Yom Yerushalayim Jerusalem Day Favorites

Yom Yerushalayim,

Jerusalem Day is not your usual day in Jerusalem, Israel.

Special holiday posters went up along with Israeli flags.

Some streets were lined with flags

and Jerusalem banners.

It is gone now, but

 the flower bed near Marcus Street looked like a flag.

Besides flags,

posters honoring soldiers who serve in the reserves

were posted along some main roads.

The remembrance day of Yom Yerushalayim

is for the military victory in 1967.

From 1948-1967,

 Jerusalem was under Jordanian rule.

Access to the Old City and the Temple Mount,

and the Kotel, Western Wall was denied to Jews.

All schools have programs to celebrate

the miraculous liberation of Jerusalem.

The program we attended in Mekor Chaim neighborhood

did not emphasize the military victory,

but the connection of the Jewish people

to Jerusalem throughout history.

On Jerusalem Day,

the Tower of David is open to the public.

Live music greets the citizens of Jerusalem.

It was really hot this year.

Security officers tried to cool off by standing in front of the fans,

before Mayor Nir Barkat’s fans came

to pose for photos with Mayor and his wife Beverly.

But the biggest annual event on Yom Yerushalayim,

is the Flag Procession and Dance, called Rikudegalim.

The crowd on King George Street dancing

 seemed smaller this year.

Maybe it was the heat,

or people were scared away by misleading media hype,

or perhaps people were at other programs.

The mobile library in Gan Haatzmaut,

Independence Park, was not busy.

Seeing long-time friends dressed in blue and white

is always a Jerusalem Day favorite.

The boys with Israeli flags in front of Heichal Shlomo

were as loud as ever and were not slowed down by the weather.

Security was obvious and everywhere.

Hundreds of young people in yellow vests,

helped with crowd control.

The media,

waiting for trouble at Damascus Gate,

 were bored from this clearly non-violent event.

The chief of Israeli police was there too.

 Posing for a photo with one of the boys marching,

not headline-worthy.

So to see for myself what really was happening,

I walked the whole parade route.

Oh, they were loud, singing such things as

Am Yisrael Chai and Ivdu Et Hashem B’simcha.

One young fellow tried to shake hands

with every security person he passed and say thank you.

This little girl had a perfect view

but I have no idea what she was thinking.

The crowd just kept coming and coming,

it was getting late, and I was getting tired.

Tens of thousands of people were on the

Jerusalem, Israel, streets all day.

There was no violence.

There was dancing in the ancient Roman Cardo.

50 years ago one could only imagine

Jews singing and dancing in the Old City.

As I went home they were still coming.

Bands played music late into the night

in multiple locations around Jerusalem,

but no one could go to all of them.

If you want to see more of Yom Yerushalyim

Facebook photos are HERE