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These themes themselves sent shivers up my spine: the miracle of rebirth, the beauty of the land, the ingathering of exiles, a just society, the renewal of Jewish learning and language, hope and peace, and the courage of Israel’s people.
The ceremony called to mind the enormous pride that many of us felt in 1947-48, and again following the potentially devastating Six Day War in 1967. Large numbers of Jews in the world who had been insecure in their Judaism, regained a sense of belonging at both of these junctures. I personally will never forget my own family huddled around the radio listening with such hope and anticipation to the 1947 U.N. vote that created the state of Israel, or being at the Western Wall immediate following the 1967 war.
That sense of belonging – and of pride - was much in evidence at our May service, and particularly on the faces of the Sivan family from Israel who commemorated with us. (Dalit’s father - who had been present in 1948 when David Ben-Gurion first read the Declaration of Independence - read in Hebrew the end of that Declaration as he lit the last candle.) The Sivan family along with the rest of us absolutely kvelled as Brett Zwicker spoke movingly about his life-changing “rebirth” experience in Israel, and finally as we sang together Hatikvah.
The period since 1967 in Israel has been a more difficult story – indeed the Yom Ha’Atzma’ut celebration in Israel this year was a rather muted one. I’ve done more than my share of speaking and writing over the years about the challenges Israel has been facing, the misdirected departures from those founding principles and the missed opportunities (in many cases, sadly, encouraged by millenialist Christians and by reactionary elements in our own country) as well as the problems Israel has squarely and courageously faced. (In the missed opportunities, department, as you know, I’ve been yet more critical – as have my Palestinian professional colleagues – of Palestinian leaders during this period whose actions often have had the effect of pulling the rug out from under peace advocates on both sides.)
My hope, rekindled at that May service, is that the time will not be distant when the ideals of a new generation of Israelis and Palestinians, encouraged by Jewish Americans and rest of the world community, will move us from the present Middle East stalemate into a new vibrant era of peace and reconciliation – and, in the process, assure that secure and healthy future for Israel - and indeed for the entire region - which we so ardently desire.
B'shalom,
Jim
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