“…if I do not keep Jerusalem in memory even at my happiest hour.” (Ps. 137:6)
Whereas in the coming year (2007-2008) the Jewish People will mark the following historic events:
the 40th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem (May 17, 2007);
the 90th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration (November 2, 2007);
the 60th anniversary of the UN Partition Plan (November 29, 2007);
the 60th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel (May 2008);
WHEREAS Jerusalem from the time of the Bible was established as the political and religious center of the Jewish people;
WHEREAS during 2000 years of exile, Jerusalem (Zion) has been a guiding light for the Jews and a focus of prayer and longing;
WHEREAS the State of Israel in recognition of the centrality of Jerusalem made her its capital;
WHEREAS the pre-1967 situation, wherein Jews were denied access to the Kotel and other significant historical and religious sites, was intolerable; and
WHEREAS the book of Psalms teaches and as found in our liturgy, “When Adonai restored our exiles to Zion, it was like a dream.” (Psalms 126:1), the Jewish People realized that dream sixty years ago when the State of Israel was established;
WHEREAS in Iyar, Israel will celebrate its 60th year of independence as a democratic Jewish State in the land promised to our ancestors; and
WHEREAS Conservative/Masorti Judaism embraced Zionism early on and promoted the centrality of a Jewish homeland in Israel.