Our Yom Yerushalayim celebrations around the world were a MAJOR success this year.
10,000 study booklets on Jerusalem were sent around the world; 5,000 special Megillot on the Six Day War were sent around the world. Tens of thousands of people around the world were exposed to Yom Yerushalayim in a most deep and meaningful way through our programming and publications.
Here is a little taster:
UK
Mizrachi UK held a huge concert with over 800 people in attendance to hear the star singer Yaakov Shwekey. It was by far the largest ever Yom Yerushalayim celebration to be held in the UK, and the movement under the dynamic leadership of Rabbi Andrew Shaw and Josh Pomerance has been totally re-energized and put Mizrachi on the map of Anglo Jewry.
South Africa
Mizrachi South Africa organized a ‘Shabbat Yerushalayim’, where all the minyanim on the Mizrachi campus studied a new publication, “Re-Connecting the Heart”, produced by the Mizrachi World Movement in conjunction with Merkaz Halacha VeHoraah.
The booklet is 20 pages in full color, beautifully designed with a glossy laminated cover. The themed sources speak of the centrality of Jerusalem in our national story, its holiness and its principle of “כעיר שחוברה לה יחדיו” – Jerusalem’s unique potential to create unity: between the heavenly and the earthly, and amongst all the Jewish people. It also emphasizes G-d’s expectation of us to strive and yearn continuously for Yerushalayim.
They also organized a huge banquet with over 600 people attending a huge celebration of Yom Yerushalayim, featuring a concert by Chazzan Netanel Hershtik – who released this beautiful rendition of Yerushalayim Shel Zahav together with the Mizrachi World Movement – who wowed the crowds with his vocal abilities.
Los Angeles
In Los Angeles, the our reinvigorated Mizrachi branch – the RZLA – held a huge Yom Yerushalayim weekend. Featuring 4 guest speakers from Israel, and involving 5 shuls in the Hancock Park and Pico-Robertson areas, as well as local schools, there was an incredible buzz around LA.
On the Shabbat, the speakers lit up the various communities with their shiurim, and came together for an enlightening panel. In addition, the booklets “Re-Connecting the Heart” were studied throughout the city, including in the schools with hundreds of pupils.
At the main event, on Yom Yerushalayim, 400 people came together to celebrate the reunification of Jerusalem and thank Hashem for the miracles he has performed for us.
Chicago
Chicago’s RZC organized a “Shabbat Yerushalayim” which focused on Yerushalayim at 25 Chicago-area shuls, plus one each in Milwaukee and Minneapolis, with over 1300 beautiful Mizrachi World Movement produced Yom Yerushalayim source booklets distributed.
There were over 350 attendees at the Yom Yerushalayim Tefila and Breakfast Buffet with music by the evën sh’siyah band. The new, unique Mizrachi World Movement Hebrew/English publication about the miracles of the Six Day War in a Megillah format was presented as gift to all attendees. Rabbi Hillel Van-Leeuwen was the guest speaker at the event and was a guest of the RZC throughout the special Shabbat.
Australia
In both Melbourne and Sydney, Yom Yerushalayim celebrations were also in full swing.
Across both cities, special festive Tefillot took place, with special guest speaker Rav Doron Podlashuk in Sydney.
The celebrations in Australia were certainly one of, if not THE, biggest Yom Yerushalayim celebrations in history!
Canada
Rabbi Elan Mazer, Director, Mizrachi Canada:
This year’s Yom Yerushalayim events, took over the Greater Toronto Area. Mizrachi together with the Bnei Akiva Schools and various Shuls, made sure that the entire community was celebrating Yom Yerushalayim. Be it lectures, performances and dinners, 49 years of a unified Jerusalem was felt around the city.
Mizrachi invited Rav Ronen Neuwirth to be our Scholar in residence.
- The weekend began Thursday night, with a dinner and shiur for Yeshivat Or Chaim Bogrim, given by Rav Ronen Neuwirth.
- During Shabbat, 12 Drashot and shiurim about Yom Yerushalayim were given by 9 Rabbis in various shuls. Over 1500 people participated.
- Hundreds of Mizrachi Yerushalayim booklets were given out and studied during the Drashot and Shiurim
- Mizrachi Canada put out a special edition of it’s Alon Chagim, Kolot Hamizrah, for Yom Yerushalayim
- The IDF Rabbanut Choir at one of the shuls for Kabbalat Shabbat and Musaf on Shabbat gave a beautiful performance to over 800 people, who enjoyed every minute of it.
- Sunday morning brought us a beautiful celebratory Tefilah, followed by an talk by Rav Ronen Neuwirth and honoring DJ Schneeweiss, the outgoing Consul General of Israel in Ontario.
- Sunday night, starting at 5:30 pm the community got together to celebrate Yom Yerushalayim at the annual Bnei akiva Schools celebratory Dinner honoring Dov and Karen Meyer. With a concert by the IDF Rabbanut Choir and Video presentation by World Mizrachi. Over 400 people attended and each one took home the newly published World Mizrachi Megillat Sheshet Yamim.
Zagreb
Zagreb, Croatia was where Arik Speaker from Torah MiTzion was sent over Yom Yerushalayim.
Arik used the booklets and the videos that Mizrachi produced and he said:
The videos were produced to a high quality and were a great help in enabling me to give over the information and the important points.
Next Year in Jerusalem
As we all know next year is an unique milestone celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Yom Yerushalyaim since the miraculous reunification of our ancient and Holy City. We believe this provides World Jewry in general and the Religious Zionist movement in particular with a historic opportunity to connect Diaspora Jewry even deeper to Israel and Yerushalayim.
The World Mizrachi Movement is embarking on a bold project entitled “Next Year in Jerusalem” as can been seen from our logo, which aims to bring thousands of people from all our affiliated communities to Yerushalayim for a mega Yerushalayim-focused mission over next Yom Yerushalayim.
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