|
I3: Israel's Birth Page 1 -Introduction
Issue Navigation:
Happened State Site Navigation:
By Topic:
|
For such a young country, Israel has achieved a great deal. How was independence gained and how do we commemorate such a dramatic event?
Introduction
In the last two thousand years, we Jews have experienced very few miracles. Though some individuals have been miraculously saved, there have been no nation-size miracles, no great acts of deliverance to equal the Exodus of Pesach or the Maccabean conquest of Chanukah. Until now...
The rebirth of the State of Israel is a modern miracle on a grand scale. The Third Commonwealth of the Jewish People has returned us to the land of our ancient ancestors. Every year on Yom Ha'Atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day, Jews in Israel and all around the world celebrate this memorable moment in modern Jewish history.
When did it all start?
The story of Yom Ha'Atzmaut is a love affair between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel. Some say it began in 70 C.E. with the destruction of the second Temple in Jerusalem and the loss of sovereignty over the Land when the Jews were exiled by the Romans. Some say it began 656 years previously when the first Temple was destroyed. Others trace its origin to Jacob, who's own name was changed to Israel, creating a powerful bond between his children and the Land. Most modern Jews would probably begin the story with the covenant (pact) between God and Abraham, in which God promised the Land to him and his offspring. We have longed for Israel ever since.
The Heart of the Jewish People
Wherever the story begins, this much is true: Israel has become the centre of the universe for Jews of every generation with Jerusalem at its heart. There are literally hundreds of ways we have kept this love affair fresh in our minds, and in our hearts. When a Jew died outside of Israel, a bit of soil from the Holy Land was thrown into the grave. When Jews pray, they always face Jerusalem. At every Jewish wedding, amidst our joy, the bridegroom smashes a glass in memory of Jerusalem's past destruction. The Sages even ruled that if a man or woman wants to settle in the Holy Land, and the spouse refuses, that is sufficient grounds for divorce.
|
||
|
|||