Jerusalem Day/Ascension Day

This is intriguing...

I have discovered that this year, Yom Yerushalayim, or "Jerusalem Day" in Israel, the 28th day of Iyyar, begins on the eve of June 1, 2000, which is the Ascension Day of our Lord, according to my Jewish calendar.  I believe Ascension Day is actually Iyyar 27 or 28 depending on whether you start counting the 40 days from the resurrection on Saturday, 17 Nisan (April 22), as some do, or Sunday, 18 Nisan (April 23).

A Jewish Web site says, "Jerusalem day is a new holiday in Israel. This day was declared after the liberation of the eastern part of the city (mainly the Old City and the Western Wall) from the Jordanians during the SixDay War, on 7th June 1967 (28th day of the month of Iyyar). The official unification of the city was announced 20 days later when, on 27th June, the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) proclaimed by law, the unification of the two parts of the city under Jewish rule. The 28th of the month of Iyyar became an official holiday and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel order special prayers on this day. The holiday is celebrated all over Israel and in the diaspora with special open ceremonies in schools and educational institutions." See http://www.ort.org/edu/festivals/jerusalem/.

Iyyar 28, which was June 7 in 1967, is one of the most prophetically significant days in all history, fulfilling at least in part Luke 21:24. That it adjoins, or overlaps, with Ascension Day, when Jesus was raptured into the clouds (Acts 1:9), foreshadowing our own rapture, seems prophetically profound.

Of course, on the Jewish calendar, the two dates adjoin or overlap in the month of Iyyar every year, but most of us Gentiles have only thought of Ascension Day this year in terms of the Gregorian calendar.