by Scott Kahn As we celebrate Israel’s 77th year of independence, fires are burning throughout the country, likely set by arsonists. An intractable enemy, despite being militarily decimated, refuses to even consider laying down its arms, returning the hostages, and ending the war that it started. Hatred of Israel and Jews continues to rise; 53% of Americans - citizens of Israel’s greatest ally - express negative feelings about Israel. Despite almost a year of unprovoked Hezbollah bombardment of Israel’s north, displacing tens of thousands of residents, only one in five Europeans approved of Israel’s eventual military response in Lebanon; in almost all major Western European nations, about twice as many people have a negative view of Israel as those who express a positive opinion.
In Israel itself, the population is hopelessly divided. Whether with regard to the government’s conduct of the war, or the necessity of appointing a commission of inquiry to assign responsibility for the disaster of October 7th, or judicial reform, or a plethora of other issues, Israeli citizens are seeing eye to eye less and less. And of course, the continued refusal of the Chareidi political and religious leadership to even consider sharing the national military burden is a moral stain on the religious world that contributes mightily to the societal division.
Yet this morning, I did not say the tachanun prayer, I recited chapters 113-118 of Tehillim1, and said prayers of gratitude to God. Yom HaAtzmaut remains a day of intense celebration, and the State of Israel, despite its many problems, endures as a living sign of God’s love and involvement in our lives.
Our God is called Elo-him Chaim - a living God - and we, as His people, are compelled to embody life. And Israel, I am convinced, is the most alive society on planet earth2.
The Jewish people survived over the centuries against all odds, and Israel’s determination to survive and thrive today represents this fundamental Jewish principle. As Douglas Murray explained two days ago in an interview with Bari Weiss, Israel’s enemies understandably believe that Israel is more vulnerable than other Western countries, given its relatively small population and its being an outpost of democracy surrounded by hundreds of millions of people who want it wiped of the face of the earth… but they nonetheless chose the wrong adversary because Israel embodies the words of the Psalmist, “I will not die, but I shall live!”3 For that reason, he concluded, Israel will never be destroyed.
Israel is a country that personifies life. It has a first world economy, while sporting a population increase generally associated with third world countries. The Central Bureau of Statistics announced two days ago that Israel’s population has just passed 10 million - twelve times its population in 1948 - with a growth rate over the past year of approximately 1.5%. Compare this to the annual population growth in the United States, which is less than .5%, or in Europe, which is declining in population.
Will this growth cause problems? Certainly. Does it present opportunities? Absolutely.
Even Israelis may be unaware of the dynamism of the country’s growth. According to current trends, the combined population of the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem metropolitan areas will likely reach approximately 11 million by 2050; that would be larger than any combined statistical area4 in the United States today except for New York and Los Angeles.
Anyone who drives through central Israel is inevitably struck by the constant evidence of massive construction projects. In 1965, Israel’s first skyscraper, the Shalom Meir Tower, was completed; it remained Israel’s tallest building until 1999. Today, it is eightieth, with 76 taller buildings in the greater Tel Aviv metropolitan area alone, all of them built in the past 26 years.5 19 of Israel’s tallest 23 buildings have been completed in the past nine years; 35 of its tallest 38 skyscrapers have been built in the past fourteen years.6 Given Israel’s combination of population and economic growth, along with a relative scarcity of land, this trend will obviously continue; indeed, there are plans for new buildings that will dwarf Israel’s current skyscrapers, including a 120 story tower planned for Ramat Gan which would be taller than all but one building in the United States.7
This is just one indicator of the incredible vigor that is embodied by Israeli society today. And in the midst of our many problems, it’s too easy to lose sight of this improbable reality.
How, then, should we relate to our many problems? If the State of Israel demonstrates God’s redemptive hand, then why shouldn’t Israel also demonstrate an upward trajectory in all areas - social, religious, and economic? Why, in other words, do so many problems persist?
