Members of the Israel Group aended Yom Ha’atzmaut 2017 at Sha’arei Tsedek Reform Synagogue. The evening began with a very moving Yom Hazikaron service in remembrance of those who had died in the wars of Israel. This service was conducted by Rabbi Rebecca Birk from Finchley Progressive Synagogue, Rabbi Judith Levi and Rabbi James Baaden from Sha’arei Tsedek Reform Synagogue and Rabbi Yuval Keren from Southgate Progressive Synagogue.
We then listened to a very interesng talk from Rabbi Yuval Keren about Naom Shemer’s song ‘Yerushalayim Shel Zahav’. The popular Israeli song ‘Jerusalem of Gold' was wrien in 1967.The original song described the Jewish People’s 2000-year longing to return to Jerusalem; Shemer added a final verse after the Six-Day War to celebrate Jerusalem’s unificaon under Israeli control. At that me, the Old City was under Jordanian rule; Jews had been barred from entering, and many sites had been desecrated. Only three weeks after the song had been published, the Six-Day War broke out. The song was the bale cry and morale booster of the Israeli troops. Shemer even sang it for them before the war, making them among the first in the world to hear it. On 7 June, the Israel Defence Forces captured the eastern part of Jerusalem and the Old City from the Jordanians. When Shemer heard the paratroopers singing ‘Jerusalem of Gold’ at the Western Wall, she wrote a final verse, reversing the phrases of lamentaon found in the second verse. The line about sofas sounding from the Temple Mount is a reference to an event that actually took place on 7 June.
During the evening we had some excellent Israeli food from a buffet organised by Janet and Jane which brought back happy memories to many at the event who had been to Israel.
Peter Leslie (Chair of Israel Group)
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