forget thee, golden city, if a majority of Jews are . â éè ²Û Jerusalem of gold. defeated in battle. The ... ¦Û § £ ¦Ûã² £ Meiri contends that this Oh, Jerusalem of gold… obligation refers to the ,§ £ê ´ ² ß ¦ 㪲 ¡ The wells are filled again with water, majority of Jews in the ² è è ¦ ±ãÝ ¦ The square with joyous crowd, country engaged in bat´ £ ß ² ß ² ± ² ® Û On the Temple Mount within the City, tle. If the defeat of such a . ±£ ò ¬ ²£¬ ß The shofar rings out loud. group leads to an obligation to mourn, argues Rav ¬ ¦ì ß ²Û ´ ² ¬ê ã Within the caverns in the mountains Goren, then the victory of ´ ¡² ´ Û¨ Û £ ® ¦Ò A thousand suns will glow, a similar group is surely ¡ ¦ê § £ ¦ ² ª ãÛ ª We’ll take the Dead Sea road together, enough to engender an . ¡£² £ ¤² ß Th at runs through Jericho. obligation to celebrate. Additionally, there is a Oh, Jerusalem of gold… ... ¦Û § £ ¦Ûã² £ rule that only Jews who
Jerusalem Of Gold ʡʤʦ ʬʹ ʭʩʬʹʥʸʩ
IDF Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren blowing the shofar at the Western Wall June 7, 1867.
Day War? How do we Jews respond to a lightning-fast reversal from near defeat to victory, from fearing the end of our presence in the land of Israel to rejoicing over the newly enlarged country, including the Old City of Jerusalem? This sounds like an old question. Surely our nation has previously experienced military victories of the few over the many in recovery of our holy places from those who defiled them. Is the Six-Day War, then, not simply a modern-day Chanukah? Pure Jewish instinct tells us we should celebrate the day with songs of praise to God; we should recite Hallel. Of course, anti-Zionists view the conquest of Jerusalem by predominantly irreligious Jews in an unredeemed world, not as a victory, but as a tragedy worth mourning. Chief among them is the Satmar Rav (18871979), who in the wake of the euphoria following the Six-Day War penned a harsh anti-Zionist treatise titled Al HaGeulah VeAl HaTemurah. Yet, those of us who see the victory as a Divine gift, not a tragedy, face the halachic question of how to respond to it. The first issue to address is whether Israel’s victory in the Six-Day War even qualifies as a miracle that would merit the recitation of Hallel. Judaism generally distinguishes between an evident, or supernatural, miracle (nes nigleh) and a hidden, or “natural,” miracle (nes nistar). The Maharatz Chayes writes that we only recite Hallel in response to a supernatural miracle. As proof, he notes that when explaining why we recite Hallel on Chanukah, the Gemara (Shabbos 22b) mentions only the evident
May 2010 | 3
Colorful Haredim: The Jerusalem Garb By Zalman Alpert
Anyone who has ever been to Jerusalem has probably noticed the exotic garb that some Jerusalem haredim wear. On weekdays, it consists of a blue kaftan with yellow stripes, covered by a dark brown cloak, together with knickers, white socks, and a flat broad-brimmed hat popularly known as a “flying saucer.” On Shabbos, a shtreimel replaces the flat hat while a gold, pin-striped kaftan, tied together with a sash that doubles as a gartel, replaces the blue weekday one. On both Shabbos and weekdays, some Jerusalem haredim also wear a special handwoven white yarmulke, which resembles a sleeping cap. What are the origins of this garb? Many people believe that Jerusalem’s Ashkenazic population originally adopted it from the garb of local Sephardim, who, in turn, adopted it from the garb of local Arabs. Indeed, to this day one can see older Arabs in Jerusalem dressed in cloaks not much different from those of their Jewish neighbors. But what led Jerusalem’s Ashkenazim to adopt a Sephardic style of dress? Apparently monetary concerns. When the followers of Rabbi Yehudah Hachasid settled in Jerusalem in 1700 (basically founding the city’s modern Ashkenazic community), they soon fell into heavy debt and their community dissolved. But their debt didn’t dissolve with them. When later Ashkenazic immigrants arrived in Jerusalem, they were held accountable for the debts of their predecessors. To escape this responsibility, they tried disguising themselves as Sephardim.
Toldos Aharon chassidim wearing the Shabbos Jerusalem garb. (Photo credit: mentalblog.com)
Another factor leading Ashkenazim to adopt their Sephardic neighbors’ garb concerned shechitah. Jerusalem’s Muslims traditionally bought meat from Sephardim, but refrained from buying from the new European immigrants because they did not regard them as “real Jews” due to their different dress, customs, and language (Yiddish). Thus, the Ashkenazim may have adopted the Sephardic garb (with some modifications, like the addition of the streimel) in order to convince the Muslim authorities they were authentic Jews. Eventually, though, the new attire would become so embedded in the Jewish community that the sainted Chida, Rav Chaim Yosef David Azulai (1724-1807) – who served as an emissary for the Jerusalem community overseas – wrote in his commentary to the Shulchan Aruch that the garb dated back to the Biblical patriarchs. In the early 19th century, hundreds of families, including followers of both the new chassidic movement as well as the Vilna Gaon, settled in Israel. They, too, adopted the garb, and it soon became the normative attire for all Jews living in the four holy cities: Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed and Tiberias. Students of the Chassam Sofer from the
he found that the Jerusalem weekday garb had almost disappeared as a result of modern trends while only some wore the traditional Shabbos garb. Rav Roth took it upon himself to restore the garb, and Jerusalem, to its former glory. He incorporated wearing the Jerusalem garb – both weekday and Sabbath – into the takkanos of the Shomre Emunim community and potential members had to undertake to dress accordingly. Given the community’s high birth rate and Rav Roth’s ability to attract new followers, a large number of men started dressing in Jerusalem attire all year round. Rav Aharon Roth (right), wearing the weekday Jerusalem garb, talking with Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Duschinsky, chief rabbi of the Eda Hacheredis.
