Episode 15: Jerusalem Day, a modern redemption story

Ask Haviv Anything

Haviv Rettig Gur

History

4.9 • 640 Ratings

🗓️ 26 May 2025

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jerusalem Day falls on May 25th this year. It is the day of Jerusalem's unification in the 1967 Six Day War, and so a symbol of both Jewish rescue from the genocidal plans of its enemies, a palpable experience of strength and redemption just two decades after Auschwitz, and also a symbol of the perils and moral problems of Jewish power, the day Israel found itself ruling another people.

It is the day of the Jews' homecoming to their sacred places, but also of political grandstanding and ideological narrative-making.

Yet at its heart, Jerusalem Day is also about, well, Jerusalem, the real living city, the people who belong to it, and the grandeur of ordinary life in the shadow of great and ancient abstractions.

This episode is sponsored by Julie and Frank Cohen, who believe that this podcast is a way to teach our story, because understanding our past and present is key to building a better future.

And as has become a podcast tradition, it is dedicated to Kinneret Gat, teacher, mother, grandmother, who was killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7.

Please join me on Patreon to support this project: ⁠ www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything⁠

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠.

A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, everybody. Welcome to a special bonus episode of Ask Haviv Anything.
0:11.0	I want to talk to you about Jerusalem Day. It comes up this year on May 25th in the evening.
0:17.0	It is a day that carries a lot of political weight.
0:22.2	It marks a historical event with tremendous political consequences.
0:26.1	The Israeli capture of the old city of Jerusalem and of East Jerusalem,
0:30.1	and more largely the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan, Sinai, in the 67 war.
0:35.7	It is the day of Jerusalem's unification. It is a day that for some is the
0:41.0	beginning of a messianic era and for others is the beginning of the occupation. It's a complicated
0:46.7	day. And there's an essay that I once wrote that captures my own feelings, and I want to share
0:51.8	it with you. I come back to it every year I love
0:55.1	this day but it has to be reclaimed and it has to be clarified this episode is
1:01.8	sponsored by Julian Frank Cohen thank you to Julie thank you to Frank who believe that
1:07.0	this podcast is a way to teach our story because understanding our past and present
1:11.2	is key to building a better future. Those are beautiful words and I really appreciate it. And as
1:17.4	is traditional, this episode is dedicated to Kinaret Gat, the mother of daughter Carmel Gat and
1:26.0	daughter-in-law Yardin Roman Gat who were both taken hostage on October 7.
1:31.1	Kineret was seen in videos that surfaced in the days after the October 7 attack with their hands tied, walking alongside other elderly members of Kibbutz Be'eri,
1:42.4	as they were led by Hamas fighters through the kibbutz before
1:45.5	they were shot and killed. Her death was confirmed shortly after. Kinirate was a teacher,
1:54.6	Kinirate was a wife, a mother, a grandmother. And Kinirate famously was filmed by Hamas fighters, sticking her tongue out at them in defiance
2:04.4	shortly before she was killed.
2:07.2	A hero, a courageous woman, a caring woman, and she is missed.
	...

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