What’s the Big Deal about a Flag Parade?

Everything has a soul. Even places have a soul. And the soul of the Land of Israel is, of course, Jerusalem.

And that’s why it has been said that in 1948, when the new State of Israel was miraculously declared as the embers of the ovens of Auschwitz were still smoldering, but with Jerusalem missing from the new borders, that the body of Israel had been resurrected but without her soul.

June 1967, Israel is attacked by its three neighbors, Egypt, Syria and Jordan and it looks like this new fledgling nation is about to exit the stage of history once again. Countless miracles transpired and at the end of six days of fighting, not only had Israel survived but its borders had tripled in size.

And the ultimate spoils of this war for survival were, of course, the return of the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount to Jewish hands.

Jerusalem, the soul of the Land of Israel, had been rejoined with her body and the Jewish people, for the first time in close to 2,000 years, were fully alive once again.

I’m sure you can appreciate, that as a new and very proud Jerusalemites, we are beyond exited to join all of Am Yisrael and to celebrate the festivities of Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) on Sunday.

It is a triumph that, until this year, we have only been able to celebrate from the bleachers. And this year, we get to play on the field.

I just can’t wait for Sunday.

But – I am learning that in Israel there is always a but- the question that is weighing on me is HOW to celebrate this treasured day. And, there is a little debate brewing within our family – to join the Jerusalem Flag Parade or not to join. I know that this seems like a pretty innocuous things to have a family dispute over. What’s the big deal about a flag parade?

Let me explain.

The parade is held every year on Jerusalem Day. The march is accompanied by dancing, singing and the waving of Israeli flags. Each year, tens of thousands of people come from all over the country and the world to march in the parade. The Flags Parade will end with a festive ceremony in the Western Wall Plaza, including prayers and a rally.

So far, nothing too controversial. Here comes the hullabaloo.

This Flag Parade, a focal point of Jerusalem Day, crosses the Old City through the Muslim Quarter before it reaches the Western Wall. Now you can understand that this is a hot-button issue in the Middle East.

One camp claims that it is critically  important to demonstrate to the world, and to ourselves, that Jerusalem is and always will belong to the Jewish people and will forever stand as our capital and as the soul of the Land of Israel.

The other side argues that there is no need to provoke the residents of the Muslim Quarter when there are alternative routes to arrive at the Western Wall. World opinion must be taken into account as well as public safety.

As a religious Zionist who believes strongly that every inch of the Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people and must be settled and protected at all costs, my natural tendency would be to side with the former view.

But I decided that I would dedicate some focused thought to the topic and to try to come up with my own true feelings on the matter without being influenced by the thinking of those who I admire (which, incidentally, is a very hard thing to do).

I want my opinions to truly reflect my most authentic values and I am trying hard to avoid the trap of group-think. So I gave it some real thought and here is what I came up with.

Of  course, it is best explained with a parable.

A young boy meets his first sweetheart in 6^th grade and they start “going steady.” Their relationship continues to develop through junior high school and high school. Still in love, they head off together to the same university and remain an item. Then, suddenly, as it has been known to happen at many a four-year institution, some jock comes along and snatches his beloved from him. Devastated and crestfallen, he vows to find a way to win her back. And, after a short time he does just that. The relationship is restored and is only stronger, more passionate and committed that it was before. After college they get hitched and spend the rest of their lives together in total devotion.

That short glitch was an anomaly, becoming almost irrelevant over time. What exactly happened, how did he lose his beloved for those few days? Nobody really knows, but it just doesn’t really matter anymore. Their love and commitment is unshakeable and their bond unbreakable.

Now, imagine, if for some strange reason, this husband decides that every year, on the anniversary of the day of his reunification with his beloved, he is going to take his lovely bride, arm in arm, and parade in front of the house of his erstwhile rival, gloating and reveling in his victory.

To me, that would be the clearest sign of his continued insecurity. If he were absolutely confident in his relationship and knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that their relationship would last through his final breath, would he feel the need to annually remind his former contender of his conquest?

Jerusalem and the Jewish people have had a love affair that goes back over 4,000 years when Abraham first arrived in these hills. Our eternal bond to this city is one of the greatest love stories in the annals of history. We have no insecurity whatsoever that we are here to stay and that Jerusalem will never be lost, that the body and the soul of Am Yisrael will never again be severed.

We should never act from a place of insecurity about who we are and what belongs to us. Only the insecure gloat and only the unsure revel.

We don’t need to gloat or revel. We don’t need to remind the residents in the Muslim Quarter that an unbreakable bond exists between us and our precious city. Doing so, in my mind, only shows weakness and self-doubt.

Of course I will be joining the celebration at the Western Wall on Sunday. I can’t wait to participate in Yom Yerushalayim for the first time as a proud Israeli and resident of Jerusalem.

But I won’t be walking through the Moslem Quarter to get there. I will walk through the glorious Jaffa Gate into the Jewish Quarter and join my fellow celebrants there. Not because I am scared. And not because I am concerned about world opinion. But rather because I am so confident in the inseverable bond between the Jewish people and our soul- Jerusalem, that I feel no need to prove it.

Yom Yerushalayim samayach!