Austro-Hungarian Empire followed suit as well when they arrived in Israel a number of years later. In the mid-19th century, Rabbi Moshe Biderman of Lelev (the Lelever Rebbe) arrived in Israel, becoming the first chassidic rebbe to establish a dynasty in Jerusalem. Together with his son and grandson – Rabbis Eliezer Menachem Mendel and David Zvi Biderman – he changed many minor, but important, details in the kaftan. For instance, the piping trim on the coat’s right side now ran longer than its counterpart on the left side, just as the teffilin shel rosh’s right strap runs longer than its left one. The pattern of stripes also changed. According to chassidic lore, these alterations were based on kabbalistic teachings. I am unclear if all Jerusalem Jews immediately adopted these changes, but all religious Jews moving to Jerusalem until the early 20th century clearly adopted the Jerusalem manner of dress in one form or another. Included among them were the chief rabbis of Jerusalem, Rabbis Shmuel Salant (1816-1909) and the Maharil Diskin of Brisk (18181898), who refused to enter the walls of Jerusalem in 1878 without first changing into the Jerusalem kaftan (which he did in the small town of Motzo nearby). In fact, until today, all the chief rabbis of the ultra-Orthodox community, known as the Eda Hacharedis, wear this garb. The community’s present rabbi, Rav Tuviah Weiss, wears it, and the Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, who served as the community’s chief rabbi from 1954-1979, always wore the Shabbos kaftan when visiting his flock in Jerusalem. The years preceding and following World War I saw the Jerusalem garb lose its popularity. The new secular immigrants certainly did not adopt this ancient style and even most Orthodox immigrants from Russia, Poland and Hungary were not quick to change into a costume that was regarded as being very unfashionable. Soon, even members of the old Jerusalem community no longer wore the traditional garb as many among the younger population started adopting a more modern European haredi attire. The man who saved the Jerusalem garb from oblivion is Rav Aharon Roth, who founded the Shomre Emunim community in Jerusalem. Rav Roth was a chassidic revolutionary and pioneer whose goal was to restore Chassidism to its pristine state in the times of the Baal Shem Tov, stressing enthusiastic prayer. When he arrived in Jerusalem in 1940 for the second time,
Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kahn, the previous Toldos Aharon Rebbe, dressed in the weekday Jerusalem garb.
Following his death in 1946, Rav Roth was succeeded by his son-in-law, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kahan, under whose leadership the community – which became known as Toldos Aharon – vastly expanded. Rabbi Kahan maintained the group’s commitment to the Jerusalem garb, and, given the group’s anti-Zionist stance, the garb is now sometimes identified with demonstrations (sometimes violent) against various activities that offend the ultra-Orthodox community in Jerusalem. When Rav Kahan died in 1996, the community split into two. Rabbi David Kahn (formerly a resident of Monsey, NY) became the head of the Toldos Aharon community while his older brother, Rabbi Shmuel Yaakov Kahn, became head of the Toldos Avraham Yitzchak community. The two brothers remained faithful to the Jerusalem garb and both communities continue to wear it. In addition to these communities, some members of the Lelev, Karlin-Stolin and Pinsk-Karlin communities also wear the Jerusalem garb, as do many members of the Yishuv HaYoshon in Jerusalem to one degree or another. This includes even misnagdim like the late Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, the late Jewish Press columnist Rabbi Menachem Porush, and, may he live long, the preeminent posek, Rabbi Yosef Sholom Elyashiv. At times one even sees American Orthodox Jews wearing a Jerusalem kaftan they purchased in Meah Shearim. Rav Roth is reputed to have remarked: When Mashiach comes, he will ask, “What gifts have you brought me?” and I will reply, “I have brought Jews dressed in the holy manner of Eretz Yisrael.” May we merit his coming in our days. Zalman Alpert is a reference librarian at Yeshiva University’s Mendel Gottesman Library of Judaica.
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4 | May 2010
‘They Hid Me In The Tank Carrier’ AN INTERVIEW WITH ONE OF THE FIRST ISRAELI CIVILIANS TO SEE LIBERATED JERUSALEM By Elliot Resnick Jewish Press Staff Reporter
What went through Israelis’ minds in the frightening weeks leading up to the Six-Day War? How did they react when the IDF achieved a stunning victory in just six days? My mother, Molly Resnick, lived through the war. A Hebrew University student at the time, she remembers listening to Jordanian leaders on the radio threatening to “drive you Zionist dogs into the sea.� When the war broke out, my mother was home with her parents in Tel Aviv. But she wouldn’t stay there for long. As soon as Israel won, my mother simply could not sit still, aching to see the Old City of Jerusalem. And so, despite initial restrictions on civilians entering the conquered territories, my mother made her way to Jerusalem, becoming one of the first non-military Israelis to see the newly liberated city. I recently asked my mother – who later moved to America, worked as an NBC news producer for 13 years, and founded MATCKH, an organization devoted to exposing the hate-filled Palestinian educational system – to share her memories and experiences of May and June 1967. Some of her story was already familiar to me. Other portions I heard for the first time. The Jewish Press: What was the mood in Israel in the weeks leading up to the war? Molly Resnick: It was very scary. I remember hearing Eshkol on the radio, and he seemed extremely weak and indecisive. At the same time, the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan was threatening us with annihilation while Nasser had kicked the United Nations out of the Straits of Tiran. It looked like the world was closing in on us. I was studying at Hebrew University of Jerusalem at the time, and the whole school was emptying out because all the boys were being drafted. I remember volunteering to pick peaches from the valleys because the regular workers had been drafted. I also remember helping in a school for autistic children because health officials were suddenly scarce.
My mother, Molly Resnick, walking through the West Bank in 1967, just days after its liberation.
