“To everything, there is a season
and a time for every purpose under heaven…
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance…
a time for war and a time for peace”
These words, from the Biblical Book of Kohelet/Ecclesiastes, remind us that life is composed of opposite emotions and intertwined actions, and that stability and chaos are always at odds with one another.
When we think about our beloved State of Israel, we are often torn between pride and worry. Israel is our ancient homeland and America is our country, and our attachment to each can never be based only on the governing administration in power at a given time.
The polarization of politics in both Israel and America pains us deeply, but now is the time to celebrate the 75th birthday of Israel with joy, gratitude, and the perspective of a formerly homeless people for almost 1900 years.
So many of us were born after Israel became reborn. Too often, we’ve taken Israel for granted, as just a fact of life. But, in reality, the State of Israel has changed so much about World Jewry.
We feel stronger now than we did Pre-Statehood. We feel safer, as we admire what Israel has accomplished economically, intellectually, and in so many ways. We also stand in awe of how it has gathered Jews from the four corners of the earth and created a modern “Start-Up” nation.
We are glad to live in the American Jewish diaspora and, like so many groups that have immigrated to these shores, we are also grateful to have an ancestral homeland to visit and support. Our Judaism has been enriched by the rebirth of Hebrew as a modern language, and our future feels more assured because of Israel.
Yes, so many of us are frustrated by Israel’s internal politics, the rise of Ultra-Orthodox Jewish supremacy, the second-class citizenship of Israeli Arabs and the inability of Israel and the Palestinians to achieve a two-state solution.
But just as we celebrate July 4 here, even when we feel alienated by certain political figures and the many problems facing America – such as racism, anti-Semitism, gun violence, the inequality of women, the undermining of LGBTQ and reproductive rights, and so much more – we want to affirm our loving connection to Israel on its Independence Day/Yom Ha’Atzmaut.
We will celebrate at “Shabbat Family Services For All Ages” this Friday evening at 5:00 p.m. for an Israeli Dinner and at 5:30 p.m. with a joyous service of singing and stories. (In addition to celebrating Israel’s birthday, we’ll also celebrate all April birthdays for children and adults.) Click here to RSVP for our in-person services. If you want to watch on Livestream, there’s no need to RSVP – just click the link on our homepage at the time of the service or anytime thereafter.
As the Pulitzer Prize winning U.S. Poet Laureate Karl Shapiro wrote, soon after Israel became a state:
“When I see the name of Israel high in print,
the fences crumble in my flesh; I sink deep
in a Western chair and rest my soul.
I look the stranger clear to the blue depth
of his unclouded eye, I say my name aloud
for the first time unconsciously.”
Chag Sameach – let’s celebrate together,
Rabbi Arnie Rachlis
