“The Temple Mount is in our hands! I repeat, the Temple Mount is in our hands!“
-General Uzi Narkiss announcing the liberation of Jerusalem, June 7, 1967
Today marks the 42nd anniversary of one of the most amazing miracles of our lifetime. After approximately 2,000 years of exile, the Jewish holy city of Jerusalem has once again been united, liberated, and placed back into the hands of the G-d’s chosen people. The significance of this momentous event to the history, identity, and religious prophecy of the Jewish people cannot be overstated. It is a blessing of biblical proportions!
If G-d was still writing the Torah, Jerusalem’s liberation in 1967 would have gone into it.
The dreams, prayers, yearnings, and greatest unimaginable hope of countless Jews throughout history had finally been answered. G-d’s promise had been witnessed and fulfilled! The Temple Mount is in our hands…the Temple Mount is in our hands: Jerusalem -Judaism’s holiest city, our greatest joy -has been liberated!
The Six Day War was a watershed moment in Jewish history. Only days before the great victory, Israelis were facing a national calamity, an existential threat, as five Arab armies were amassing to snuff out the 19-year-old state. Plans were drawn to convert parks to cemeteries – so palpable was the threat. Before the war, Israel’s farmers in the Kinneret communities were being fired upon regularly from the Syrian-controlled Golan Heights, fresh water supplies were under constant threat of enemy diversion, and of course the holy places were inaccessible: the Western Wall and Temple Mount, Joseph’s tomb, Hebron and more were all under Arab control.
In the wake of the war, however, Israel had swelled to thrice its size. From the majestic Hermon to the blue beaches of Gaza, from Kfar Etzion to Kfar Darom, from Mount Sinai to the Temple Mount, Israel expanded west, east, north and south just as the Biblical prophecy foretold. In the same Biblical vein, the Arab armies not only lost, they seemed to flee in seven directions. The desert was strewn with boots which Egyptian troops took off to hasten their retreat.
The Six Day War saw Israel’s security established, as the buffer between Israel and her enemies grow significantly. No less important was the euphoria generated by the miraculous victory – now Israel saw itself as more than surviving, it was thriving! Worldwide Jewry received a boost of national pride. This pride brought about an unprecedented wave of North American Aliyah and eventually brought about Soviet Jewish aspirations to break out of the iron wall. The war also awakened a will to settle those lands liberated – to live in and around Hebron and Shechem, to climb the heights of the Golan, to farm the desolate sands of Gaza.
The Six Day War also awakened a longing for a rebuilt and united Jerusalem. The Western Wall plaza was created, the Jewish Quarter was brought back to life, and the gleam of the Temple flickered in the eyes of the saints.
The Six Day War is at once a modern victory fought with planes and artillery, and at the same time a triumphant return by an ancient people to their ancient homeland. It is a testament to the grit and valor of Israeli society and the Israeli soldier, yet it is also the revelation of G-d’s Mighty Hand to save His nation which had been strewn amongst the nations for two thousand years.
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Related Links: Chronology of Six Day War, Audio of IDF entering and liberating Jerusalem (with English translation), Jewish Growth In Liberated Lands, Articles Regarding Jerusalem’s Holiness To Jews, Eyewitness To Miracles (soldiers stories), The Battle of Ammunition Hill, Western Wall Cam (see HaKotel live)
Recommended Reading: “Six Days of War” by Michael Oren, The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West, and the Future of the Holy City by Dore Gold,