My parents were actually considering shipping me off to Bulgaria, which is where I was born, to make sure I would survive the war because there was this mood that, “This is going to be the end of the Jewish state.� Did you really consider going to Bulgaria? I don’t think so, but that was the talk. Going to Bulgaria would have been like going from the pot to the fire. Who wanted to go to Bulgaria? It was a Russian satellite state. And then suddenly, after all this fear and tension, Israel won in just six days. It was phenomenal. I remember when our soldiers conquered the Old City of Jerusalem. As students at Hebrew University, we always used to try peering over the walls of the Old City from afar, wondering what was happening on “their� [the Jordanian] side of Jerusalem. And then, suddenly, this city, which you could only barely see before, was yours. And I just had this tremendous curiosity and desire to see it. But they wouldn’t allow civilians in. So I travelled to the outskirts of Jerusalem and just stood by the highway enter-
* Teen Essay Contest Winner *
What Yerushalayim Means To Me By Menachem Bernath, age 17
Yerushalayim is the city of profound wisdom and hope. For over 2,000 years people have looked to Yerushalayim for answers and guidance. Yerushalayim has been there, and always will be there, to give new meaning to the world. Over time, so many different cultures have come and gone, yet both the Jews and the city of Yerushalayim have always stayed the same, illustrating that Yerushalayim is not just our city but our heart. People have more joy in Yerushalayim. The city speaks to you. Even more, it lives in you as if
it’s your blood and soul – like the one thing that keeps you living and striving to do more, to keep moving without stopping, to run when you can walk, and to sing when you want to cry. In Yerushalayim you feel whole, like finding something you have always been missing for the first time. It opens your mind to new ways of thinking. It shows you no matter how much hate there is in the world, there is love. People live their lives without knowing true joy, but in Yerushalayim you cannot help but dance. And when you leave the city, you leave changed, even if you look the same on the outside. I look at Yerushalayim and say this is the city of all cities, the
Luckily, though, the officers I was with vouched for me, and that’s how I eventually got into the Old City. What was it like entering Yerushalayim so soon after its capture? The first thing we did is go to the Wailing Wall. But they hadn’t yet leveled the houses in the area, creating the plaza that you see today. You had to walk through the streets, and then suddenly you found yourself standing in front of the Kotel. I remember that people were still scared of possible Arab snipers, but at the same time, there was this feeling of incredible victory in the air. I don’t know how to describe the feeling of suddenly going from “There’s absolutely no hope� to the most phenomenal victory that no one could believe happened. Everybody gave lifts to everybody, everybody invited everybody to their houses, people left their doors open. At the time, I wouldn’t have thought of calling it “Moshiach tzeiten� because I was totally irreligious, but it was that type of feeling of the sheep lying with the wolf – just brotherhood and camaraderie and joy and elation. I never experienced that kind of euphoria – not before nor after. Where else did you go besides Jerusalem? I went Kever Rachel and then to Chevron as well. I might have also gone to Shechem, but I don’t remember. I do remember, though, the stench of dead bodies that still filled the air in Chevron and the territories in general. When you think back to June 1967 and compare then to now, what sticks out as the biggest difference? When I visited Chevron in 1967 the Arabs were groveling and submissive in an almost nauseating way. It was pathetic. They looked like some of these beggars in India that you see in old black-and-white movies. They were scared we were going to do to them what they what did to us in 1929. I think that image of groveling Arabs juxtaposed to the hateful and brazen Arabs that I saw when I visited Chevron again in 1997 is the biggest difference. And I think that brazenness came from us giving them everything. We gave them education, housing, land – everything. Basically, they’re not scared of us anymore. Had the war’s outcome been reversed, I don’t think there would have been a single Jew left alive. The fact that we didn’t kill them, that we didn’t kick them out of Israel, that we, in fact, treated them well and gave them an education only made them think of us as weaklings because, in their minds, no strong person would act that way. In short, the Arabs see us as weak, and I think we will continue having problems with them until we change that perception.
