Today, Friday the 28th day of Iyar, כ”ח אייר, we celebrate the miraculous reunification of Jerusalem which took place during the Six Day War back in 1967. For many of you reading this you probably cannot imagine a time when Jews did not have access to davening freely at the Kotel. As with many historic events, there are memories that remain embedded many years later. I was very young at the time but I remember school being cancelled so that en masse we could fill the malls in front of the White House to petition for US intervention. We gathered in shuls to daven fervently for our relatives in Israel. We were glued to the radios (no internet at that time) to hear blow by blow accounts of the battles. The spontaneous eruption of joy that spread through every Jewish home and community when the words Har Habayit B’Yadenu- The Kotel Mount is ours, was thunderous! And a year later in 1968 I was zocheh to go up to Jerusalem with my family to celebrate my brother’s bar mitzvah. Since then the plaza in front of the kotel has expanded and been enhanced. The Kotel is the site where everyone can pray for peace, for health, for parnassah, and of course to thank Hakadosh Baruch Hu for all the goodness He bestows on us constantly. It is no coincidence that Yom Yerushalayim falls out on the 28th, as our source of strength, koach, כח, comes directly from the epicenter of our emunah, from the holiness of Har Habayit.
This week’s Parshat Bamidbar includes the details of the encampment of the Bnai Yisrael and a second census. The first census took place after the Chayt Ha’egel (The Sin of the Golden Calf) and the second occurs at the time of the completion of the Mishkan. The first counting took place at a time when perhaps the Jews were at their lowest spiritual level and the second at a time when they were on a high. The message may be that no matter where we are spiritually at the moment, in G-d’s eyes, we count-each one of us as an individual, as a member of a tribe, as a member of Am Yisrael, is worthy of Hashem’s love and attention. Indeed, when we read Perkei Avot, we say “Kol Yisrael Yesh Lahem Chelek B’olam Habah” - we don’t say “only the ones who are righteous” but all Jews have a place in the world to come. Hashem sees the good in all of us; we too should see the good in others as well as in ourselves.
These are the days of counting. Ask any students how many more days are there left to the term - I am sure they can tell you to the minute! So too we count up to Matan Torah, to Shavuot, which is only a week away. How the time has flown by since Pesach. And if you think about what was accomplished during this time, I am sure you can make a list for the very many positive gains. We not only count the days, but we surely make these days count!
As we prepare for the celebration of Matan Torah, much the same as a bride counts the days to standing under the Chupah, may the joy and anticipation of a marriage between loved ones, between Hashem and Am Yisrael, sustain us as we hope and pray for this time of separation to draw to a conclusion. Remember in G-d’s eyes you count!
Have a Shabbat Shalom
Yom Yerushalayim Sameach
Chodesh Sivan Tov
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