Celebrating Jerusalem Day

Jerusalem Day, or "Yom Yerushalayim,” commemorates Israel's victory during the Six-Day War and the repatronization of Jerusalem. As a holiday established relatively recently in 1968, you may be forgiven for thinking of it as a kind of civic holiday. A sedate day off in the vein of Canada's Family Day, a chance to kick back and enjoy a vaguely patriotic afternoon of daytime TV. But while the holiday may only be 51 years old, it has a massive history behind it that should not, and cannot be ignored.

To understand why Israel celebrates Jerusalem Day with such heartfelt zeal, you have to understand the history of Jerusalem itself. Despite always existing as the heart and home of the Jewish people, Jerusalem has a long history of conquest, domination, and loss stretching back nearly two thousand years.

A truly ancient city, Jerusalem had been the center, the beating heart, of the Jewish people since they could be called a people. Yet despite its tall walls and devoted population, it was conquered in 70 AD by the Romans, setting off centuries of struggle to come. When the Romans took over, the Jewish people were killed and scattered, thrown from their homes virtually overnight. Over the next few decades, the city would be razed, ruined, and rechristened as "Aelia Capitolina," a satellite state of the Romans. The only Jews allowed in the city were slaves, men and women kept in bondage, reduced to cleaning the gutters of their ancestral home.

As time wound on and the Roman Empire transformed into the Byzantine Empire, the name Jerusalem was readopted by rulers eager to lay claim to a larger history they had no right to. But with the adoption of the old name, were the Jews allowed back in? No, of course not. The Byzantine's only wanted the trappings of the ancient city, not its people. The only day of the year Jews were allowed in the city of their forebearers was Tisha B’Av, an annual holiday observing the destruction of the Holy Temple. Any Jewish pilgrims looking to pay their respects were forced to pay handsomely for the pleasure.

And so it went. The Muslims eventually conquered the Byzantines and permitted the Jews to return, only to lose the city during the Crusades, after which the Jews were once again removed by force. The Egyptians would raze the city in 1250 and take over, granting the Jewish population a chance to return. But this period of recuperation and rebuilding would soon face an Ottoman conquest in 1516. This cycle of conquest and turmoil, of brief periods of peace interrupted by violent clashes, continued into the present day, culminating with the British take over of the city during WWI. When the British took control, they promptly divided the city into four ethnic quarters (with little regard to the actual populations living in those areas) and governed the city strictly until they were forced out in 1948. The Jordanians soon took over, violently expelling the Jewish population, burning homes and looting as they pleased.

Even during the post WWII boom in returning Jews to Israel, the city remained out of reach. Jerusalem was named the capital of the reconstituted nation of Israel, but it was divided between Israel and Jordanian control. The Old City, the spiritual heart of the city was kept in a vice-like Jordanian grasp.

It wasn't until the Six-Day War in 1967 when the Old City would be brought back into the fold. During the chaos and confusion of that frantic struggle, the Jordanian forces made a fatal error. With their communications disorganized and poor response to multiple fronts, the Jordan military left the Old City nearly defenseless. Not failing to take advantage of the situation, Israeli forces were able to move in and finally reclaim their home.

For the first time since 1948, Jews could once again walk free in the city and worship at the Western Wall. The conflict closed the book on nearly two thousand years of insecurity and turmoil. Finally, all of Jerusalem was part of Israel and belonged to the Jewish people again. 

Today, that momentous event is honored every year on the 28th day of the month of Iyyar in the Hebrew calendar (that is May 12th this year). The day is marked with by both religious ceremonial prayer in synagogues, and civic recognition from the mayor of Jerusalem who leads an annual ceremony remembering those lost in the Six-Day War. Celebrations include a winding street parade that represent the unification of Jerusalem as a complete city, complete with vendors, special costumes, and youth participation. Of course there are also typical holiday celebrations such as parties filled with song and dance and special family meals recognizing the day. 

The nation of Israel was reborn in 1948, but it wasn't whole until 1967. Jerusalem Day serves not just as a celebration of that date, but as a celebration of all that Israel has endured and overcome to arrive at that happy day.