ing it, waiting to hitchhike with someone who could get me in. Finally, a tank carrier stopped. I told them I wanted to go to Jerusalem, and they said, “We’re going to Afula through the territories. Hop in.â€? And they hid me in the tank carrier. How was going all the way north to Afula going to help you? I didn’t care where they were going. I figured once I was over the Green Line, in the territories, I’d manage to find a way to get into “forbiddenâ€? Jerusalem. And they just let you in the tank carrier and hid you without even knowing who you were? I guess so. There was just this euphoric mood in the country. Everybody was friends with everybody. We drove all night, and then the next morning the tank carrier broke down. It was hot, flies were buzzing about, and I couldn’t take it anymore. I told them I was hitchhiking back. “What do you mean you’re hitchhiking back in the middle of a war zone?â€? they asked me. I said, “I don’t care. Someone’s going to stop for me.â€? Sure enough, there was a military jeep going the other way with some officers. I asked them, “Can you get me back to civilization?â€? and they said yes. The problem was that by the time we got place of all places. A city that was to Yerushalayim, I was touched by such holiness, which so dirty from this advenleft such a powerful mark, it will ture that I looked like an never ever go away. Arab, and the IDF solYerushalayim has always diers at the checkpoint been a center of religion and wanted to arrest me. fighting. What pull does it have that people are compelled to fight, even to kill and die for it? I think because Yerushalayim is the heart of the world. Just as the By Rabbi Yehudah Halevi (c. 1075-1141) blood in our bodies is pulled to ŇƒŃśŇšŇ”Ń° Ň? ҕᛂғ Ńľ ᚠҋѲ ŃŽ Ň?ѡҒᚍю҇ Ň‰ŃśŇšŃŽŇˆŇ?Ѳ ŇƒŃŽ Ň‹ášŃ˛ ѲҎ the heart so, too, we are pulled to Yerushalayim. Ńł ҇ ŇŽŃľŇ?ѡ҂ Қᚌ Ń´ Ň‚ Ňœ Ń° Ň‚ ҆ Ńł Ň?Ń° Ńś ҔҊю Ň‚ Ń´ ŇŒŃŽ Ň‹Ň‚Ńł ŇƒŃśŇšŇ”ŃŻ Ń´Ň‹ ŃŽŇŒŇ‹Ň‚ŃŽ Yerushalayim is filled with ҅ᛂҔюᚠҋѾҚғќ Ň‚Ńś ŃŻ ҇ ҋѾҚ҅ќ ŃŽŇ’ Ň?ѳᚡᚌ Ńľ Ň‚ Ń° ҆ќŇ?Ň‹Ň‚Ńł people, animals, trees, flowers, and hills. The city bustles with ŇƒŃśŇšŇ”Ń° ŇŽŇƒŃ´ Ń´ Ň?ᚠҋѲ ŃŽ Ň’Ň‚Ńľ Ń° ҇ Ň?ᛂ҅҂ ŇŽŃ´ ŃŻ ŇƒŇ‰Ń´ ášŃŽ Ň‘á›‚áš´Ń˛Ň˜ life, and like many other cities, ᛂŇ?ŃŽášś ҅ѾҚҖќ Ň“ ŇƒášąŇŠ ŇŽŃś ŃŽ ášś ŇƒŃˇŇˆŃ°Ň” ҋѾҒҋѳҔášŃŽ Ҏҙѳ Ѿҋ people visit it all the time. But this city has a feel to it unlike any ŇƒŃśŇšŇ‰Ń´ ŃŻ Ň’ ŇšŇ‹Ń˛ŇƒŃŽášŻ Ňœá›‚ŇšŇ–Ńľ ŃŽ Ň” Ňœá›‚Ň‚ŃŽŇš ҋѾҒҋѳҔᚠю Қҙѳ Ѿҋ other, and that feeling is God. God gave the city its name. God My heart is in the east, and I in the uttermost west – told us to build the Beis HamikHow can I find savor in food? How shall it be sweet to me? dash there. Yerushalayim is the How shall I render my vows and my bonds, while yet city of God. Zion lieth beneath the fetter of Edom, and I in Arab chains? This city is one of a kind. It A light thing would it seem to me to leave all the good things of Spain – is not fictional. We can go there. Seeing how precious in mine eyes to behold the dust Yerushalayim is not a dream. of the desolate sanctuary.
‘My Heart Is In The East’
May 2010 | 5
By Rabbi David Bar-Hayim
THE PLAN Once upon a time there was a man called Abraham. The Creator told Abraham that he would become the father of a nation that would bring great blessing to mankind: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great…. and through you shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:2-3). Nothing greater, more sublime and more edifying has happened to mankind than the Hebrew Bible. It is the ultimate blessing. Yet, although the Bible has been available in most languages for many, many centuries, only the Jewish people have been able to make sense of, and internalize, the Word of God, turning it into a civilization, a societal norm, a way of life. This is because, in addition to the Written Torah, the Jewish people possess an Oral Tradition. This Tradition, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook explains (Orot HaTorah, Chap. 1), is not a second Torah handed over to Moses; it is the interface of the Torah with the Jewish people. The Written Torah is the life-giving precipitation from heaven acting upon the fertile soil of the Jewish nation, and the result is the Oral Tradition. It is this that we call Judaism. As with a computer, to successfully use the hardware you need the right software. Judaism’s ultimate purpose was announced by the Creator before He transmitted the Torah to His people: “And you shall be for My purpose a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). The nation of Israel is the priest connecting God and mankind. “I, God, have summoned you for a righteous purpose…. and have assigned you for my covenant with humanity, a light for the nations” (Isaiah 42:6). How are we to achieve this? In modern parlance a “kingdom” or “nation” is a state. God did not command us, however, to establish just any state, but rather a holy state. Our purpose was, and remains, the creation of a unique society in which morality and righteousness reign supreme, a society dedicated to wisdom, beauty and excellence. Such a society would glorify God’s Word and Moral Law and lead mankind to the recognition that its salvation lies in learning from God’s people. At the end of days it shall come to pass that the mountain of the Lord’s House shall be established at the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it. And many nations shall go and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the House of the God of Jacob; and they will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths”; for out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Micah 4:2). The Jewish people in ancient Judea, however, failed. Instead of serving as a light to the nations, they decided to be like other nations. The inevitable result was exile from Jerusalem and the Land, as foretold in the Torah. And for two millenia we have had time to contemplate the error of our ways. EXILEMODE JUDAISM Judaism in Exile did not die, but it was transformed. Instead of being the vehicle for God’s Purpose, it became a system for spiritual survival. “Even though I am sending you into exile, keep the commandments, so that when you return they will not be new and strange” (Siphre, Devarim 43). The system developed by the Sages served its purpose;
AHowNation Adrift Did We Get Here? Where Are We Going?
