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The Jerusalem Post noted our virtual tour of Israel’s capital in honor of Jerusalem Day, an Israeli holiday commemorating the reunification of Jerusalem and the establishment of Israeli control over the Old City after the Six Day War.
​In light of the coronavirus, Jerusalem Day May 21, a national holiday commemorating the reunification of Jerusalem and the establishment of Israeli control over the Old City after the Six Day War, will be celebrated by way of a virtual tour for those living outside of Israel.

In the past, thousands of tourists arrived in Jerusalem to celebrate the holiday, visiting the city’s famous sites such as the Western Wall, the Old City and the Mahane Yehuda market. This year, however, due to the Health Ministry’s coronavirus regulations, tourists are unable to come to the city, leading to the World Zionist Organization and B’nai Brith International to set up a virtual live tour of the city.

​”As is written in the Talmud, ‘Ten cubits of beauty fell upon the world, nine of them on Jerusalem’ and on Jerusalem Day we see the beauty of the city in all its glory,” said Yaakov Hagoel, vice and acting chairman of the World Zionist Organization.
“In order for those in the Diaspora who are unable to feel Jerusalem physically on this special day, in the re-establishment of the State of Israel, we have designed a unique live tour that will make available,to our viewers, if not to smell Jerusalem and its fragrances and pure air, then at least to see the pastoral views and stories of the heritage of Jerusalem our eternal capital, on this day that we mark the reunification of Jerusalem for eternity as the capital of the Jewish people and those in the Diaspora,” he added.

The event will be broadcast on the the World Zionist Organization YouTube and Facebook pages, Yaakov Hagoel and B’nai B’rith International on Thursday May 21, 2020, between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Israel time.

The live broadcast will last three hours and will take viewers on a tour of Jerusalem’s most renowned sites, and will also include heritage and interviews with those who fought in the Six Day War of June 1967.

“By way of the tour we wish to provide an opportunity for members of B’nai B’rith around the world and to our brothers and sisters in Jewish communities to experience this exciting city that the Jewish People have prayed for throughout so many generations,” said Alan Schneider, Director, B’nai B’rith World Center Jerusalem.

​The virtual tour will continue in the neighborhood of Rehavia, Tzahal (IDF) Square, Mamilla Mall, Jaffa Gate, The Jewish Quarter, Mount of Olives, Golden Gate, the Monument of the Injured Bird, Lions Gate, the Photographer’s House Observation Point and the Little Kotel. The tour will conclude with  singing and the blowing of the shofar in the courtyard of the Western Wall.

​Schneider added that, “B’nai B’rith began its activities in Eretz Israel in Jerusalem in 1888 with the purpose of creating a union  to promote the concept of Jewish nationalism and countering missionary activities. It is active until today and is among the Zionist Organizations that are members of the World Zionist Organization. Jerusalem Day is a significant watershed that signals the return of the Jewish people to ancestral places and that is celebrated in the shadow of the continuing struggle over Israeli sovereignty in its capital city.”