Jerusalem activist and entrepreneur Attorney Yehuda Zaretski, Founder and Chairman of the "Bridge of Gold" foundation, tells Israel National News about the special event his organization recently held.
The Bridge of Gold special event was in honor of Jerusalem. They held the event in the Jerusalem Theater with the Symphony of Jerusalem – 72 musicians – and also with the players of the Orchestra Philharmonic. They performed many famous songs together. His son Moshe Zaretski also performed.
In honor of Passover, Zaretski is distributing a special Jerusalem Haggadah.
“Because I love Jerusalem, 10 years ago we took nine photographs of people and more than 300 pictures of Jerusalem. Every place in the world, they’ll see the Haggadah of Jerusalem and they’ll see the pictures of Jerusalem. Because Jerusalem has to be in the hearts of every person from the people of Israel.”
An important part of his activism is the special international Shabbat in honor of Jerusalem that began 18 years ago. This year, more than 5,000 communities in 18 countries are participating.
“We celebrate Jerusalem. We are bringing many faces from many places and we mention Jerusalem like the center of the world, Shabbat connecting every person," he explains.
He’s also very active in terms of assisting refugees from Ukraine.
“What i did from them is I published 5,700 [Jerusalem Haggadahs in Ukrainian] for them. They will connect themselves to Jerusalem. This is a miracle from G-d because it was their time. And this is my life story.”
He’s doing all of this in the wake of his very serious struggle with COVID-19. He was hospitalized with COVID for 63 days.
“I asked G-d, please give me the chance to complete my activities for Jerusalem because Jerusalem is my heart,” he says. “I asked G-d, please give me the chance to make Kiddush HaShem (“religious acts”) in Jerusalem.”
When he recovered, it was a “gift from G-d.”
He recounts: "During the night I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t close my eyes. I asked G-d, do me a favor, give me the chance to make for my family, for my kids, for my wife, for my grandchild, for my mother… and he gave me my life again and I promised I’ll fulfill my promise to G-d to be Eved HaShem (“a servant of G-d”). Twice you gave me my life. One, in 1991 when my house was destroyed during the Gulf War and the second time now, you ask something from me.”
His mission is to take the flag of Jerusalem to all the Jewish world.
“We need to be together. When we’ll be together, we’ll win. We’ll win every time for the people of Israel,” he says.