the Jewish people maintained their identity. In fact, if anything, the system worked too well. We came to understand the Torah in terms of the subsistence-level Judaism of the Exile. The bigger picture, God’s master plan, with Jerusalem at it center, receded into the mists of our collective memory. Nearly 900 years ago, in response to the criticism of the Khazar king that the Jewish people’s acceptance of the Torah is selective and its prayers for redemption insincere because they make no concerted effort to return to the Land and reconstitute their sovereignty, thus abdicating their responsibility and mission, Rabbi Judah Halevi had this to say: You have shamed me, King of Khazar. It is this very sin that prevented us from achieving that which God intended for the Second Commonwealth. Had the nation returned willingly to the Land when afforded the opportunity [2,500 years ago], the Divine Presence was prepared to settle once more in the Second Temple as it had in the First. But only a minority chose to do so; the majority, including their leaders, elected to remain in Babylonia rather than leave their homes and possessions. And God dealt with them accordingly, with the result that their success was limited. For Divine blessing descends according to our actions. Therefore our prayers such as “Blessed are You who returns His Divine Presence to Zion” are as words repeated by a parrot – we do not think about or mean what we say (Kuzari 2:24). ZIONISM AND ZION And thus it was throughout our Exile – until a few generations ago. Suddenly a significant number of Jews could no longer bear the endless and ineffectual “letGod-take-care-of-it” policy of Exile-mode Judaism. They decided to do something about it. From this resolve evolved the Zionist movement. This development, however, came down to us from the God of History wrapped in enigma. Starting in the late 1700s, many Jews had been turning their backs on Judaism. Some accepted baptism, many
simply assimilated. Others, affected by the nationalist spirit sweeping Europe, became Jewish nationalists. Reaffirming their Jewish identity, they set themselves to the task of reconstituting Jewish national life in their ancestral Land. The paradox of Jewish nationalists, having rejected Jewish values and concepts, now working for a Jewish homeland, escaped them. Zionism, the creation of Jews who embraced Jewishness but whose cultural orientation was pan-European, was necessarily a confusing and fundamentally impossible amalgam of disparate and incompatible elements. This weird and wonderful historical process gave birth to the State of Israel – an Israel without Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, an Israel without Hebron and the Tomb of the Patriarchs. Yet few were perturbed by this, for during the decades of preparation for the coming state, one thing
had never been spelled out: its borders. After all, on what basis was a mainstream Zionist – i.e. a self-proclaimed Jewish nationalist with a pan-European, non-Jewish worldview and lexicon – supposed to determine where the borders of the Jewish homeland lay? Surely not according to Judaism. The answer to this riddle being beyond the ken of Zionism, it remained unanswered – until the 1948 War of Independence. At that time the conundrum was conveniently solved: the caricature-like borders of the new state were deemed to be the borders of Eretz Yisrael. (Shulamit Aloni, a former politician of the Israeli Left, once stated explicitly on Israel Radio that Hebron is not part of the Land of Israel; she went on to explain that the borders of the Land were decided in 1948). The Six-Day War changed all that. Or did it? Israel did not immediately annex its newly acquired territories because these were viewed by the political leadership, and a significant percentage of the citizenry, as occupied territory to be used as bargaining chips. The argument regarding the fate of Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem is not about politics. It is about the soul of Israel. Is Israel a piece of beachfront property on the Mediterranean where Jews may eat, drink and procreate in peace (a dream that remains unfulfilled)? Or is it the seed of something much greater: the final realization of Israel’s priestly mission to the world and the re-establishment of the Jewish State with the Sanctuary of the Torah in Jerusalem at its spiritual center, a rallying point to which all peoples will flock? We have been adrift on the ocean of our destiny for 62 years. Our ship-of-State requires a competent captain with a chart, a clear notion of our destination and destiny. Otherwise we shall continue to drift aimlessly, rudderless and out of fuel. Our enemies know this only too well. Do we? Rav David Bar-Hayim heads the Jerusalem-based Machon Shilo (www. machonshilo.org), an organization devoted to promoting and restoring Torat Eretz Yisrael.
Rav David Bar-Hayim, head of Machon Shilo, authored the following Al HaNissim prayer for Yom Yerushalayim. According to Rav Bar-Hayim, the “addition of Al HaNissim [on Yom Yerushalayim and Yom Ha’atzmaut] is Halachically unassailable. The Tur writes that one may add a supplication or words of praise in the Modim section of the Amidah (Or HaHayim 582; see too Hagahoth Maimoniyoth Tephilla 6:3). Even on days when Hallel is not said, such as Purim, Al HaNissim is recited.” He also contends that just like the miracle of Chanukah, “the Divine salvation experienced by the Jewish nation in 1948 and 1967 is an immutable fact independent of subsequent developments.”
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6 | May 2010 By Dvora Waysman
I didn’t always think of it as “my Jerusalem.” In fact, when we first made aliya in 1971, I was completely detached from the city – I even resented it. This was the city that, because of my husband’s idealistic, Zionist dreams, had torn me away from my Australian birthplace and family and friends whom I loved. “It’s for our children,” he insisted, “to show them their homeland.” Even if we had just come as tourists. I doubt I would have understood that “ten measures of beauty came to the world, and nine were taken by Jerusalem.” Admittedly the Old City – with its ancient walls, turrets, minarets and domes – had a fairy-tale kind of ambience, but it was not the breathtaking beauty of Switzerland’s snow-clad mountains, the romantic forests of France or the jeweled lakes of Italy. How blind I was! It took me many years to understand that the beauty of Jerusalem is spiritual, not physical. Like a modest woman who only reveals her charms once you have made a commitment, little by little I grew to love and appreciate the uniqueness of this holy city. We live in the garden suburb of Beit Hakerem, which means “House of the Vine.” It was first
My Jerusalem
Dvora Waysman on her Jerusalem balcony.
settled in 1929 when Jews moved out of the Old City as a result of the Arab riots. I can still remember when the commercial center was just a collection of tradesmen’s huts. Today it is very modern, with a supermarket, beauty salons, restaurants, boutiques, hardware and health food stores. There has also been a big change in Machane Yehuda, the open-air fruit and vegetable market that runs off Jerusalem’s Jaffa Road. When we came, it was a down-at-heels neighborhood except for the busy shuk that has spilled over into most of its
streets, attracting crowds of shoppers, tourists and photographers to its bright and noisy whirlpool of activity. Today it has been roofed and repaved, and boasts some trendy coffee houses and restaurants. But the main feature is still the stalls, piled high with mouth-watering produce – plump strawberries, bright green avacados, brown coconuts, fat radishes, tomatoes and cucumbers. There are barrows of silvery carp and St. Peter’s fish from Lake Kinneret, and barrels of shmaltz herring and pickles. You
Three Majestic Synagogues Yerushalayim boasts many impressive synagogues, but none impress quite like the Belz Beis Hamedrash Hagadol. Modeled after the Belzer shul in Ukraine – which was built in 1843 and destroyed by the Nazis
The Belz Beis Hamedrash Hagadol in Jeruslaem.
100 years later – the Belz Beis Hamedrash Hagadol is Jerusalem’s largest synagogue and can seat 6,000 worshippers. The shul’s wooden ark stands 40 feet tall, weighs 18 tons, and can hold an amazing 70 Torah Scrolls. Nine chandeliers grace the shul’s interior, each one 18 feet tall, 11 feet wide, and containing over 200,000 pieces of Czech crystal. Inspired by the fifth (and current) Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach, Belzer chassidim began fundraising for the grand shul in the 1980s. The shul was dedicated in 2000 after 15 years of construction (the same length of time it took to erect the original Belz shul in Europe). Aside from the main sanctuary, the building also contains many smaller rooms for davening during the week, places to sleep for visiting chassidim, large rooms for such
The Belz shul’s massive interior.