While no one can decipher the divine mind, the Torah itself, according to Rabbi Yoel Bin-Nun, offers a remarkable explanation.8 The Exodus from Egypt is commemorated during the seven days of Passover - or, more accurately9, the seven days of Chag HaMatzot, the holiday of eating matzah. Rabbi Bin-Nun notes that the primary religious obligation of these seven days is the prohibition of eating and owning chametz, or leaven; eating matzah is only obligatory on the first night of the holiday.
What is the nature of chametz? Rabbi Bin-Nun demonstrates that the Torah sees leaven as a symbol of having reached a destination, or achieving a goal. Matzah, in contrast, represents incompletion, and the difficulties inherent at the beginning of a long journey. For this reason, the seven days of Passover are both the days we commemorate as Zman Cheiruteinu, the time of our freedom, and also the days that we acknowledge that freedom from Egypt was only the first step in a long process of redemption. We are forbidden to eat chametz on these seven days, because we dare not assume that achieving freedom is an end in itself. Only on the holiday of Shavuot do we offer a sacrifice of leaven, indicating that at long last we have reached the goal for which we had been striving.10
Because the Exodus from Egypt is the model for all future redemptions, Rabbi Bin-Nun asserts, the message of matzah applies today, as well. The road between freedom and salvation is long and difficult - a road of matzah rather than of chametz.
Those who denigrate the State of Israel because it is imperfect and, accordingly, cannot possibly be redemptive, ignore the Torah’s message about matzah; while those who pretend that the State of Israel is already perfect are, in essence, eating chametz during the seven days of Passover.
The State of Israel is 77 years young - older than most of us, but merely a child in the history of nations. The amount that it has accomplished, with God’s constant help, is absolutely astounding - and the amount it will inevitably accomplish in the coming years will surprise us even more. It is the most alive nation in the world, and demonstrates the continued involvement of the God of life in the life of the Jewish people. The knowledge that we are living in this wonderful land at this providential time should fill us with wonder and gratitude - and the fact that it is not yet perfect demonstrates that the redemptive process outlined in the Torah remains in force today as it did three thousand years ago.
Yom HaAtzmaut Sameach - have a happy and meaningful Independence Day!
This formulation is deliberate. I did not say “Hallel” - meaning, with a beracha - not because of any doubts about the requirement to thank God for giving us the State of Israel, but because of the technical rules of when Hallel is mandated by Jewish law. Based on my study of this topic, I think that reciting Hallel on the fifth day of Iyar is halachically problematic. Those who suggest that not reciting Hallel on Yom HaAtzmaut necessarily indicates ambivalence towards the State of Israel are similar to those who say that not saying Hallel on Rosh Hashanah reveals ambivalence toward that holiday; both cases involve technical questions regarding Hallel, not about the importance of the holiday in question. While an individual who has a negative attitude towards the Israel will obviously not recite Hallel, a person who believes wholeheartedly that the State is the first flowering of the ultimate redemption may still argue that Hallel, which is only said under specific conditions, is unwarranted on Yom HaAtzmaut. It is a halachic question, not a way to measure someone’s Zionist bona fides.
I once read this description of Israel in an in-flight magazine as I was flying somewhere in the United States. It made an immediate impression and rings as true today as it did then.
Tehillim 118:17
A combined statistical area is a metric used by the United States Office of Management and Budget to describe metropolitan areas that are associated with one another, like New York City and Newark, Los Angeles and Long Beach, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, and San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose.
See his Nes Kibbutz Galuyot (Heb.), pp.71-73.
Passover is the colloquial term used for the holiday, but the Torah itself calls these seven days Chag HaMatzot. Passover, or Pesach, begins at noon the day before Chag HaMatzot, and continues through the following morning.
Rabbi Bin Nun explains that Shauvot is both the day of receiving the Torah, as well as Yom HaBikkurim, the holiday of first fruits. Thus Shavuot is the culmination of the freedom of Passover both in terms of receiving the Torah, and reaching the Land of Israel.
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