{"id":43614,"date":"2012-05-10T21:18:31","date_gmt":"2012-05-11T05:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=43614"},"modified":"2012-05-10T21:18:31","modified_gmt":"2012-05-11T05:18:31","slug":"the-miracle-of-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=43614","title":{"rendered":"The Miracle Of Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rabbi Eliyahu Safran writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

For me, Israel is personal.<\/p>\n

I was born as Israel\u2019s War of Independence raged, just weeks after the state\u2019s miraculous birth. As I lay in the hospital room with my mother, the windows shattered with the relentless attacks of those who sought, once again, to destroy us \u2013 this time not on their bloodstained soil but on our own sacred land. Once again, by God\u2019s hand, we prevailed. The few against the many. The weak against the so-called strong.<\/p>\n

My parents arrived in Palestine on the very last boat to sail from Romania. They were broken, demeaned and degraded but they were determined to find renewal in the holy land. For my family, galut and geulah are not chapters in a history book. They are real life experiences.<\/p>\n

For us, Yom HaShoah and Yom Ha\u2019Atzmaut were not mere dates on the calendar but days filled with piercing memories that called for reflection, remembrance, and, ultimately, celebration.<\/p>\n

For many years, my family was not alone in fervently claiming these dates, these searing modern commemorations, as our own. Growing up in Forest Hills, New York, I remember the crowds of Jews \u2013 all Jews, of every age and background \u2013 that came together in synagogues and sanctuaries to remember, to pray, and to promise.<\/p>\n

I remember the power those long-ago days held for those of us who gathered to commemorate and to celebrate them. But now? Many progressive Jewish communities continue to celebrate Israel, but in the majority of today\u2019s major Orthodox communities it\u2019s rare to find recognition \u2013 let alone active celebration \u2013 of these most sacred days.<\/p>\n

How do we explain this Orthodox response, or lack of it, to the state of Israel? Can any of us deny the miracle Israel represents? For the first time in two thousand years the ingathering of exiles is realized as Jews have returned home to the land promised by God. The city of Jerusalem is rebuilt. The desert once again blooms.<\/p>\n

All this on the heels of the greatest churban in Jewish history, the Holocaust.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rabbi Eliyahu Safran writes: For me, Israel is personal. I was born as Israel\u2019s War of Independence raged, just weeks after the state\u2019s miraculous birth. As I lay in the hospital room with my mother, the windows shattered with the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,18],"tags":[29305,6367,29304,3831,18854,29306],"class_list":["post-43614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-israel","category-orthodoxy","tag-forest-hills-new-york","tag-galut","tag-ingathering-of-exiles","tag-orthodox-communities","tag-rabbi-eliyahu-safran","tag-sacred-days"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t