The world has existed long before us: history is an extensive process in which we are all immersed. To have an adequate conception of the world, we have to read history. If we lose track of history, we can become disoriented and lose focus.
The recovery of Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem is a pivotal moment, a historical break. In 1967, during the Six Day War, Israel miraculously regained sovereignty over the city of Jerusalem and then rebuilt it. We are talking less than twenty years after the independence of the State of Israel (1948) and just over twenty years after the Shoah (1933-1945). From the deadliest attack on the people of Israel and the most bloodthirsty and atrocious destruction at the hands of Hitler’s Nazi regime to the liberation of Jerusalem, a very short period passed. Locating these events gives us a dimension of their importance in the collective consciousness.
Little more than fifty years after the recovery of Jerusalem, we see before our eyes the incredible reconstruction of the city. Anyone who visits Jerusalem will be surprised to find a thriving and vibrant city: it is a world center of religion, technology, science and humanities. There are inhabitants of different religions and ethnic origins, each contributing with their way of life and vision of the world to a plural and lively city.
Who would have imagined such a situation sixty years ago? Who could have dreamed of something so wonderful? Are we aware of the historical situation we are living in? On Yom Yerushalayim, reflecting on these issues can be a way of valuing and pondering this privileged moment.