to take its hill. And there was another who was central in Jerusalem’s return, the man who received the command to take the city, the intelligence officer of the paratroopers brigade. He was the one who came up with the plan that put the paratroopers in place to enter the city gates. His name was Arik Achmon. And his name was also . . . ”
“Lion.”
“So the man who gave the command to take Jerusalem and the man who received it were each named Lion.”
“And the one who devised the plan that led to the return of Mount Zion was named Lion.”
“And then there was the man who, more than any other soldier in the Six-Day War, became famous for his role in the city’s liberation. He was also a colonel. He was the commander of the 55th Paratroopers Brigade, the one who charged his men to take Jerusalem, the one who led them into the gate, and the one who took the Temple Mount and then the Western Wall. His name was Motta Gur.”
“The name doesn’t sound like the others.”
“Because the name comes from a different Hebrew root. Do you know what Gur means?”
“No.”
“Lion cub or young lion. So the man who actually took the city and who led the nation through its gates was also named Lion.”
“In the vision I saw two lions made their way to the top of the mountain. Did one of them represent Colonel Gur?”
“Yes,” said the Oracle, “and the other, his intelligence officer, Arik Achmon. They were the first two to enter the gates.”
“Two lions,” I said.
“Do you remember how the prophecy began?
As the lion and the young lion . . . ” 3
“Two lions!”
“One could take the words as poetic parallelism, but the fact is the prophecy specifically identifies two lions in the deliverance of Jerusalem. And what kind of lions does it specifically identify?”
“The lion and the young lion.”
“So the two who were the first to take Jerusalem were Arik Achmon and Motta Gur. Arik means lion, and Gur means young lion, ‘the lion and the young lion.’”
“Amazing!”
“And the prophecy says that the Lord will fight as the lion and the young lion for Mount Zion and for its hill. The phrase was used to designate Jerusalem and specifically the Temple Mount. And it was Arik Achmon and Motta Gur who were the first to ascend the Temple Mount, the lion and the young lion fighting for Mount Zion and its hill. The prophecy speaks of a lion roaring over its prey, in this case the Lord roaring as a lion, in this case over Mount Zion and its holy hill. So it was Gur, the young lion on the Temple Mount, who roared to Israel and to the world the most famous words of the war: ‘The Temple Mount is in our hands.’ 4
“The day after Jerusalem’s liberation, the nation’s founder and first leader, David Ben-Gurion, walked through the gates of the ancient city. He was at that time an old man. Do you know what the name Gurion means in Hebrew?”
“What?”
“Lion cub. So as the two lions and their troops entered the gates of the city, the nation of Israel returned with them. Do you know which gate it was that the soldiers entered through to win Jerusalem?”
I was silent.
“It was the Lion’s Gate. The lions entered through the Gate of the Lions.”
“No one could have put all this together.”
“No one but One,” said the Oracle. “The prophecy says it will be as the lion, but it will be the Lord. The manifestation of lions in Jerusalem’s restoration wasn’t about lions. It was the sign from ancient times that behind it all was the hand of God bringing to pass the prophesied return and restoration, the Almighty moving . . . as a lion.”
“The next revelation would center on a man who would play a central part in the Jubilee of 1967. It could even be said that he was born to fulfill that part.”
“And how was it revealed to you?”
“Through a boy in a threshing floor. It was through him that I learned the mystery of the Jubilean man.”
Chapter 41
THE JUBILEAN MAN
I RETURNED TO the garden to find the Oracle sitting in the shade of an olive grove. I joined him there.”
“What was the central sign of the Jubilee?” he asked.
“People returning to their land.”
“Yes, that’s what took place. But what was the sign that the Jubilee had come? What was it that heralded it?”
“The sounding of the