A divided city

By now most of you have probably seen my in-laws’ incredible pictures of the Kotel from the summer of 1967 – i.e. just a few weeks after the Six Day War. (If you missed the photos, be sure to check them out here.)

Well, I recently discovered that my paternal grandparents z”l spent Pesach 1967 – i.e. just BEFORE the Six Day War – in Israel and took their own amazing pictures of Yerushalayim.

As always, I highly recommend that you click on each of these historic photos for a much better view.

First, two pictures of my bubby z”l standing in front of the Mandelbaum Gate (the former checkpoint dividing Yerushalayim), which was torn down immediately following the war:

The sign reads, “Halt. Frontier Ahead.”

Next, a view looking up Rechov Agron toward the intersection where King George Street becomes Keren HaYesod Street:

Note that modern landmarks such as the Plaza Hotel and the Great Synagogue did not yet exist in 1967.

As you can see in the next picture, Heichal Shlomo, which was only nine years old at the time, still had no neighbors:

The old Yerushalayim train station:

Looking over the King David Hotel toward the walls of what was then the Jordanian-occupied Old City:

Little did anyone know that within a matter of weeks, Yerushalayim would be miraculously reunited, and the Old City would once again be accessible to all. No longer would the Jewish People have to gaze at the heart of the city from afar.

A view of Migdal David (the Tower of David) and Shaar Yafo (Jaffa Gate):

And finally, two views from Har Tzion (Mount Zion) – which remained in Israeli hands after the Jordanians seized control of the Old City in 1948 - looking back toward the Windmill and Yemin Moshe:

Apparently, my grandparents z”l took part in some sort of festive procession (a hachnasat sefer Torah?) leading up to Har Tzion.

לשנה הבאה בירושלים הבנויה!

Happy Yom Yerushalayim!

Iyar Top Ten

The Our Shiputzim Editorial Board proudly presents:

The Top 10 Reasons That Iyar Rates As One of the Twelve Best Months to Be Living in Israel

10) The entire country is decorated in blue and white.

9) The IDF – which, as I’ve noted before, does its very best to ensure that religious soldiers’ needs are met – automatically grants shaving exemptions for the duration of Sefirah to any soldier who so requests.

8) The shaving exemption even applies to IDF soldiers appearing on national television during the Yom HaZikaron ceremony at the Kotel.

7) In any given year, at least one of your kids is chosen to play an active role in a Yom HaZikaron/Yom HaAtzma’ut ceremony – whether in gan, school, your community, or even the army.

6) Three years after I first shared my in-laws’ incredible pictures of the Kotel in the summer of 1967, that post continues to be extremely popular - especially in the weeks leading up to Yom Yerushalayim.

5) That satisfying feeling of accomplishment you get after successfully completing yet-another Iyar Challenge (i.e. supplying each of your kids with enough white shirts to make it through the first week of Iyar).

4) The amazing seasonal music. (See, for example, Udi Davidi’s beautiful Hitna'ari (including a translation).)

3) Four words: Yom HaAtzma’ut in Israel. There’s nothing like it!

2) The way the Pesach/Yom HaShoah/Yom HaZikaron/Yom HaAtzma’ut/Yom Yerushalayim/Shavuot continuum serves as a poignant reminder that the future of the Jewish People is here in Israel, where we’re B”H privileged to have front row seats on Jewish history.

1) The newly-minted four-day Lag BaOmer weekend…

!שבת שלום ול”ג-ל”ד שמח

Hitna’ari Revisited

About a month ago, in honor of Yom Yerushalayim, I posted Udi Davidi’s haunting “Hitna’ari.” (The song is reposted below.)

A number of readers wondered how this song is connected to Yom Yerushalayim, and so I turned to the Official Our Shiputzim Hebrew-English Translator* for help.

At first, she was extremely reluctant to tackle this song, because she insists that translating poetry isn’t really her thing.

Nevertheless, she finally agreed to try, but only on one condition – namely, that you, dear readers, use the comment section to point out any and all corrections, suggestions, recommendations, omissions, or additions.

And so, without further ado, here’s her translation:

Hitna’ari

(The beautiful Hebrew lyrics are available here, and the song itself appears below.)

Your face is weary with sweat and tears.
Your garments are covered with the dust of the road.
And you trudge mutely, collecting the shards,
The fragments of your life, scattered among the sands.

Shake yourself from the dust; rise up!
Don your garments of glory, My people.
By the hand of Yishai’s son, the Bethlemite,
Draw near to My soul; redeem it.

Your eyes attest to a sleepless night.
Your heart cries, “Mother Earth!”
And you trudge mutely among the dunes,
Uncertain that the wandering will ever end.

Shake yourself…

Wake up, for your light has come; rise up and shine,
For your wandering was not for naught,
For the eternal nation once again returns to the sands,
To the shards it left behind in its pain.
Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears,
For there is reward for your deed.
The sons return and break the silence,
Which permeated your being and your heart.

Shake yourself… (x2)

***

And here’s the song, so you can listen while you read the translation:

Nu, so what did you think? The translator* asked that I remind you that your comments are most appreciated.

______________

*Special thanks to the Official Our Shiputzim Hebrew-English translator for providing the above translation. Please note that she’s available for translation work. For more information, contact me at OurShiputzim at gmail dot com, and I’ll gladly forward all serious inquiries to her.

Euphonic Friday: Hitna’ari Edition

With Yom Yerushalayim fast approaching, now’s the perfect time to listen to Udi Davidi’s stunning “Hitna’ari” (“Shake Off Your Dust”):

The beautiful lyrics are available here.
Update: An English translation of the lyrics is now available here.

