Posted on 04/26/2004 10:00:30 PM PDT by yonif
My brother and sisters of Israel, "If you will it - it is no legend." With these words, Theodor Herzl concluded his novel "Altneuland" about the imaginary, Utopian Jewish State, And with these simple words, Herzl turned his modest novel into a vision; and his image was carved forever on the heart of the nation as a visionary. - The visionary of the Jewish State. Little by little, this vision grew. First of all, with the modest, very existential, aspiration for any piece of land. A safe haven. A refuge from anti-Semitism - and this might even be Uganda. And later, returning to the source, to Zion, and to the ancient oath, which Herzl repeated: "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem - may my right hand forget her cunning"!
And the crown of this vision - was its realization; As it became reality - through heroism and self-sacrifice, On this day - fifty-six years ago. ------- But what was the revolution led by Herzl? - For the Jews had never stopped yearning for the land of Israel from the day that [as we say in the Sabbath prayers] we were exiled from our country and driven away from our land. - For the Jews used to raise their eyes to look, and even used their feet to walk, towards Zion, many years before Herzl.
Yet, nevertheless, we come to stand here by the tomb of Theodor Herzl, each year, each 5th Iyar (at twilight, between the day of mourning and the day of celebration, at the hour of the closing of the gates of tears and remembrance) - in order to raise our flag once more to the top of the mast; and to carry out this very special Israeli tradition, where the Yizkor memorial prayer and the singing of the Hatikvah national anthem intermingle and complement each other; the soft notes of the memorial tunes followed by the proud fanfare at the raising of the flag. We come back and stand here, as though we return each time to say to the visionary of the State: "See, the legend has become reality." ------- "If you will it, it is no legend."
These words have enthralled us for more than a century. These words are the pure expression of the revolution carried out by Herzl for the generations to come.
It is to this revolution in the Jewish national consciousness, in the nation 's soul, that we return and declare our loyalty year by year. And what is more natural than to do this here, on this day, by the tomb of the man whose vision became reality?
"If you will it, it is no legend."
These words beat in its heart and drove its wheels, as Zionism succeeded achieved the impossible, time after time.
When we willed it - the legend became reality.
When we willed it - the scattered exiles of Israel were gathered in. When we willed it - from a small, fearful community, we became a proud nation. And when we willed it; when we really willed it - the Land was conquered, and nobody stood in our way. -------------- But the story has not yet ended.
Even today; on the one hundredth anniversary of Herzl's death; in the fifty-sixth year of the Independence of Israel; nothing is self-evident. Even today, every day, we must continue to will it, we must continue to believe. -------------- These past years have not been easy for us. They were years of painful disillusionment, from our natural, human, and so very Jewish expectation of a little peace and quiet.
We discovered once again, and sometimes against our will, that independence is an asset for which we must pay every day anew: with work, struggle and blood.
Independence is an ongoing, demanding commitment by a nation that decides to takes its fate into it own hands. In all areas.
In the reality of our lives here in Israel, we express our independence, each day anew: - We stand together, in the face of murderous terrorism, that does not differentiate between its victims, and does not cease - but our spirit is not broken; - We courageously undertake a process of belt-tightening, of adjusting our economy to the reality in which we live despite the heavy social cost. - We are in the midst of an ongoing, historic process of defining who we are and what will be our borders.
Independence is not acquired only through battle, we cannot ensure it only by military defence, it also needs moral and value-oriented decisions, and the designing of an independent path, that is uniquely ours.
We must continue to form our own unique, independent pathway: - Through the tension between being a democratic State of Law and our duty to defend it and all its citizens; - Through the tension between our commitment to the national tradition, and the freedom of each one of us to live his life as he sees fit; - Through the tension between a free economy, and the human and Jewish duty to ensure a life of dignity for everyone; - And through the most difficult tension: between being a Jewish State, the State of the Jewish People, and being a democratic state, of all the citizens of Israel, without compromise.
The call of the Declaration of Independence continues to echo today: "We appeal . . . to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel . . . to participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions."
Indeed, the challenge of the democratic Jewish State, where both sides of this equation must exist together, is especially difficult and demanding. But this too is first and foremost in our hands; and if we will it - this too will not be a legend, and with God's help - we shall succeed.
And I will recite one final prayer, with all my heart: "Our Father in Heaven, Rock and Redeemer of Israel, bless the State of Israel, the first manifestation of the approach of our redemption. Shield it with Your lovingkindness, envelop it in Your peace . . . Ordain peace in the land and grant its inhabitants eternal happiness."
Happy Independence Day, Israel.
Mt. Herzl 5764 - Torch of the Speaker of the Knesset - Text
[Translation provided by the Israel Government Press Office]
I, Reuven Rivlin, son of my father and teacher, Professor Yosef-Yoel Rivlin, may he rest in peace, researcher of Semitic languages, and translator of the Koran into Hebrew, and - may she live long - my mother and teacher, Rachel, who today, 6th Iyar, is exactly one hundred years old;
seventh generation in Jerusalem;
descendent of the Aliyah to Jerusalem, one hundred years before the vision of Herzl, by the disciples of the Gaon, Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna;
Speaker of the Sixteenth Knesset;
am honoured to light this torch, of the fifty-sixth Independence Day of the State of Israel.
In honour of - The Knesset, the legislature of Israel, and the temple of democracy!
In honour of - the pioneers, the vanguard of those who came to settle the Land of our Fathers, who redeemed the land - from Hanita - to Kfar Darom; from Negba - to Kiryat Arba, that is Hebron!
In honour of - The heroes of all branches of the security forces.
In honour of - Jerusalem, our holy city, our eternal capital and the heart of the nation.
And for the glory of the State of Israel!
This man is on the right side in his objection to the plan of evacuating Gaza (and northern Judea and Samaria).
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