Reflections for Israel's 60th Birthday

It is with great joy and appreciation that I wish all of us a Yom Ha-Atzma’ut Sameyach – a happy Israeli Independence Day as the State of Israel turns sixty today. Last Sunday a group of congregants gathered in my office to discuss what it means to us living outside of Philadelphia that Israel exists as a free and independent country. We reflected that many of us in this congregation have no consciousness of a time in our own lives when a State of Israel did not exist. We also reflected that we live in privileged and rarefied circumstances – in a country where Jews live free and prosperous and in a part of the country where Jewish identity and culture are widespread and celebrated.

Taken together, these two unprecedented facts lead to an unprecedented conclusion: we live in a community and circumstances where it is possible for us to take Israel for granted. Since Israel has been with us for as long as many of us remember and we are comfortable and privileged where we are, we could come to forget just how profoundly fortunate we are for Israel’s existence, and also how a measure of the freedom and security we enjoy is owed to that fact. We must never lose sight of the privileged place we hold in Jewish history and also of the blessings of the State of Israel: a country where we can fully live out Jewish civilization, where we can be one with our history and our people, a place that is dedicated to Jewish survival and freedom. While some of us may disagree with specific policies or positions that the government has taken, we must also take the opportunity on this Yom ha-Atzma’ut to voice our profound gratitude for Israel’s existence and strength and dedicate ourselves to working to promote its welfare and the ideals on which it was founded.

Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam she-hechiyanu, vekimanu, vehigiyanu laz’man ha-zeh: Blessed are you, Eternal One our God, the Sovereign of all the worlds, who has given our people life, sustained us and kept us strong, and enabled to reach this joyous anniversary.