There are many in this country who would love to forget the past. The past carries too many implications and, more importantly, carries too many obligations. Most of secular Israel would like to believe that their relevant history began with the creation of the state of Israel and may even include the trauma of the ovens of Auschwitz. Yet, we have merited, it seems, a new breed of politicians who find even this much history overbearing.
Ehud Olmert's Kadima party prides itself with the fact that they are not burdened by ideology or ideals. Their mandate is the here and now. Shimon Peres has consistently praised those who can forget history and "just keep their eyes forward". Israel's new defense minister is so excited by the power and prestige that has fallen into his lap by default that he has difficulty remembering that there is a past.
Is it any wonder that this government has difficulty maintaining a clear vision of the future? Without the past, there is no future.
Thirty-nine years is not a very long time for most human beings. Yet, for a country that is only fifty eight years old, wherein each year, every month and even every day carries such drama and passion, thirty-nine years becomes a very long time. Perhaps that explains how so many of Israel's leaders forget what mood prevailed over this country a mere 39 years ago.
The year was 1967, and Israel was filled with people who had barely survived the hell that was Europe a mere 22 years prior .The small, shriveled country was surrounded by an ocean of hatred and venom being spewed by all the Arab countries of the region. These Arab countries, enflamed by the hatred projected by Gamal Abdel Nasser, the president of Egypt, had become convinced that the destruction of Israel was at hand.
The residents within the pre-1967 borders - which Israel's famed orator and foreign minister, Abba Eban, called the "Auschwitz borders" - were busy digging mass graves in Tel Aviv and Netanya. All this in preparation for the onslaught that was coming their way. The World powers, as is their custom even to this day, continued their endless babble and diplomatic game-playing as the noose around Israel was continuing to tighten.
One of our neighbors in the old city of Jerusalem shared with us the story of one of her friends in Netanya during those fateful weeks.
Reuven P. was a seventy-year-old survivor of Auschwitz who had migrated to America after the Second World War and subsequently made Aliyah to Israel. He told his children that he was determined to live out the dreams of his ancestors in the land of G-d and spend his last years in Israel. As the reports from the Middle East became more frantic and threatening, Mr. P's children desperately tried to get him to return to the safety of America. He described to our friend the daily arguments, pleading and tearful requests he had to endure from his family. He explained that he understood his children, but that he was tired of running and that this was his home and final place of refuge.
Meanwhile, all around him, the hatred kept growing. Broadcasts of hatred and threats of annihilation were being transmitted in broken Hebrew from Cairo and Amman, filling the airwaves. All around the land, a thick pall of foreboding lay heavily over the population.
Yet, in the midst of those fear-filled and hot days in June, G-d produced a miracle, and the mighty armies of all the Arab countries that had amassed around Israel were vanquished. All this was done in an astonishing six days. A small but determined army attacked and beat back the Russian-equipped hordes of the Arab world. The memory of those days of fear preceding this six-day miracle, and the exhilaration that followed it, has been forgotten by a large segment of Israel's present-day population. Talk of returning to pre-1967 borders could only be possible in an amnesia-stricken people. But in those six days, all but the most stubborn were impressed that G-d wrought a miracle.
Just as the eight days of the Hanukkah miracle of oil was a Divine signature on the even greater miracle of the victory of the small band of Maccabees against their oppressors, so did these six days dispel the notion that anything in this country came into being by happenstance. In those heady days of victory and celebration, most of Israel's population rejoiced at the notion that they had been a witness to a modern-day miracle.
Mr. P. of Netanya had no doubts regarding the Divine nature of his experience. This seventy-year-old man got on the first bus that was traveling to Jerusalem after the ceasefire. As the bus drove along Jaffa Road, it broke down and all the occupants began to walk, almost mesmerized, towards the liberated Old City of Jerusalem. As they were nearing the walls, a group of Israeli paratroopers were marching towards the Jaffa Gate. These soldiers then broke ranks and began dancing through the gates. Reuven, the survivor from Europe, joined them and danced all the way to the Western Wall.
Later, he was to remark to his friends in Netanya, "I found the courage to stay in my land and I was given the zechut, the merit, to be able to join the soldiers of Zion in their joyous dance towards our holy mountain."
Jerusalem Day celebrations will be even more intense this year than in past years. Previously, they focused on thanking G-d for the miracle of reunification. This year, it will also be about drawing from the wells of that miraculous experience to gain the strength to stand firm against those who have forgotten their past. The dancing will be about the past; however, it will give strength and purpose to the present and it will light the way towards the future.
