It is easy to miss the point of Yom
Ha’atzma’ut. The main point of Yom Ha’atzma’ut is not that we were saved from
our enemies and won The War of Independence; the war actually intensified as a result
of the Declaration of Independence and only won a year later. It is also not
the Return of The Exiles, which only occurred in subsequent years, while at its
establishment there were only approximately 600,000 Jews in the new State of
Israel.
So what actually happened
on the Fifth of Iyar that merits celebrating it as a religious holiday?
A similar question could be asked
regarding יציאת מצרים. What
had been achieved at the moment of the Exodus itself? The Egyptians were not
yet vanquished, we had yet to receive Torah and we were far, far away from the
ideal of being a גוי קדוש, a holly nation.
The answer to both questions is similar – Birth. They both marked the birth
of The Jewish People as a nation.
Because we were born in מצרים we were
able to witness the final destruction of our enemy, because we were born
out of מצרים
we were able to receive Torah and enter Eretz Yisrael. The same is true
for Yom Ha’atzma’ut. Because The State was established we were able to
win the war and because The State of Israel was established hundreds of
thousands of Jews could return home.
On that Friday afternoon onתש"ח ה אייר, April 14th 1948 in
Tel Aviv, we, The Jewish People stood on our feet and declared – to
ourselves, to Hashem and to the world – “This is our home. We are back. We are
alive”. A nation was reborn. 1800 years of tears, dreams and prayers had come
to an end with the rebirth of a people, free once again to realize its communal
identity in the full faculties of a sovereign nation, in the newly formed state.
That is the significance of Yom
Ha’atzma’ut day. Everything else stemmed from that day – the military
victories, the in-gathering of the exiles, the blossoming of the desert, the flourishing of Torah study and observance, the economic boom and so much more. And, just as with יציאת מצרים, the process may not be complete. But we now know to identify
the trials and tribulations we face not merely as an exilic struggle for
survival, rather, as the “growing pains” of a nation blessed from above with
the rejuvenation of youth and vitality.
May we recognize the ברכה bestowed upon us by Hashem in
our generations. May we always appreciate the privilege we have to witness,
contribute to and participate in, the realization of the dreams and
prayers of millions of Jews over the past two millennia in מדינת ישראל today.
יום עצמאות שמח!
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