This is the day that G-d made let us rejoice
This is the day that G-d made let us rejoice
Two years ago my parents took my family and brother's family to Israel to spend the Yom Tov (holiday) with my brother's family in Beit Shemesh.
We had the opportunity to tour the country in a way I never did when I was in Yeshiva. And for some reason I saw Israel in a new light.
One thing in particular that impressed me were the cisterns. There was a cistern on Massada. There was a cistern on Har Habayit (the Temple Mount) in Yerushalayim. There was a cistern in Zippori. (I'm sure there were others, these were just the ones I saw. All these were signs not just of inhabitants, but of society.
It was a society that destroyed and its people exiled nearly two thousand years ago.
Fifty seven years ago those people reconstituted a new society. This rebirth is something that hasn't happened any other time to any other nation in the history world. Most dispersed people lose their identities and assimilate.
Perhaps this is possible because Jews constitute both a nation and a religion. Even without the land we still have practices that allow us to maintain our identity.
But fifty seven years ago, through an unlikely combination of events - including recognition of the nascent state by the Soviet Union - a new Jewish state was founded. It is a state that has had to fight for its life since it was founded. It is a state that even nowadays must justify its existence to the rest of the world - ironically and outrageously because of the claims of organized despots and monarchs who do not rule with the consent of the governed.
The Palestinians do not simply claim Israel's land. They deny Jewish history. And usurp it for their own. (The Palestinians claim a "diaspora." They refer to Israelis as Nazis - even as they often deny the crimes of the real Nazis. A book review I read over twenty years ago noted that a Palestinian newspaper was called "Al Fajr" or "The Dawn" taking the name from a Zionist publication.)
The problem isn't one land for two peoples. The problem is that one of those people deny the history of the other people. That's because their best claim to the land is to argue that their land was taken by Europeans, not by the people who lived there prior to the Muslim occupation of the Levant. (It's funny how someone who denies a decade of Jewish history is usually considered beyond the pale; someone who denies two thousand years of Jewish history, though, is considered a partner for peace. It's also funny how Israelis are now the "occupiers" when the Muslim presence in the Middle East outside of the Arabian peninsula is the result of the Muslim occupation of 1300 years ago. Ask the Copts and Chaldeans.)
What is celebrated today is the miraculous reconstitution of the Jewish state against all odds. But not just its rebirth, but all of its accomplishments in such a short time.
Judaism has benefitted from the new opportunities for Jews of all ages to go to Israel and learn Torah. The Jewish people have benefitted from the haven that Israel provides, Jews from France, Canada, Ethiopia, Russia, Siberia, Chile Australia, South Africa, Egypt, Iraq, Tunisia, the United States and more have been gathered in to the land that their ancestors were expelled from. The world has benefitted from the many scientific breakthroughs achieved in this small country that is still under siege.
Despite its many detractors, Israel has succeeded beyond its founder dreams. It is this miracle that is celebrated today.
Crossposted on Israpundit and Soccer Dad.
Posted by David Gerstman at May 12, 2005 06:39 AM
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Two years ago my parents took my family and brother's family to Israel to spend the Yom Tov (holiday) with my brother's family in Beit Shemesh. We had the opportunity to tour the country in a way I never did... [Read More]
Tracked on May 12, 2005 06:44 AM
This is the day that G-d made let us rejoice
Two years ago my parents took my family and brother's family to Israel to spend the Yom Tov (holiday) with my brother's family in Beit Shemesh.
We had the opportunity to tour the country in a way I never did when I was in Yeshiva. And for some reason I saw Israel in a new light.
One thing in particular that impressed me were the cisterns. There was a cistern on Massada. There was a cistern on Har Habayit (the Temple Mount) in Yerushalayim. There was a cistern in Zippori. (I'm sure there were others, these were just the ones I saw. All these were signs not just of inhabitants, but of society.
It was a society that destroyed and its people exiled nearly two thousand years ago.
Fifty seven years ago those people reconstituted a new society. This rebirth is something that hasn't happened any other time to any other nation in the history world. Most dispersed people lose their identities and assimilate.
Perhaps this is possible because Jews constitute both a nation and a religion. Even without the land we still have practices that allow us to maintain our identity.
But fifty seven years ago, through an unlikely combination of events - including recognition of the nascent state by the Soviet Union - a new Jewish state was founded. It is a state that has had to fight for its life since it was founded. It is a state that even nowadays must justify its existence to the rest of the world - ironically and outrageously because of the claims of organized despots and monarchs who do not rule with the consent of the governed.
The Palestinians do not simply claim Israel's land. They deny Jewish history. And usurp it for their own. (The Palestinians claim a "diaspora." They refer to Israelis as Nazis - even as they often deny the crimes of the real Nazis. A book review I read over twenty years ago noted that a Palestinian newspaper was called "Al Fajr" or "The Dawn" taking the name from a Zionist publication.)
The problem isn't one land for two peoples. The problem is that one of those people deny the history of the other people. That's because their best claim to the land is to argue that their land was taken by Europeans, not by the people who lived there prior to the Muslim occupation of the Levant. (It's funny how someone who denies a decade of Jewish history is usually considered beyond the pale; someone who denies two thousand years of Jewish history, though, is considered a partner for peace. It's also funny how Israelis are now the "occupiers" when the Muslim presence in the Middle East outside of the Arabian peninsula is the result of the Muslim occupation of 1300 years ago. Ask the Copts and Chaldeans.)
What is celebrated today is the miraculous reconstitution of the Jewish state against all odds. But not just its rebirth, but all of its accomplishments in such a short time.
Judaism has benefitted from the new opportunities for Jews of all ages to go to Israel and learn Torah. The Jewish people have benefitted from the haven that Israel provides, Jews from France, Canada, Ethiopia, Russia, Siberia, Chile Australia, South Africa, Egypt, Iraq, Tunisia, the United States and more have been gathered in to the land that their ancestors were expelled from. The world has benefitted from the many scientific breakthroughs achieved in this small country that is still under siege.
Despite its many detractors, Israel has succeeded beyond its founder dreams. It is this miracle that is celebrated today.
Crossposted on Israpundit and Soccer Dad.
Posted by David Gerstman at May 12, 2005 06:39 AM