The Kosher Bookworm: Yom Yerushalayim--Ir David

Ir David, the City of David, the name of the area beyond the southern edge of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, is fast becoming one of the most visited historic sites in Jerusalem, thus warranting discussion this week upon the annual observance of Yom Yerushalayim.

Ir David is the original hill top upon which was established the ancient unified capital of the Jewish nation by King David over 3000 years ago.

The physical features that have attracted the fascination of people from all over the world are the underground archeological finds, tunnels and excavations that reveal, for all the world to see, physical evidence to the antiquity of the Jewish legacy and presence in Jerusalem. Among these excavations include such legendary sites as Warren’s Shaft, Hezekiah’s Tunnel, the Shiloah Pool and many others that have yet to be opened to the public.

According to Dr. Ahron Horovitz, the director of the City of David Institute for Jerusalem Studies, {Megalim] and author of two books, “City of David: The Story of Ancient Jerusalem” and its sequel, “Discovering the City of David: A Journey to the Source,” “Ancient remains that no one even thought existed are constantly emerging from the ground revealing the secrets of ancient Jerusalem. The fascinating discoveries have earned the City of David international acclaim…”

“Despite Jerusalem’s importance, the City of David, home to the great kings and prophets of the Bible, vanished under layers of destruction and debris. For many years, the original core of ancient Jerusalem remained unknown and might well have been lost for eternity. Then, about 150 years ago, archeologists chanced upon the lost city and began to uncover its remains for the first time. From that moment, the City of David has not ceased to astound us.”

According to the scientific editor of these two works, Dr. Eyal Meiron, “The face of the ancient city began to appear before our amazed eyes: homes more than 5000 years old, a water tunnel from the days of the Canaanites, a towering Jebusite stone structure, powerful walls and fortifications from the time of the Second Temple times, a Byzantine hoard of gold coins, a neighborhood from the Umayyad period and homes of the inhabitants, great and small. Skilled historians and archeologists find it difficult to deal with the huge amount of finds – all the more so does the lay person who stands aghast at the pace of the discoveries.”

These two works are the first books to deal in a unique, comprehensive, historical scholarship literary method with this special project. These works are also great works of art, laying out before the reader art work, maps, both ancient and modern, and photography from all sources and datings that, when taken together, give you a most comprehensive presentment of the full story of Ir David, as up to date as the latest archeological digs.

Yom Yerushalayim celebrates the unification of the City of Jerusalem including Ir David and the adjacent village of Silwan in 1967. Previously illegally occupied by Jordan, this area was annexed to Israel and has, over these many years, been excavated with the results proving the ancient physical presence of the Jewish people to the entire Jerusalem region from time immemorial.

Unfortunately, due to misplaced leftist ideological predispositions having nothing to do with most normative streams of Judaism, certain groups, led by Liberal Jewish Youth – Netzer, have found the activities of the Ir David organizations to be objectionable going much against their views of Reform Zionist ideology. They have unfortunately advocated a boycott of tourist activities of these areas.

These ideological sentiments should spur on expanding growth in visits by foreign tourists, pilgrims, and youth groups from near and far to learn from our history, to be inspired by it and, for many, to ultimately settle once again in areas that are, by both divine right and historical truth, ours to live in.

Given the isolation, diplomatically, by most of the world’s nations, it behooves us to further solidify our feelings for Jerusalem by both reading and learning more about Ir David, visiting these sites when there, and to urge others to read and do the same.

FOR FURTHER STUDY

Accordingly, please consider the following that are available on line:

“Visiting the Temple Mount in Our Times” based on a shiur by HaRav Aharon Lichtenstein, 15 pages;

“Hallel On Yom Yerushalayim” by Rabbi Gil Student;

“Why Does the Chumash Not Mention Jerusalem by Name?” by Rabbi Yitzchok Levi;

“The Rebbe’s Hallel: The Halachic Basis for Hallel on Independence Day” by Rabbi David Bar- Hayim;

“Rise From The Dust: Eretz Yisrael in Halachah and Hashkafah” by the martyred Tzvi Glatt, hy”d, translated by Moshe Lichtman with haskomos from Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, Rav Avraham Shapiro, zt”l, and Harav Ovadiah Yosef, shlita.