Yom Haatzmaut Project

Part of The Yom Haatzmaut Project

I'll be honest, it's taken a long time and a lot of bugging from Dan to get me to write this post. Clearly, it's not because I'm not a Zionist... (I don't think I'd be writing for Tzipiyah if I wasn't!) and it's definitely not because I don't have anything to say. It took me so long because I view Israel, and it's history, as an entity that is impossibly split up. Each event is a cause for the next; each accomplishment is a product of it's predecessors. It's really difficult for me to find any moment in Israel's history that can possibly stand alone. Having said that, I do need to answer the question. So I will.

I would like to explain what I see as the true "accomplishments" of Israel. In backwards order of precedence, they are:

4. Falafel, Beaches, Children, Heat.
These are the physical aspects of Israel. They are the smells and the sites and the sounds and the feelings that hit you in the face as soon as you step out of the Ben Gurion airport. They are the sun rising over the Judean Hills. They are the smell of the trees that line the roads into Jerusalem. They are the loud Hebrew bartering that you hear as you pass the Machane Yehuda Shuk. They are the 12 o'clock sun that melts your back when you walk through the old city. They are the taste of the Western Wall when you put your lips to it. This accomplishment of Israel is the unique sensory experience... the one that can be found only in glimpses in other parts of the world, never in such a complete way as is found in Israel.



3. Yeshivas, Books, "Little Women" in Hebrew
The next accomplishment is that of the intellectual. Israel is full of knowledge. The streets are lined with book stores, both new and used. People sit on benches and read. Yeshivas, high schools, elementary schools, universities, and preschools are packed and expanding. The fact that there are over 50 American Yeshiva/Seminaries in the Jerusalem area alone reminds us that those are not just Israeli's spending time learning in Israel. People go to Israel just to learn! They pack up their lives wherever they were living and take a year just for that purpose. Books are translated from Hebrew to other languages and back again. I even found an old and worn out copy of Little Women in Hebrew when I was there last year. The point is, Israel is a country that can't stop learning. Learning is education, and education is success. To me, this is an awesome accomplishment.

2. Shloimie, Yitzy, Chava, and Yardena.
The Rosh Yeshiva of the seminary I was in last year used to talk about how everyone in Israel is one big family. This might sound super cheesy, but put in context it makes incredible sense. People often joke about the rudeness of Israeli culture, and how the word "polite" doesn't seem to be part of their lexicon. Israeli;s are rude, they push, and they add in their own two cents, whether or not it was asked for. I have distinct memories of the lady in the Jerusalem post office actually scolding me for having carried a big box down the street all by myself, because I may have hurt my back. To me, this is what it means to feel completely comfortable with the people around me. To have the chutzpah to lecture me about carrying heavy boxes means that lady was not just a post office lady. She was someone who cares about me because we are members of the same family tribe. This family strength is felt in a magnified way in times of terror and distress. This is the emotional accomplishment of Israel. It allows Israel to be the only place in the whole world where I feel comfortable and at home with almost all of the people around me.

1. God.
The most important accomplishment of Israel (though the word accomplishment seems inappropriate in this particular context) is its spirituality. God is the spiritual connection that elevates Israel to such an astounding level. As a country divinely chosen for a divine people, Israel radiates with holiness and with pride. I believe that it is this holiness that allows for accomplishments 4, 3 and 2 to exist.


May we all have the merit of experiencing the holy Land of Israel in it's entirety, as a physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual whole. Moadim L'Simcha! -Elana