Grandma's army

Non-Jewish readers are perhaps not aware of the fact that Jews – believers and non-believers alike – are nearing the end of a three-week intensive period of Festivals. They began with the Jewish New Year and since then have run almost the whole gamut of human emotions –introspection, repentance, grief, etc. We have now reached the last festival called Succot which lasts eight days.   It is the only Jewish Festival in which we are commanded to be “happy”. In our prayers, we call it simply “the season of our rejoicing.” Another factor in which this commandment differs from others is the fact that the Torah (Pentateuch) does not elicit any reason. Happiness which is unconditional.   Happiness for the simple fact that we are alive. Another day in which we are given the chance to learn and to develop.   A grateful person is a happier one. To give thanks for everything we have, since nothing should be taken for granted: not family, not children, not parents, not ...

This year Israel celebrated the 70th anniversary of its statehood. Many, and not only Jews, have described the incredible progress and development of Israel during that period as a miracle. Looking at it objectively, it is difficult to see it in any other way. When David Ben-Gurion spoke of Israel as being The Light of the Nations the poor and arid country was barely able to sustain itself, let alone give humanitarian aid to others. Israel started off in the most humble and adverse conditions. With the end of the British mandate and the  establishment of the Jewish State of Israel in 1948 ,  a “war of extinction” was undertaken by all of Israel’s Arab neighbors. Israel’s small population then of just over 800,000 people managed not only to defend itself, but also to even conquer territory beyond the truncated partition lines allocated to it by the United Nations at the time. In addition, this mostly desert state absorbed in its early years hundreds of tho...

The prophet Isaiah said in the 8th century BCE:  “I the Lord have called to you in righteousness, and will take hold of your hand and keep you and present you as the people of the covenant , a  light unto the nations. ” (42:6) “It is too light a thing for you to be My servant, to establish the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the scions of Israel, and I shall submit you as a  light unto the nations , to be My salvation until the end of the earth”. (49:6) In his writings and speeches, Israel’s first Prime Minister  David Ben-Gurion  (1886–1973) emphasized his vision of the state of Israel as a moral and social beacon to the whole world, thereby implementing the vision of the prophets.  The selection of the Menorah  (candelabra) as the Emblem of Israel  was derived from the image of the state of Israel as a  Light Unto the Nations .   The present Prime Minister   Benjamin Netanyahu has referred, more than once to th...