The recently rebuilt Churva Synagogue, dedicated in March 2010. (Photo credit: Mindy McKinny)
can buy freshly-killed chickens, cheap jewelry, brass trays, toys and trinkets. An old man will sharpen your knives; the bent cobbler will repair your shoes. One stall is just for exotic spices, another holds bolts of multi-colored cloth. There is a pervading Middle East smell of fruit, spices, salami, garlic and herring. The colors are strong, the noise deafening. But it is the people who make the market. The vendors have the charisma of street performers as they call out their wares. They gesture extravagantly as they slice cheese, weigh onions, or toss olives into plastic bags. The customers today are just as charismatic as those of yesteryear – housewives, tourists, bearded Chassidim, brownrobed monks, old women in the faded costumes of lost communities. This is not considered a tourist site but it reflects the real Jerusalem – the pulse of life and the heartbeat of the city. Of course there were difficult times when my family begged me to return to Australia. When a bomb exploded in a refrigerator in 1974 in Zion Square, I was there. The scene was like a battlefield, with dismembered bodies, screaming, ambulance sirens, and a young couple with their beautiful seven-year-old daughter dead at my feet. Miraculously, I was not hurt physically, but the psychologi-
functions as weddings and bar mitzvahs, and a hall for tishen. Although most of the shul is grandiose, standing next to the aron is an ordinary wooden chair and shtender enclosed by a glass case. Rabbi Aharon Rokeach, the fourth Belzer Rebbe, used these items when he arrived in Israel in 1944 after his legendary escape from Nazi-Europe. Another grand Jerusalem shul, the Churva Synagogue, has recently been the subject of much media coverage and controversy. First built in the early 18th century by followers of Rabbi Yehudah Hachassid (not to be confused with the author of the Sefer Hachassidim) who emigrated from Europe, the shul only stood for a few years before angry Arabs creditors set the building on fire in 1721. The synagogue would remain destroyed for 140 years and soon became known as “churvat Rabbi Yehudah Hachassid – the ruins of Rabbi Yehudah Hachassid,” from which its present name derived. Starting in
The Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue, circa 1940.
The Churva’s bimah and aron. (Photo credit: Mindy McKinny)
The Jordanian Arab Legion destroys the Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue in May 1948.
cal and emotional scars will always be with me. It was hard to understand why I had been saved when so many others had died. I felt that I had a job to do that involved telling the world about Israel and Judaism, depicting its courage, its achievements, to help counteract the virulent anti-Semitism that once again has reared its ugly head. Once I began to think about what I could do for Israel instead of what Israel could do for me, I knew that this was where I belonged. Today, I love every part of Jerusalem. Soon we will have a lightrail system that will solve some of the traffic problems in a city that was once meant just for camels and donkeys. Jerusalem at night is black velvet spangled with stars, an ancient perfume, a taste of nectar. Early morning is a pearly dawn as the city wakes, with the scent of thyme and rosemary wafting down from the Judean Hills. The pine trees are filled with birdsong. It took me many years, but now I have joined those who have eyes to see and hearts to love who have found beauty in Jerusalem that I am proud and privileged to call “home.” Dvora Waysman is the author of 11 books. Her latest novel is titled “In A Good Pasture” (Mazo Publishers).
the 19th century, Jerusalem Jews made numerous attempts to obtain permission and funding for rebuilding the synagogue. Ultimately they received both (half of the necessary funds came from the famous Sasson family) and the shul – designed and constructed under the supervision of Assad Effendi, the sultan’s official architect – was dedicated in 1864. But just 84 years later, the synagogue was destroyed once again – this time by the Jordanian Arab Legion during Israel’s War of Independence. Although Israel reconquered the Old City in 1967, the government could not agree on a design for the new Churva Synagogue, and the shul was not rededicated again until March 2010. Another majestic Jerusalem shul destroyed in 1948, the Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue (or Nissan Beck Shul), still lays in ruins, but according to recent reports, it too may be rebuilt in the near future. Named after Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin, the shul served as a main center for Jerusalem’s chassidim for 75 years. Rabbi Nissan Beck bought the property upon which the synagogue was built in 1843, but the three-story shul was only inaugurated in 1872 due to constant lack of funds. In 1869, Franz Joseph I of Austria visited Jerusalem and saw the unfinished Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue domeless. When asked why, Rabbi Beck reportedly remarked to the emperor, “The synagogue has doffed its hat for you.” Understanding the true reason behind the unfinished structure, Franz Joseph donated 1,000 francs for the dome’s construction. One hour after midnight on May 21, 1948, the Jordanian Arab Legion blew up the Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue, and only one wall remains standing today. Following the Six-Day War, Israel decided not to rebuild the shul, but recently David Rabinovitch – an Israeli Russian who helped finance the Churva’s reconstruction – announced he would help rebuild the Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue, and Israel is reportedly considering the matter.
May 2010 | 7
By Amy A. Dubitsky
“Libi b’mizrach va’anochi b’sof ma’arav – My heart is in the east, and I am in the furthermost west.” When Rabbi Yehuda Halevi wrote these famous words, he probably did not have Phoenix, Arizona in mind, but Phoenix is just about as far west as you can be from Yerushalayim. Although millions of Jews celebrated Yom Ha’atzmaut the other week, here in Phoenix, I didn’t even eat a single falafel ball. Not even a drop of techina to remind me of the tastes of Israel. I hope soon to make up for my laxity by celebrating Yom Yerushalayim with delicacies worthy of the day. I feel I should celebrate our beautiful city with, not just typical Israeli food, but flavors that are uniquely Jerusalem. But what foods are “uniquely Jerusalem”? Perhaps the Jerusalem bagel. Oval in shape and larger than a typical bagel, this bagel comes standard with a complete coating of sesame seeds. I’m not much of a baker and have never seen a Jerusalem bagel west of Broadway’s J2 restaurant in New York City, but maybe I can ask the local bakery for a special order. Other than the bagel, there is only one other food I can think of that is inherently linked to Jerusalem, and I love it: Jerusalem kugel, otherwise known as Yerushalmi kugel. I have long wondered why this sweet and savory dish is named for the holy city. I suppose a carefully baked loaf may resemble the appearance of a Jerusalem stone – although, I should add, any resemblance to the taste of Jerusalem stone, and you surely have the wrong recipe. But seriously, stack up a few rectangular loaves, add a couple sprigs of parsley, and you could have the original Kugel Kotel.
