A Peek into Others' mind » The Muqata » July 20, 2008

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The Muqata (2 unread)

• July 20, 2008
• 21:29

  Haveil Havalim #174 is Live

   » ‎ The Muqata
  Esser Agaroth has done an exceptional job with Haveil Havalim #174. You can find it here.
  
  Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
• 15:38

  Jerusalem Besieged - 17th of Tammuz

   » ‎ The Muqata
  Till June 1967, the image of a besieged Jerusalem was not hard to visualize.
  
  Though the Jews had been evicted from the city in 1948, the underlying commemoration of the fast of the 17th of Tammuz dovetailed with a captured and barren Yerushalayim.
  
  Coils of barbed wire, occasional sniper fire, the Mandlebaum Gate, and the words of Yoram Gaon's song "From atop of Har HaTzofim" were the day to day reality.
  
  מעל פסגת הר הצופים
  אשתחוה לך אפיים
  מעל פסגת הר הצופים
  שלום לך ירושלים!
  אלפי דורות חלמתי עלייך,
  לראות, לזכות, באור פנייך!
  
  ירושלים, ירושלים,
  האירי פנייך לבנך!
  ירושלים, ירושלים,
  מחרבותייך אבנך!
  
  That was only 40 years ago.
  
  In the First Temple Era: The priests stopped offering the daily sacrifice on this day (Taanit 28b) due to the shortage of sheep during the siege and the next year 3184 (586 BCE), the walls of Jerusalem were breached after many months of siege by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian forces. In the Second Temple period, Titus breached the walls of Jerusalem in 3760 (70 CE) which led to the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash. (OU)
  
  On the radio today (IDF Galei Zahal), a Rav was called up on-air to explain about the fast day today and he listed the different calamities that befell Israel on this day. The interviewer scoffed, "So, the 3 weeks is an unlucky time for us? Do you have any other recent calamities to recount?"
  
  The Rabbi replied quietly, the second Lebanon War started on the 17th of Tammuz 2 years ago. That ended the conversation rather quickly.
  
  Flashing back to "modern" Israel, I looked back at my posts from 2 years ago during the 2cnd Lebanon War. My first post of the war started here and you can see the whole month's index here. I should really go back and index all the posts from back then -- just glancing back at them gives me a very eerie feeling, especially with the burials of our soldiers last week.
  
  May the coming 3 weeks be a time of redemption.
  
  
  Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד