Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participated last night in the festive ceremony to mark Jerusalem Day, which is traditionally held at the Merkaz HaRav yeshiva.
""We mark this date on Iyar 28, 5727, and this date is especially significant in this place, because on Iyar 28, 5724, 63 years earlier, Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak HaCohen Kook, the late founder of this important yeshiva, Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav, immigrated to Israel. I feel at home here because Rabbi Kook had a tremendous influence on my grandfather, Rabbi Natan Milikowski. He drew inspiration from him, and my son drew endless strength from him.".
Rabbi Kook eulogized my grandfather and I also find another connection, because your father Rabbi Avraham Shapira, zt"l, used to tell me how, as a little boy in Jerusalem, he would go to hear my grandfather preach about Zionism, about the Land of Israel, about Jerusalem, about the return to Zion. He told me that he was a great orator. I feel at home here, this is my home.
"Rabbi Kook, his special spirit that pulsates in us, this spirit had something special about it. Rabbi Kook was a great Zionist. He was a true messenger of history. I see in him the embodiment of a prophet who came to comfort, came in our generation, came out of the pages of the Bible.".
From Zion you will go forth.
Netanyahu also spoke about the development of the city: "You know, as Prime Minister, I am very busy in Jerusalem, paving roads, digging tunnels, you see the enormous work on the road to Zion, in Mevaseret Zion, bulldozers digging the paths to our capital and within our capital, and we are concerned with the nurturing and prosperity of Jerusalem, and there is great work. Jerusalem is a huge development.
"Who remembers it then, immediately after the Six-Day War, not exactly a small village, but not a large volume, and today Jerusalem is a large volume, standing in its glory. Jerusalem is Beit Hakerem, it is Kiryat HaYuvel, it is Har Homa, which I had the privilege of building as Prime Minister in my first term, our southern gate, and Jerusalem is factories, including advanced technology factories: software will come out of Zion and it will go out to the whole world. Jerusalem is all of these things.".
The Prime Minister also mentioned his great commitment to the unity of the city: "And since we believe that our capital is the heart of the nation, it must be connected, as the rabbi said, it must be connected to the great soul of Netzach Israel, to the Torah and to the spiritual treasures created by our sages throughout the generations. We guard our heart, and we will never cross our hearts, ever.".
""I am here tonight to rejoice with you in the joy of Jerusalem. 'Rejoice Jerusalem and let all her lovers rejoice in her,' said the prophet Isaiah. I am here to strengthen your hands in continuing to be diligent in studying the Torah. I want to wish you a happy holiday, a happy holiday for Jerusalem, a happy holiday for the entire people of Israel.".
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