For the 05/08/2015 edition of the Jewish Press

Eye on : Celebrating Day By Eliad Eliyahu Ben Shushan, Community Shaliach

On Sunday May 17th we will celebrate “Jerusalem Day”. Jerusalem Day is an Israeli national holiday commemorating the reunification of Jerusalem and the establishment of Israeli control over the in the aftermath of the June 1967 Six-Day War. The day is officially marked by state ceremonies and memorial services. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel declared Jerusalem Day a minor religious holiday to mark the regaining of access to the . People in Israel celebrate this day with parades in the streets, dancing with Israeli flags, singing Israeli popular songs about Jerusalem and about the revival of the Jewish nation on the holy land of Israel.

I remember from my childhood how we were educated to admire the heroism of the Six-Day War fighters who strengthened the spirit of the Jewish people in Israel and all around the world. My great love of Jerusalem and personal interest of that special day led me to the research I conducted during my graduate studies. I focused on the way each newspaper reported the events of June 7, 1967 when the IDF paratroops arrived at the Western Wall. It was amazing to learn how even 48 years ago each sector in Israel had an official newspaper, and each newspaper reported the arrival of the paratroopers to the Western Wall differently. In the beginning of the research my assumptions were that the religious newspapers would concentrate on the miracle aspects of this special day and how the prophecies of our profits were fulfilled. In contrast I expected that for the “secular” newspapers the soldiers’ heroism would be the center of interest. However, on that day of the war, the east part of Jerusalem united with the west. There was unity among the Jewish people in Israel and especially in the media. For one day, the newspaper reporters seemed to abandon all of the characteristics of their respective newspapers in reporting the events of the day. From all the newspapers you could feel the sense of gratitude to God and the IDF heroes. And that is just one aspect of the uniqueness of that special day and that war that we will explore during the next Eye on Israel session.

On this upcoming Tuesday, May 12th from 12-1 pm in the Kripke Jewish Federation Library our special edition of Eye on Israel will feature an Israeli speaker, Dr. Baruch Feldstern. Dr. Feldstern will share his experiences as a volunteer during the Six-Day War. “The Six-Day War was one of the most formative experiences of my life,” says Feldstern. “I hope to share that moment in Jewish history which I think retains significance for the Jewish communities in Israel and America even to this day, almost 50 years later.” Following the war, Feldstern entered The Jewish Theological Seminary of America and was ordained in 1972. He joined the administration and faculty at the Seminary, remaining there until 1978 when the Seminary sent him to direct one of its programs in Jerusalem. In 1992 he received his PhD in Midrash and a year later began teaching Talmud in the Rothberg School for Overseas Students at the Hebrew University. From 1991-2013 he taught at the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem. His book, Hemat HaHemda, examines the earliest Bible commentary that has survived from the illustrious Jewish community of Aleppo. Dr. Feldstern and his wife, Adina, have three sons, one of whom, Yonatan, currently lives in Omaha with his wife, Liz, and their two children. Liz is the Executive Director for the Institute for Holocaust Education.

Please mark your calendar for Tuesday, May 12th from 12-1 pm and join us in the Kripke Jewish Federation Library for this Eye on Israel session. Eye on Israel is presented through the Community Shaliach program, an offering of the Center for Jewish Life whose mission is to maximize involvement of Omaha’s Jewish community in imaginative, compelling and meaningful Jewish experiences. For additional information, please call (402) 334-6463.