Ten Days of Gratitude – עשרת ימי תודה

It’s hard to imagine a more meaningful place to welcome Shabbat on the eve of Yom Ha’atzmaut — Israel Independence Day — than the home of David and Paula Ben Gurion in Tel Aviv. It was in that home that Ben Gurion worked on various drafts of the Israeli Declaration of Independence and it was from there, on Friday, May 14, 1948, that he traveled the short distance to the Tel Aviv Museum where, just before Shabbat was to begin, he declared the establishment of the State of Israel.

Beit Tefilah Yisraeli – Kabbalat Shabbat, Tel Aviv, April 28, 2017

This past Friday, we brought our delegation of Wise School 6th graders, who are here as part of a school twinning program sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, to the courtyard behind the Ben Gurion residence to welcome Shabbat with Beit Tefilah Yisraeli, a progressive congregation that includes contemporary Israeli poetry and song along with traditional prayers.

It’s an exciting and emotional time to be in Israel. The days from Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) through Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day) and Yom Ha’atzmaut, are coming to be known as Aseret Y’mai Toda — the Ten Days of Gratitude. It’s a time to give thanks for the gift of Jewish sovereignty — a blessing which was in no way inevitable — and for the many reasons we love this place so deeply.

Students from the Wise-Elharizi Partnership at Beit Ben Gurion, Tel Aviv, April 28, 2017

As I watch the children of our delegation interact with one another — twelve of our students hosted by twelve Israeli peers and welcomed with open arms by an entire school community – I am deeply grateful to be part of a People with a shared history and a common destiny.

Today, on Yom HaZikaron, we mourn Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror. Tomorrow — Yom Ha’atzmaut — we celebrate 69 years of Independence. Let’s give thanks and celebrate Israel for the beautiful, dynamic, and vibrant place it is. And let’s work together in partnership with our Israeli family and the Jewish People around the world to strengthen our Homeland so that it can truly become רֵאשִׁית צְמִיחַת גְּאֻלָּתֵנוּ — the “first-flowering of our Redemption.”

Shavua tov,