By Stan Goodenough
Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children. (Isaiah 66:8)
The State of Israel was reborn as a national homeland for the Jews on May 14, 1948 – the 5th day of the Jewish month of Iyar.
An event of unprecedented importance in the history of nations, Israel’s resurrection out of the ashes of the Holocaust took place 1878 years after Rome destroyed the Second Temple, slaughtered up to two million of the Jews then living in the land, and dragged the remaining one million off into a captivity from which they were never expected to return. No other nation has survived anywhere nearly comparable an attempt (and Rome was only the first of many to try) to uproot and rub them out of existence.
Annually on the 5th of Iyar since 1949, and in spite of, or perhaps even more in the face of, the incessant violence they have had to live with since that day, Jews in Israel and around the world have joyfully celebrated the anniversary of Yom Ha’atzma’ut, their “Day of Independence.”
As on all Jewish holidays, the festivities last for 24 hours beginning on the evening of the “day before” which, in the case of Independence Day, marks the end of the annual Day of Remembrance for the fallen in Israel’s wars. That day, in turn, comes a week after Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day. Independence Day, then, sees the national mood swing sharply from mourning and sadness to rejoicing and celebration.
Year after year – notwithstanding the repeated failure of Israel’s efforts to secure peace as a nation – Jewish Israelis throw themselves into this day of celebration. Flags hang from homes and lampposts, and flutter frantically from the windows of moving cars across the country.
Colored lights illuminate the facades of public buildings. People throng the streets, listening to bands playing traditional Jewish music, watching, sometimes joining in, dance groups, nibbling on roasted corn, buying up plastic squeaking hammers with which to smack total strangers (harmlessly) on the head, and spraying cans of “silly string” over everybody and anybody within range.
Highlights of the evening are the fabulous firework displays which, in Jerusalem, light up Mount Zion to mark the start of Independence Day and, much later in the night, shower color over the downtown buildings and Old City walls.
The following day, barbeque smoke rises from parks and gardens as the Jews visit with family and friends throughout the land. As often as not, the national party extends into the second night even though Yom Ha’atzma’ut is officially over.
© Israel My Beloved
