City of David Ancient Jerusalem

The night was clear, too clear.

The fighters waited for the order, hidden in ambush positions. Their hearts raced, anticipation hanging heavily in the air.

They were discovered before they could blow up the bridge. There was no choice but to charge forward with full force.

Today marks 80 years since the Night of the Bridges operation, carried out by the Palmach. Its objective was to destroy 11 bridges along the borders of the Land of Israel, isolating the country and disrupting the British transportation routes.

Nine bridges were successfully destroyed as planned, another was severely damaged, and one bridge, the Az-Ziv Bridge near Nahal Akziv, remained standing after the fighters’ position was exposed before they could carry out the mission.

The fighters charged ahead. During the assault, Yehiam was shot in the chest and fell. Attempts to save him failed, and he was killed on that clear night.

Yehiam Weitz was a courageous fighter, yet he also possessed a remarkable sensitivity and a deep appreciation for the world around him. In his writings, he wrote:

“The eyes are always filled with open landscapes and hills. And the blue of the distance, and stones, and the steps beside you. And Arab orchards, and solitary dark green carob trees, whose shade is black and inviting.”

Yehiam was laid to rest on the Mount of Olives.

You are invited to light a virtual memorial candle in his memory and in memory of the fighters who fell alongside him.

https://bit.ly/4eoTs9f

“…Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.
Though one goes along weeping, carrying the bag of seed,
they shall surely return with songs of joy, carrying their sheaves.”
(Psalms)

Rosh Chodesh Sivan.

The Festival of Harvest is almost here, bringing with it a reminder of the journey and hard work one has gone through -
and that despite the difficulty and the great effort, eventually the time of harvest arrives: the moment when everything comes together into the fruits of the work we invested in.

Wishing you a joyful Rosh Chodesh 💛

He was stormy, tough, and charismatic
(and some would say also a little violent…)

Rabbi Akiva declared him to be the Messiah King who would save the Jewish people.

His figure was mysterious, and many legends were woven around his name. But several findings discovered in the Judean Desert have shed a little more light on the man whose name has become legendary to this day.

Shimon Bar Kokhba - the leader of the Bar Kokhba Revolt.

Want to know more? Watch the full video
https://bit.ly/3QPOQB0

Megalim Institute מכון מגלי"ם 750 likes, 463 comments. "Bar Kokhba - The Revolt that Shook an Empire"

On a deserted island in the heart of the Aegean Sea stands Mordechai, an elderly Jewish man, holding a jar - the reason for his journey to the Land of Israel.

On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, 1939, Mordechai and his son Yehoshua are taken to the Sachsenhausen camp. Just a few days later, Yehoshua, only 31 years old, is murdered. For a few German marks, Mordechai manages to buy his son’s ashes in a jar.

Mordechai endures difficult months in the detention camp, but in 1939 he succeeds in securing his release with the help of an immigration certificate, and sets out on the most important journey of his life - to bring his son to burial in the Land of Israel.

Mordechai arrives in Bratislava, and from there boards an immigrant ship bound for the Land of Israel. At last, he is on the final stretch of his difficult journey.

But the joy comes too soon. The ship is blown off course and crashes against the shores of a deserted island in the middle of the sea. After days of survival, the survivors are rescued - only to be imprisoned once again in camps in Italy for years, until their liberation by the Allied forces.

At the end of five long years, Mordechai reaches the Land of Israel, the jar in his hands. He immediately ascends the Mount of Olives and completes his harrowing and determined journey for the sake of his son, bringing him to burial in the holiest place for the Jewish people - Jerusalem.

First image: Yehoshua Rabahoun, of blessed memory, courtesy of the family
Second image: Immigrant ship, Yehoshua Levy
Third image: The grave of Yehoshua, of blessed memory, on the Mount of Olives