Jerusalem of Gold(en Noodles) Perhaps the kugel received its name because of its thin, winding noodles that are reminiscent of the winding paths of the Old City. Maybe because the combination of caramelized sugar and pepper are surprisingly perfect, just like the many types of Jerusalemites that make up the unique rhythm of the city. On a quest to find the actual origin of the Yerushalmi kugel, I did what any good
Westerner would do: I Googled, e-mailed, and Skyped. I couldn’t locate a primary source that included anything specific about the origins of the Yerushalmi kugel, but I did find some interesting tidbits of information. Quite a number of websites indicated that the disciples of the Vilna Gaon created the Yerushalmi kugel in Jerusalem in the mid 18th century. Another claims that Eastern European chassidim brought the recipe to Jerusalem in the same time period. As the Vilna Gaon was staunchly opposed to Chassidism, perhaps a stolen kugel recipe was the precipice for the creation of the entire mitnaged movement. Who knows? 1 cup sugar 2 eggs
RECIPE FOR YERUSHALMI KUGEL (From “Show Me Kosher,” produced by the Young Israel of St. Louis. Recipe by Tziona Zeffren.) 12 oz fine noodles 5 cups of water ½ cup margarine ½ -1½ T. black pepper to taste 1 tsp. salt 3 tbsp. brown sugar [or a tbsp. of vanilla – A.D.]
Bring water, margarine, black pepper, salt, brown sugar and sugar to a boil. Add noodles and turn off the heat. Mix noodles and liquid and let it sit for 10 minutes. Add eggs and mix. Put in greased 9x13inch pan. Bake at 350° for 30-45 minutes or until golden brown. [This recipe doubles and triples easily and freezes well. One recipe can make two 9” round kugels, or two medium-size loaves. I prefer using a deeper, loaf pan as it increases the creamy texture of the kugel. Enjoy! – A.D.]
A website that sells a sweet raisin lukshen kugel states that the Yerushalmi kugel was created by “impoverished Jews in Jerusalem at the turn of the 19th century, who could not afford the expensive egg noodles, raisins and spices used by their European cousins. Instead, they used the cheapest noodles, replaced the expensive cinnamon and nutmeg with cheap pepper, and added color by browning the sugar in oil.” In an e-mail exchange, cookbook author Joan Nathan wrote to me, “As I said in my Foods of Israel Today, I suspect that this is one of those wandering Jewish dishes, as it also resembles closely an old Roman Jewish spaghetti dish with lots of pepper called cacio e pepe.” Who knew a kugel could provoke as many opinions as a Talmudic argument? Wherever the kugel came from, most people seem to believe it is best served with Israeli pickles and chulent on Shabbos afternoon, some even suggesting keeping it cooking overnight. If you use a traditional method of caramelizing the sugar, be careful not to let it burn; while Yerushalmi kugel is generally quite dark, you don’t want to make it taste smokey. I hope to celebrate Yom Yerushalayim in Phoenix with a piece of its namesake kugel. Well, at least a simplified version of it. The one I like skips the caramelization process – after all, who wants to risk burning the kugel? Amy Dubitsky is a freelance writer living in Phoenix, AZ with her husband Rabbi Michael Dubitsky and children.
8 | May 2010
The War Was Won... Now What? By General Moshe Dayan
Editor’s Note: From the book Moshe Dayan: Story of My Life: An Autobiography by Moshe Dayan. Copyright © 1976 by Moshe Dayan. Reprinted by permission of William Morrow, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
With the fighting over, I gave orders for all the barriers which had marked the division of Jerusalem to be removed. East and West Jerusalem were to become one again. ... The orders called for the demolition of the anti-sniping walls, clearance of minefields and disposal of the barbed-wire fences which had been a constant reminder of the partition of the city. I wanted the unity of Jerusalem to be given full practical expression, and I wanted it done quickly. No sooner had the orders been issued than I was regaled with howls of protest from various officials who tried to persuade me that I was being hasty. … [They] entreated me to put off my decision, prophesying wholesale bloodshed. Jews entering the narrow alleyways of the Old City would be massacred by Arab fanatics, and Jewish hotheads would retaliate against Arabs found in the New City. I heard them out, brushed aside their highly colored predictions and told them I saw no reason to change the orders. My reading of the situation and of the mood of the people, Arab and Jew, suggested that nothing untoward would occur, and if it did it could be handled. Free movement in both directions would be permitted forthwith, without hindrance, without checkposts, without special permits. We had to act immediately in accordance with the new reality, I said, and we could deal later with whatever problems would arise. The measures were carried out. The bars and barricades were pulled down and the two halves of Jerusalem became one. There was no murder, no bloodshed, no clash, no incident, no trouble. The united capital of Jerusalem wore a festive air. Arabs crowded Zion Square in the heart of the New City and Jews swarmed into the Old City bazaars. The only thing the police had to do was try to unsnarl the traffic jams. The government next had to deal with the status of the Jewish, Moslem, and Christian holy places in Jerusalem and its environs. I proposed that all the barriers and limitations on access to these shrines, which had been imposed by the Jordanians regime, be removed. We should now allow all Moslems and Christians, whether citi-
zens of Israel or residents of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, to visit and pray at their holy sites…. For many years, the Arabs had barred the Jews from their most sacred site, the Western Wall of the Temple compound in Jerusalem, and from the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. Now that we were in control, it was up to us to grant what we had demanded of others and to allow members of all faiths absolute freedom to visit and worship at their holy places. I took it upon myself responsibility for the security risks involved. I believed that from the points of view of our relations with the Arabs, our international standing, and even our security, the less our government interfered with the private, religious, and communal lives of the Arabs, the better. At all events, we had to try this method. It was wiser to deal with its possible harmful exploitation of the hostile elements than to stifle in advance the chance of developing correct relations between the Arabs and the Israeli regime. The two Jewish places holy places which raised special problems were the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, site of the Jewish Temple built by King Solomon in the tenth century B.B., rebuilt in the sixth century, and destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70; and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. * * * ….On the morning of the first