Dear Kehila,

Friday marks a very special day, “Yom Yerushalayim.” It marks the day we celebrate the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967 during the Six-Day War.

It was the first time in nearly 2,000 years that the Old City, including the Western Wall (Kotel) and the Temple Mount, fell under Jewish sovereignty.

It’s hard to imagine the feelings of those soldiers as they came to the Kotel to bring it back in to Jewish hands.

I remember as a child going to the Kotel for that first time, the emotions and excitement of coming close to the remanence of the Beit Hamikdosh (Holy temple) stays strong with me until today.

If we were to tell any of our ancestors that today there are 600,000 Jews living in Jerusalem with thriving Jewish life and growth, they would never believe it! Indeed it is such a miracle that we cannot take for granted. And a miracle we should keep and never let go of.

The name of the city is made up of two words Yira, and Shalem, Awe and Peace. It was first named the city of “Shalem” completeness. Later Avraham named it “Yira”, meaning vision and awe.

Yerushalayim teaches us these two ideas, two very important ingredients in our daily life.

To be able to be at peace and feel complete, it is important to have the “awe” as well. While we are chasing success and waiting for a moment where we can feel at peace and relax, we must remember to stop and reflect in awe of all the blessings Hashem has given us. When we stop for a moment in the race of life and focus on the awe of G-d’s great kindness to us, it reminds of why we are living and why we are working.

This brings us to the next Jewish holiday of Shavuot. Where we will celebrate G-d’s gift to the Jewish people 3338 years ago, the giving of the Torah. Shavuot starts on Thursday 21st of May in the evening. We will have a community Dinner that night with special guest speaker Simone Abel. She will speak about timely topics in the Syndey Jewish community especially in connection with the Royal commission.

We also have an ice cream party and hearing the 10 commandments, the next day on Friday. We encourage everyone to come and participate in this special Chag. Let’s celebrate these moments together as a community.

Looking forward to seeing you in Shule!

Rabbi Zalman and Esty