The Psukim That Came to Life on Jerusalem Day

by then-IDF-paratrooper Rav Yisrael Ariel

Remembering the Return of the Temple Mount to Jewish Control for the First Time in 1,900 Years

Six Day War Paratroopers at the Kotel

Every Jew has his or her individual, unique letter in the Torah – and sometimes it's not just a letter, but an entire Torah portion. It could be one's Bar Mitzvah portion, accompanying him throughout his life. For me, it's Parshat Behukotai [last week's Torah portion] – the one whose verses I experienced so personally and so deeply that I will never forget them. Not to mention that this was an experience that belonged not only to me, but to the entire Jewish Nation.

It happened just moments after I and my Paratroopers Brigade army unit entered the Temple Mount – it was the 28^th of Iyar, June 7, 1967 – to take control of the site in the name of the State of Israel and the Jewish People. My commander ordered me with these words: "Take the unit's machine gun, and stand guard over the Dome of the Rock; make sure no one enters."


I don't think he had any idea what this order meant to me. Many stand-guard orders have been and will yet be given in the IDF – but the order to stand guard over the Holy of Holies had not been issued in nearly two millennia! The Mishna states (Tr. Middot 1,1):  "The Priests stand guard in three places in the Beit Hamikdash… and Levites [stand guard] behind the curtain [outside the Holy of Holies]." And I, neither a Priest nor a Levite, nor having immersed in a mikveh as required, and certainly not dressed in the Priestly Garments – suddenly find myself standing and guarding the Holy of Holies. Later I learned that this was in fact proper Halakhically: "When the builders come to build or make repairs in the Sanctuary, even Israelites [those who are neither Priests nor Levites] who are impure may enter" (Maimonides, Laws of the Temple 7,23). And if this is true for the Temple workmen, how much more so for those who come to liberate the Holy of Holies!

And there I stood, steeped in the memories and hopes that this site arouses in the heart of every Jew, picturing the splendorous sanctuary that stood here, contemplating the sight of throngs of Israelites ascending the majestic steps after having walked from all over the Land, and imagining the High Priest entering the most sacred spot, the Holy of Holies, once a year on Yom Kippur dressed in white and carrying the incense in his hands. And then, abruptly, another thought entered my mind: "This is precisely the blessing that we just read about in the Torah portion of Bechukotai: If you walk in My statutes… I will place My sanctuary in your midst. And here – the verse is coming true! After nearly 2,000 years, the blessing is being fulfilled before our very eyes, and we have returned to the site of G-d's sanctuary!"

My thoughts continue to swirl … The Temple Mount is quiet and serene. The Jordanian cannons that thundered out from the courtyards of the Mount and killed many of our paratroopers stand now silent and abandoned. Piles of ammunition lay nearby, ready to be fired – but the place is barren of men. Jordanian army jeeps, seemingly newly-painted greenish yellow are strewn around the Mount. Only I myself stand on the deserted battlefield. Where am I – in the Holy Temple of my ancestors, or on a forsaken Jordanian Legion base?

I raise my eyes, and abruptly the Mount is no longer forsaken – rather I am inside yet another unforgettable event that is being seared into my bank of experiences: Thousands of Jordanian soldiers are striding almost in tandem, not in shiny, crisp uniforms, but in – pajamas! Their eyes are lowered, their arms are lifted behind their heads. And where is the guard? Yes, way at the back marches one of our young soldier-boys, with uniform unkempt. Then I see him walking to the front of the line, passing another Israeli soldier or two along the way, and with a wave of his hand, seats them down in organized rows just outside the Dome of the Rock. The arms of the perhaps 2,000 captured soldiers are shaking in fear – and all because a couple of young Israeli soldiers in charge of keeping order.

More thoughts flitter within me: I remember a verse from the punishments mentioned in our Parshah: "They [the defeated Israelites] will be pursued by the sound of a fleeting leaf." Who does not shudder when seeing the famous photo of a frightened little boy in the Warsaw Ghetto raising his hands in surrender to the accursed Nazis? We became accustomed to thinking that this is how Jews are: submissive and persecuted, frightened by their enemies to the point of running from just a wind-blown leaf.

But now – the world has turned upside-down! Two thousands Jordanian Legion soldiers are themselves raising their hands in fearful surrender in the face of 2-3 Israeli soldiers! Are my eyes seeing correctly!?

When we read the Torah's blessing, just prior to the above curses, with the promise that "five of you will pursue 100 of them, and 100 of you will chase away a myriad," we have gotten used to feeling that this is merely a way of speaking, not something to be taken literally. And here, we are shown that "Moshe is truth, and his Torah is truth" – and when G-d wants, His blessing to us comes true in the most genuine manner imaginable.

These two blessings were eternally bestowed upon us as Heavenly gifts on Jerusalem Liberation Day – yet, so sadly, we are having trouble parting from the curses. We gave away our Holy of Holies to our enemies within Jerusalem, as we did with other parts of our Land. Could it be that the Galut is so hard for us to separate from?

But, no fear: "The word of our G-d will stand forever," Isaiah said, and Ezekiel added, "That which occurs to you – will not happen!  … For on My Holy Mountain, there the entire House of Israel will worship Me."

On this [53^rd] Jerusalem Day, we once again hear the Prophetic call: "Let us go and build the wall of Jerusalem and we shall no longer be a disgrace!"