Speaking of Yom Yerushalayim, don’t forget (Emunah/Faith, this is for you… ;-)) that there are two white shirt days next week IY”H: Yom Yerushalayim on Sunday and then Rosh Chodesh Sivan on Tuesday.

And finally, in case you’ve missed them before – or even if you haven’t… - be sure to check out my in-laws’ incredible pictures of the Kotel from the summer of 1967.

.ותחזינה עינינו בשובך לציון ברחמים

“May our eyes behold Your return to Tzion with mercy.”

(From the Amidah prayer)

!שבת שלום ויום ירושלים שמח

Yom Yerushalayim 5771

Someone took the following video while walking to the Kotel via Sha’ar HaAshpot:

That’s Yaakov Shwekey’s “Im Eshkachech Yerushalayim” playing in the background.

And if you missed them last year, be sure to check out my in-laws’ incredible pictures of the Kotel from 1967.

.ותחזינה עינינו בשובך לציון ברחמים

Happy Yom Yerushalayim!

Happy Blogiversary to me!

Here in TRLEOOB*, Isru Chag is not only the day we hold our breaths as we wait to discover which chametz utensils were irretrievably swallowed up into the pre-Pesach void as well as the annual kick-off of Gebrochts Week, but it also marks Our Shiputzim’s third Hebrew blogiversary. (Tomorrow is the secular date.)

In honor of this most auspicious occasion, here are some of the more amusing searches which led to this blog:

The Search Term	My Comments
denim of yehareg v'al ya'avor	Don’t you think that denim is a BIT informal for this sort of thing?
liver kaved	It’s not heavy. It’s my brother…
factors of 5771	For the record, the answer is: “199 and 29”.
heblish torah blessings	First came Mah Nishtanah. Next came the Megillah. And now - Birchot HaTorah??
let's pass that subject	Ah, yes! Heblish at its very best.
prayer for skinks	I’m sure that YZG can compose something suitable.
best chardal communities in israel	No doubt you’re referring to the ones which won the prestigious Chardal Community Championship?
mothers' day unseen for practicing bagrut	Not to be overly pedantic or anything, but actually, the correct spelling is “on-seen”.
is mock turtle soup kosher	As Alice said: “I don't even know what a Mock Turtle is.”
creative interpretation of sheva brachot	Yeah, I think you MAY have come to the wrong blog.
tuna tissue fire	Because nothing says, “I’m an Israeli now,” like using a tissue to prepare smoked tuna.
steps of pomelo tree dance	I won’t ask.
potato kugel name yiddish	Must… not… make… fun…
yom yerushalayim kugel recipe	After all, that’s what our great-grandparents in Europe traditionally ate on the 28th of Iyar…

Here’s to another year!

___________

*TRLEOOB=the real life equivalent of our blog

Mi K’Amcha Yisrael

This beautiful article about an incredible event which took place at the Kotel on Yom Yerushalayim speaks for itself.

!אשריך ישראל

How fortunate are you, O Israel!

Yerushalayim 1967

Many years ago, when the CTO was in third grade, he wrote an article about Yom Yerushalayim for his English class:

The Six Day War

----

When my father’s parents were first married, they came to Israel for four years. They lived in Jerusalem (Yerushalayim). My father was born in Israel. My father was born almost a year before the Six Day War (Milchemet Shayshet HaYamim). The Jordanians had half of Jerusalem. The Jordanian part of Jerusalem had the Kotel. My grandparents lived in the Israeli part of Jerusalem. Then the Six Day War started. During the first three days of the Six Day War, my grandmother and my father went into a bomb shelter (miklat). They heard airplanes, and they were very scared. Then they saw that the airplanes were Israeli airplanes. For the three last days of the Six Day War, my grandmother and my father came out of the bomb shelter. By then, the Israelis got back the Kotel. That year on Shavuot, everybody went to the Kotel.

THE END!!!

The following pictures were taken in the summer of 1967:

  As you can see, the Kotel plaza is still unpaved.

 YZG and his mother. YZG is sitting on the large rock just to the left of the big pile of rubble in the center of the first picture.

  YZG being held by his father in front of the Kotel.

The men’s side.

The women’s side.

.ותחזינה עינינו בשובך לציון ברחמים

Happy Yom Yerushalayim!

 

Mazal tov: Yom Yerushalayim edition

The entire Our Shiputzim staff wishes to extend a heartfelt

מזל טוב

to the wonderful Be-All-You-Can-Be family

on the brit milah of

Gedaliah Avraham נ”י!

Mazal tov also to all the grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins.

כשם שהכנסתם אותו לבריתו של אברהם אבינו

.כן תזכו לגדלו לתורה לחופה ולמעשים טובים

***

Happy Yom Yerushalayim

and Shabbat Shalom to all!

Raise the flag

Now that all the Pesach stuff has been put away and we’ve all resumed our regular daily schedules, it feels as if Pesach has been over for weeks.

Of course, the truth is that it’s only been a few days, but nonetheless, we’re all more than ready for the next vacation.

Fortunately, ‘tis the season when we don’t go more than a week or two without another festival – minor or otherwise.

In other words, it’s time for that annual debate which is no doubt taking place in homes across Israel this very minute: When is the right time to decorate one’s house and car with Israeli flags?

Here in TRLEEOB (the real life equivalent of our blog), we usually get around to doing it on or about Rosh Chodesh Iyar.

And then we leave them hanging until the day after Yom Yerushalayim.

How about you?