TEMPLE HIGHLIGHTS | RABBI'S MONTHLY COLUMN

We celebrate Israel's 60 year journey of indescribeable achievements and courage

From the study of Rabbi Stern

In honor of our celebration this month of Israel’s sixtieth anniversary, I bring this description from Itai Tennenbaum’s Living the Dream:

On May 12, 1948, the National Council of the Jewish community in the Land of Israel met in Tel Aviv to consider whether, after almost two thousand years, the Jewish people were ready to seize their own destiny…Was the time right for a Jewish State?

Moshe Sharett reported on his meeting with the American Secretary of State, George Marshall. Marshall described the situation as “hopeless.” On November 29, 1947, the United Nations had agreed to partition the British-controlled land of Israel (called Palestine) into two states, Jewish and Arab. The Arab world rejected any idea of a Jewish State and any attempt to create one would be met by an immediate invasion by their armies…Marshall was emphatic that the Jews could not survive such an invasion. The British were due to leave Palestine at midnight on May 14. The decision had to be made now as to what would happen after the British withdrawal.

Yigal Yadin, the commander of the first Jewish army since the Bar Kochba revolt in the second century, spoke. He estimated the chances of winning a war to be, at best, 50/50… on the heels of the Holocaust, how could the Jewish people afford to risk 600,000 additional Jewish lives? Then, all eyes focused on the “old man.” David Ben-Gurion, head of the National Council, had lived his life for this moment. “It’s now or never,” he shouted. There would be no second chance. After the Holocaust, there needed to be a Jewish State. Despite the risks, the Jewish people must and will have the strength to face the coming struggle. The vote was called: six in favor, four opposed. By the narrowest majority, there would be a Jewish State.

At 4:00 P.M., over two hundred people crammed into the Tel Aviv Art Museum’s central hall. People as diverse as the nation, religious and secular, Jews from all over the world, gathered together as one. Ben-Gurion rose to speak under a picture of Theodore Herzl, the man who had dreamt of this moment when he founded modern Zionism just fifty-one years earlier. Ben-Gurion read from a simple typed page: “In the Land of Israel the Jewish people came into being. In this land was shaped their spiritual, religious and national character…it is the national right of the Jewish people, like any other people, to control their own destiny in their sovereign state.” As silence enveloped the room, he continued: “Accordingly, we…by virtue of our natural and historic right…do hereby proclaim the establishment of a Jewish State in the Land of Israel, to be called Israel.”

As Ben-Gurion finished, Rabbi Maimon…rose, his voice quivering with emotion: “Shehecheyanu, vikiyemanu, v’higianu lazman hazeh.”

What a remarkable sixty years it has been – of indescribable achievement and courage, of wars and lives lost and won, of the struggle for security and the quest for peace. Of Israel as a beacon of hope and strength to Jews all over the world. Of learning to live with Arab neighbors, and coming to terms with the Palestinian right to self-determination. Of vibrant Jewish culture in music and art and literature. Of families who play at the beach and shop at the market and send text messages to their kids’ cell phones. Of the role that Reform Judaism will play as Israelis define Jewish identity in the 21st century. Of the quest for justice within and beyond Israel’s borders.

In the coming year, we will be celebrating Israel’s anniversary in rich and varied ways – by building our partnerships with Israeli Reform congregations and other institutions, through programs and classes, through a multi-generational congregational trip Rabbi Hayon is leading in December of 2008, and a trip for adults that Nancy and I will lead in the spring of 2009. But for now, we take a moment to absorb the drama, the anxiety, the exhilaration, and above all, the hope of that Friday afternoon in May of 1948. The blessing spoken then, and the blessing spoken still: “Blessed are you, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, for giving us life, for sustaining us, and for enabling us to reach this time”–of complex realities, of stubborn hope, of enduring relationships, of an Israel reborn in blessing in this season of celebration, and in every day.