Customs Like all Jewish holidays the festivities begin on the evening of what Westerners would call the day before.
Bands play patriotic songs, some old traditional Jewish melodies, some new Israeli compositions.
It seems to be just one of those things that somebody started one year and it caught on and became a tradition. Of course, there are fireworks, too, and a joy to watch over the flood-lit walls of the Old City. The following day there are speeches, parades and barbecues. Although never mandated as a holiday in Scripture, the return of Israel to her ancient land is loaded with significance to those who believe the Bible. The relationship of the people of Israel to the promised land is a recurrent theme throughout Scripture.