The city of Jerusalem is 50 today! The anniversary date has united Jews from all over the world around a significant date: it does not matter whether they live in Jerusalem or not, have been there, or are just getting there, but this city is one for everyone. And every following year, every Jew hopes to celebrate Passover in the city of seven hills in the presence of Moshiach. The Khmelnytskyi Charitable Foundation “Hesed Besht” also joined the celebration.
For those who still feel a bit wary of the words about the half-century anniversary of a city that is several thousand years old, we would like to explain that Jerusalem Day is a new holiday. It was established after the victory in the Six-Day War of 1967 and as a sign of the connection of the Jewish people with the city. In 1998, the Knesset made the holiday an official holiday.
Today, festive events were held at the Thia Community Center for two age categories. At noon, older people visited the assembly hall. Some had the opportunity to see Jerusalem with their own eyes, many, unfortunately, have not yet managed to do so. But absolutely everyone feels a historical connection with the Motherland. We talked about the holiday and, in fact, the city, shared experiences and interesting facts. However, everyone has already seen films about Israel and Jerusalem many times and it was difficult to interest people with something new. However, the team of the Thia Community Center always prepares something creative for our clients. And today, a documentary about… Jerusalem garbage was presented to the attention of those present.
At first it may seem strange, but in fact this topic is extremely fascinating. Every year millions of tourists or pilgrims from all over the world leave behind not only a spiritual heritage, but also quite real waste that needs to be disposed of somewhere. Historians who study the garbage dumps of Jerusalem can tell a lot of new things by studying the remains. And the latest methods of waste disposal prove once again that Israel is at a high technological level and cares about its citizens and the environment.
From the film, people learned what animals were sacrificed in the era of the Temples, where the notes from the Wailing Wall go, and much more. And Svetlana Shulepova, personally, took an unconventional but effective method of cleaning tiles, which is practiced in the ancient city.
At the end of the tape, the words were heard: "...perhaps garbage will become a factor that in the near future will help unite the residents of Jerusalem, regardless of their nationality and religious beliefs, in order to jointly counteract the dominance of waste..." If this were the case, everyone would really be a little happier.
At 4:00 PM, the youngest clients and madrikhs gathered at the Community Center. None of them had ever been to Jerusalem, but after 18 years, everyone will have such an opportunity. A virtual tour of the city was held for them, photos and videos of Jerusalem were shown, and many interesting facts were told. After that, those who wanted could get a portion of face painting on the appropriate topic. Today, in the creative workshops, they painted with the symbolism of Jerusalem in a wide range. The most popular symbol among the little ones, however, was the lion.
