Celebrating Jerusalem Day in the Holy City
Yesterday thousands of people gathered in the Holy City to celebrate Jerusalem Day, Yom Yerushalayim. Here are a few fabulous photos of the joy-filled festivities!
Comments (1) »
Thursday, May 9th, 2013 at 11:21 AM | Stand For Israel
Jerusalem in 30 Seconds
As Jerusalem Day comes to a close at sundown today, we reflect on the beauty and wonder of this Holy City:
Wednesday, May 8th, 2013 at 4:08 PM | Stand For Israel
Har Habayit B’yadeinu
Photo: Ziv Koren
Forty-six years ago today, by the Hebrew calendar, Israeli forces took Jerusalem during the Six Day War – reuniting the city under Jewish sovereignty for the first time in 2,000 years.
This video (at the 16-second mark) includes the famous phrase broadcast by Gen. Motta Gur: Har Habayit B’yadeinu! The Temple Mount is in our hands!
It would be difficult to overstate the improbability, the historical significance, or the national importance of this event, which Israelis and Jews around the world celebrate as Yom Yerushalayim – Jerusalem Day. David Ben Gurion, Israel’s leading founder and first Prime Minister, said that Israel could not survive without Jerusalem just as a body could not survive without a heart. In the years since Israel reunified the city, it has enjoyed the only time in its history when all religions are practiced openly, freely, and under the protection of the ruling power. Unlike in the years before 1967, when the Jordanians systematically dynamited every synagogue in the Old City including some that were thousands of years old, Israel has protected the holy sites of all religions. (more…)
Comments (17) »Wednesday, May 8th, 2013 at 9:59 AM | Stand For Israel
Jerusalem Day
Though it is officially celebrated this year on May 8th, Jerusalem Day already began at sundown in Israel, and will last until sundown tomorrow. Yom Yerushalayim is the commemoration of the Holy City’s miraculous liberation during 1967′s Six Day War.
And this truly is one of the most compelling stories in Israel’s history!
Photo: Ziv Koren
In 1967, Egypt blocked the straits of Tiran, putting a stranglehold on shipping in and out of Israel’s crucially important southern port, Eilat. The combined armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon were poised for attack on the borders of the tiny Jewish state. Israel was presented with a sobering choice: Wait to be invaded, or fight back in self-defense. Knowing that her very existence was in peril, she chose the latter course. The resulting battle, the Six Day War, ended in a stunning victory for Israel that led to the reunification of Jerusalem under Israeli rule.
Comments (2) »Tuesday, May 7th, 2013 at 3:45 PM | Stand For Israel
Terror Threat Places Jerusalem on High Alert
Just a few hours ago, Jerusalem’s threat level was raised to “high” by officials with intelligence of a terror warning for the capital city.
From the Jerusalem Post:
Emergency services in Jerusalem were placed on high alert on Tuesday due to intelligence reports of a terror threat to the capital. Police, firefighters and paramedics were all in a state of increased preparedness as a result of the alert.
Police gave no further details on Tuesday of what exact intelligence information led to the raising of the alert level.
Photo: bibleplaces.com
Friends of Israel, keep the holy city in your prayers! “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels” (Psalm 122:6-7).
Comments (10) »Tuesday, February 12th, 2013 at 12:48 PM | Stand For Israel
Photo Friday: A Visit to the Jewish Quarter
This great shot by photographer Noam Chen was snapped in the Jewish Quarter, one of four culturally rich areas (the others three Quarters are: Armenian, Muslim, and Christian) within the ancient walls of Jerusalem’s Old City.
This is what the Lord says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain.” (Zechariah 8:3)
Comments (1) »Friday, February 1st, 2013 at 2:03 PM | Stand For Israel
Photo Friday goes to market
Mahane Yehuda outdoor market in Jerusalem sports more than 250 vendors selling produce, cheese, meat, baked goods, housewares, clothing, and a variety of other items to the hundreds of locals and tourists who visit daily.
Mahane Yehuda is usually bustling on Fridays as Jewish people stock up in preparation for Shabbat (Sabbath). As they enjoy Shabbat and we in the U.S. get ready for a long Labor Day weekend, may we all find rest and refreshment in our God who provides in beautiful abundance.
Comments (0) »Friday, August 31st, 2012 at 2:38 PM | Stand For Israel
Whose Jerusalem is it?
The Israeli Declaration of Independence states:
THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
Israel has lived up to these values as well as – often better than – other countries espousing such beliefs. All countries miss the mark and so, of course, has the Jewish state. But few countries try so hard or feel so acutely and try to mitigate so thoroughly their failures.
Monday, August 27th, 2012 at 9:58 AM | Stand For Israel
Photo Friday at the Western Wall
Happy Friday everyone! This weekend, let us step back from our busy schedules and find time for holy conversation with the Lord. “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3).
Comments (7) »Friday, August 17th, 2012 at 1:35 PM | Stand For Israel