I am reading the book Israel: “A Concise History of a Nation Reborn” by Daniel Gordis.
I’ve prepared this summary of the founding of Zionism, which I have briefly summarized above.
Hope this is helpful to those interested in the origins of the founding of the modern State of Israel.
(Credit Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
Thought this was so cool…
One of my friends from synagogue has an amazing replica of the letter From President Harry S. Truman recognizing the the State of Israel (with the President’s last-minute hand-written edits on it):
It reads:
“This Government has been informed that a Jewish state has been proclaimed in Palestine, and recognition has been requested by the provisional Government thereof.
The United States recognizes the provisional government as the de facto authority of the State of Israel.”
Harry Truman
Approved May 14, 1948″
And hence the Jewish people went from almost 2,000 years in exile and persecution–culminating in the genocidal Holocaust that wiped out 6,000,000 Jews–to be followed by the founding of the State of Israel and the keeping of G-d’s promise in the Bible:
Genesis 15:18:
“On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates.”
Deuteronomy 30:3
“Then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.”
We are living through historic times!
Now the Headquarters of the State Department is named the Harry S. Truman building…how fitting for all our diplomacy to be called for the President that recognized the State of Israel, as the Bible said.
Then this weekend, I was truly surprised and humbled when another friend from synagogue said that he thinks with all my passion and caring for the United States, Israel and G-d that I could be the U.S. Ambassador to Israel…I couldn’t have be more moved by these lovely sentiments.
As a child of Holocaust survivors and a person of faith who believes deeply that we are witnessing the prophecies of the Bible literally being fulfilled and that we are in the time of the great redemption, I have a vision that we are ushering in the coming of the Messiah and that there will be peace in our lands and enlightenment of G-d upon the Earth.
I hope and pray every day for it to be. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
We had a beautiful Shabbat service today at Magen David Synagogue.
It was in honor of Yom Yerushalayim, which starts tonight.
The day commemorates the reunification of Holy city of Jerusalem after the 1967 War.
The Rabbi read from Naomi Shemer’s poetic song called, “Jerusalem of Gold.”
And then we all sang the song together…
“Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light,
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.”
What was amazing to learn was that Naomi Shemer wrote this song in honor of Israel Independence Day (Yom Ha’Azmaut) three weeks before the 1967 War and reunification.
She later added a stanza to turn the song from purely one of the longing for the holy city to one that rejoices in being reunited with it.
Some people from the shule who actually fought in the 1967 War were called up to the bimah, in front of the Torahs, to recite the Psalms and lead us in joyous and moving prayer for the Holy Land of Israel.
After almost 2,000 years of exile, G-d fulfilled his promise to the Jewish people.
As the Prophet Amos said (9:14-15):
“‘I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land that I have given them,’ says the Lord your G-d.”
And as Prophet Ezekiel said (37:10-14) and (37:21-22)
“Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesize and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign L-rd says: O my people, I am going to open up your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel….I will put my spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land…”
[Note: Israel was reestablished in 1948 just three years after the end of the Holocaust where six million Jews perished.]
“I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them, and there will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.”
We are truly living in miraculous times when the words of the prophets are fulfilled, and there is not only a State of Israel, but a united Jerusalem of gold, of bronze, and of light. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
This is a wonderful, moving music video by Israeli composer Asaf Avidan, remixed by German DJ–the song is called One Day/Reckoning (Wankelmut Remix)–it has topped the music charts across Europe.
The reframe:
“One day baby, we’ll be old
Oh baby, we’ll be old
And think of all the stories that we could have told.”
On a simplistic level, this music video is about two lovers torn apart and wondering how they’ll look back one day and imagine what if only they had been able to make things work.
On a deeper level, perhaps this music video is a representation of the Israel and German who produced it–more than six decades after The Holocaust and the murder of 6 million Jews by the Germans and the feelings of lose and of what could’ve been instead.
“No more tears, my heart is dry
I don’t laugh and I don’t cry
I don’t think about you all the time
But when I do I wonder why”
Why the murder of six million men, women, and children–helpless–shot, starved, gassed, burnt in the ovens, electrified on the fences, attacked by dogs, and experimented on by sadististic scientists?
“We can’t cry anymore, the heart is dry.”
As time passes and we age–we think what could have been if we were allowed to live in peace –“think of all the stories we could have told.”
Now in Israel, again Six million Jews living in the Middle East, the fulfillment of the promise by G-d to Abraham, the return to The Promised Land.
But the Middel East is composed of more than 20 countries and contains 20% of world’s Muslim population or has roughly 315 million Muslims. In some areas, fundamentalism has taken root, and it is a volatile and dangerous neighborhood to live in.
Missles fly to Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem and and the people of the Holy Land take cover in bomb shelters as thousands of missiles threaten them.
In modern history, Israel has lost over 22,000 soldiers,with another 75,000 wounded, and there have been about 4,000 civilian victims of terror attacks.
To put this in the perspective of a country the size of the U.S., this is the equivalent of us losing more than 1.1 million American soldiers, having almost 4 million wounded, and another 200,000 civilian victims of terrorism–it’s unthinkable!
“I don’t laugh and I don’t cry”
Now Israeli’s are blamed for defending their small country and the remnants of their people from being driven into the sea by those surrounding them on all sides.
“Here I go again, the blame
The guilt, the pain, the hurt, the shame
The foundering fathers on our plane
that’s stuck in heavy clouds of rain”
Next is Iran who threatens to wipe Israel off the map and is rushing to develop the nuclear weapons to accomplish their malevolent goals.
“I don’t think about you all the time
But when I do I wonder why”
Why won’t you let us just live in peace–leave us alone, once and for all.
“One day, we’ll be old
Oh baby, we’ll be old
Think of all the stories we could have told”
If only, all could live and let live–think of all the better stories we could tell and all the lives not lost, and all the promise of a better future.
andyblumenthal 