Saturday after the war, I visited the El Aksa Mosque and met the Moslem religious personnel responsible for it. I reached the court of the mosque by way of the Western (Wailing) Wall. Access to the Wall had been denied to Jews for the previous nineteen years, and now, as we passed it, thousands of Jewish worshippers crowded against its ancient stones in ecstatic celebration. As we continued through the Magabi Gate above to reach the mosque compound, it was as though we were suddenly cut off from a world filled with joy and had entered a place of sullen silence. The Arab officials who received us outside the mosque solemnly greeted us, their expression reflecting deep mourning over our victory and fear of what I might do. The group was headed by Sheikh Abdel Hamid Sa’iah, the chief Moslem judge, and with him were the mufti of Jerusalem and the guardian of the mosque compound, who was responsible for the religious services. Before entering the mosque, I asked the Israeli officers who were with me to take off their shoes and leave their weapons behind them. After hearing explanations about the mosque and the customary arrangements for worshippers and visitors, I asked my hosts to talk of the future. At first they refused, but when I sat down on the carpet and folded my legs Arab fashion, they felt it necessary to do the same, and inevitably we engaged in talk. As a consequence of the battle for Jerusalem, their water and electricity had been cut off. I promised that both would be restored within forty-eight hours. I then plunged directly into the main issue. I said that the war was now over and we had to return to normal life. I asked them to resume religious services in the mosque on the following Friday. I said I had no wish and no intention of continuing the practices which the Jordanians had instituted of censoring Fridays sermon before it was broadcast. Under Jordanian rule, Friday’s sermons, which were broadcast over the radio, were subjected to strict censorship. I questioned in my own mind whether such a practice was proper for a Mos-
lem ruler, but a Jewish ruler should certainly refrain from acting in the same fashion. I added my hoped that the Moslem religious leaders would not take advantage of such freedom by indulging in rabble-rousing sermons that would incite some of their followers. If they did, we would of course take appropriate action. I said that Israeli troops would be removed from the site and stationed outside the compound. The Israeli authorities were responsible for overall security, but we would not interfere in the private affairs of the Moslem responsible for their own sanctuaries. These were two Moslem places of worship. And they had the right to operate them themselves. My hosts no doubt knew that on the day we had captured this site, I had given orders that the Israeli flag be removed from the Mosque of the Dome, where it had been hoisted. We had no intention of controlling Moslem holy places or
(L-R) General Uzi Narkiss, Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan, and IDF Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin enter Jerusalem’s Old City shortly after its capture.
of interfering in their religious life. The one thing we would introduce was freedom of Jewish access to the compound of Haram esh-Sharif without limitation or payment. This compound, as my hosts well knew, was our Temple Mount. Here stood our Temple during ancient times, and it would be inconceivable for Jews not to be able freely to visit this holy place now that Jerusalem was under our rule. My hosts were not overjoyed at my final remarks, but they recognized that they would be unable to change my decision. They would have wished the entire area, not just the mosques, to remain under their exclusive control, with the continued ban on Jews. But they also realized that Israeli troops had been removed from the compound and that we had recognized their rights to control their own holy places. A sticky problem cropped up on August 16. This date coincided with the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av, a millen-
nia-old Jewish fast day in commemorative mourning for the destruction of the Temple. Rabbi Shlomo Goren, the chief army chaplain, and several minyanim (religious quorums) decided to pray on that day on the Temple Mount, namely, the Haram esh-Sharif. They brought with them a Torah (Scroll of the Law), an Ark of the Law, and a pulpit. I learned about the incident only later, when Maj. David Farhi, the military government’s liaison officer with the Arab leaders, failed to prevent the rabbi and those with him from praying there. The matter came up for consideration by the government. Although, understandably, no minister wished to take a formal position stating baldly that Jews were forbidden to pray on the Temple Mount, it was decided to “maintain the current policy,” which in fact banned them from doing so. It was evident that if we did not prevent Jews from praying in what was now a mosque compound, matters would get out of hand and lead to a religious clash. Rabbi Goren fought determinedly against the de facto ban, but he eventually accepted the verdict and tempers were clamed. As an added precaution, I told the chief of staff to order the chief army chaplain to remove the branch office he had established in the building which adjoins the mosque compound. I was convinced that precisely because control was now in our hands, it was up to us to show broad tolerance, so rare an attitude among the regimes of the preceding decades and centuries. We should certainly respect the Temple Mount as an historic site of our ancient past, but we should not disturb the Arabs who were using it for what it was now – a place of Moslem worship. * * * I spent a good deal of time on securing harmonious arrangements over the holy places in Hebron and, above all, in Jerusalem because they held the seed of an approach which might solve the much wider and deeper problems of ArabJewish coexistence in a united Jerusalem. We had to determine those areas which should be left separate and handled autonomously by each community – Moslem, Christian, and Jewish – as well as those areas in which communal cooperation was possible, and we had to work out how Arabs and Jews were to behave to one another. During the month of Ramadan, a Moslem religious festival, I ordered a shortening of the Jewish visiting hours in the Cave of the Patriarchs. I considered that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and we, their modern descendants, were strong enough to bear this limitation. Whenever I visited the mosque during Ramadan and saw fasting Arabs on their knees praying with deep devotion to the one and only merciful Allah, I would try to walk on tiptoe so as not to disturb them. I never felt I was thereby abandoning my own faith. In the same way, I was certain, it would signify no diminution of their Islamic faith if the Arabs did not disturb the Jews praying at the Western Wall, their eyes shut tight in religious concentration as they sent up their prayers to heaven.