Ehud Olmert's Kadima party prides itself with the fact that they are not burdened by ideology or ideals. Their mandate is the here and now. Shimon Peres has consistently praised those who can forget history and "just keep their eyes forward". Israel's new defense minister is so excited by the power and prestige that has fallen into his lap by default that he has difficulty remembering that there is a past.
Is it any wonder that this government has difficulty maintaining a clear vision of the future? Without the past, there is no future.
Thirty-nine years is not a very long time for most human beings. Yet, for a country that is only fifty eight years old, wherein each year, every month and even every day carries such drama and passion, thirty-nine years becomes a very long time. Perhaps that explains how so many of Israel's leaders forget what mood prevailed over this country a mere 39 years ago.
The year was 1967, and Israel was filled with people who had barely survived the hell that was Europe a mere 22 years prior .The small, shriveled country was surrounded by an ocean of hatred and venom being spewed by all the Arab countries of the region. These Arab countries, enflamed by the hatred projected by Gamal Abdel Nasser, the president of Egypt, had become convinced that the destruction of Israel was at hand.
The residents within the pre-1967 borders - which Israel's famed orator and foreign minister, Abba Eban, called the "Auschwitz borders" - were busy digging mass graves in Tel Aviv and Netanya. All this in preparation for the onslaught that was coming their way. The World powers, as is their custom even to this day, continued their endless babble and diplomatic game-playing as the noose around Israel was continuing to tighten.
One of our neighbors in the old city of Jerusalem shared with us the story of one of her friends in Netanya during those fateful weeks.
Reuven P. was a seventy-year-old survivor of Auschwitz who had migrated to America after the Second World War and subsequently made Aliyah to Israel. He told his children that he was determined to live out the dreams of his ancestors in the land of G-d and spend his last years in Israel. As the reports from the Middle East became more frantic and threatening, Mr. P's children desperately tried to get him to return to the safety of America. He described to our friend the daily arguments, pleading and tearful requests he had to endure from his family. He explained that he understood his children, but that he was tired of running and that this was his home and final place of refuge.
Meanwhile, all around him, the hatred kept growing. Broadcasts of hatred and threats of annihilation were being transmitted in broken Hebrew from Cairo and Amman, filling the airwaves. All around the land, a thick pall of foreboding lay heavily over the population.
Yet, in the midst of those fear-filled and hot days in June, G-d produced a miracle, and the mighty armies of all the Arab countries that had amassed around Israel were vanquished. All this was done in an astonishing six days. A small but determined army attacked and beat back the Russian-equipped hordes of the Arab world. The memory of those days of fear preceding this six-day miracle, and the exhilaration that followed it, has been forgotten by a large segment of Israel's present-day population. Talk of returning to pre-1967 borders could only be possible in an amnesia-stricken people. But in those six days, all but the most stubborn were impressed that G-d wrought a miracle.
Just as the eight days of the Hanukkah miracle of oil was a Divine signature on the even greater miracle of the victory of the small band of Maccabees against their oppressors, so did these six days dispel the notion that anything in this country came into being by happenstance. In those heady days of victory and celebration, most of Israel's population rejoiced at the notion that they had been a witness to a modern-day miracle.
Mr. P. of Netanya had no doubts regarding the Divine nature of his experience. This seventy-year-old man got on the first bus that was traveling to Jerusalem after the ceasefire. As the bus drove along Jaffa Road, it broke down and all the occupants began to walk, almost mesmerized, towards the liberated Old City of Jerusalem. As they were nearing the walls, a group of Israeli paratroopers were marching towards the Jaffa Gate. These soldiers then broke ranks and began dancing through the gates. Reuven, the survivor from Europe, joined them and danced all the way to the Western Wall.
Later, he was to remark to his friends in Netanya, "I found the courage to stay in my land and I was given the zechut, the merit, to be able to join the soldiers of Zion in their joyous dance towards our holy mountain."
Jerusalem Day celebrations will be even more intense this year than in past years. Previously, they focused on thanking G-d for the miracle of reunification. This year, it will also be about drawing from the wells of that miraculous experience to gain the strength to stand firm against those who have forgotten their past. The dancing will be about the past; however, it will give strength and purpose to the present and it will light the way towards the future.