04/25/2023 05:33:06 PM
This week Israel celebrates 75 years. Please check out our next planned CBSW trip to Israel in June 2024.
We know that Israel is going through a lot right now, some of it due to the continuing birth pangs of a relatively new country. We also should appreciate the modern miracle that Israel represents. After two thousand years of no Jewish sovereignty, Israel came into being. Most of the world did not care about Jews or a Jewish State. Nevertheless, Israel not only survived; it thrived. It became a powerhouse in the Middle East (the only way it could survive). It absorbed Jews from all over the world, most of them destitute. It survived continuing wars with its neighbors and has suffered through countless terror attacks. In 1967 it won a war but became guardians of millions of people who hated them. This has led to great resentment, some justified, but rarely understood in the context of Israel’s desire to make peace with an entity not interested in peace.
Israel has also fostered a renaissance of Jewish culture and spiritual growth, even though the orthodox/secular divide threatens to wither Israel’s foundation from within. Jews throughout the world can also hold their heads with pride, due to the flowering of Jewish confidence and agency. In short, Israel has succeeded in most Jews taking it for granted. A Jewish world without Israel would be an unmitigated disaster. Most people don’t consider it possible. We Jews do not have that luxury. Therefore, we can disagree with Israel, but we should never stop loving and supporting her. We need her and she needs us. We are united. We live in an age that our ancestors could only dream about – the Land of Israel belongs to us. If we can keep it.
