As Israel readies to celebrate its 70th Independence Day, I do not envy state scientists and historians.
At any point in human history, when researchers look at the Greek, Roman, Persian and Egyptian empires across time, they will all display similarities in terms of the process of their rise and fall. This is not the case with regard to the Jewish people in its history. Sometimes, it seems that the Jewish people are a tiny universe, both a master and a slave.
The Jewish nation has produced prophets whose long-term vision installed shortsighted kings, while at the same time producing magnificent works of philosophy, morality, justice, true law and the Song of Songs. What is the meaning of this diversity? Looking at it from the perspective of the ages, it is exceptional, especially when compared to other nations. It is truly a wonder.
But one does not toot one's own horn. Mark Twain once said of the Jewish people that their commercial importance, contribution to the global list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance and medicine are beyond any relation to the weakness of its numbers.
Indeed, in almost every sphere you will find the originality and forward-thinking ways that have come to characterize brilliant Israeli talents, as reflected, among other things, by the number of Jewish Nobel Prize laureates and winners of other prestigious prizes.
A Jew can doubt the importance of Israeli prophecy, but further examination illustrates how the miracle of Jewish existence complies with the ancient texts of our people, and no Jew can deny the fulfillment of Prophet Zechariah's divination: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts: There shall yet old men and old women sit in the broad places of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for very age. And the broad places of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the broad places thereof" (Zechariah 8:4).
The existence of Israel since the beginning of the return to Zion is an objective miracle in every sense of the word.
The independence of the Jewish people has yet to be completed, and much work lies ahead. However, it seems to me that the process of coming together here and the growth and prosperity of many fields are irreversible. The naysayers will be made to stand corrected at the glory of the Jewish state, the State of Israel.
