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Sermon for Yom Ha’atzmaut,
Sidra Emor
May 2008
by Rabbi Geoffrey Hyman

Let me first reflect on the 60th anniversary of Israel which is this coming Wednesday night and Thursday, with the celebration of Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day.

Our Sidra begins and concludes with the pursuit of holiness. That has been our mission throughout the ages and so it remains “to be a light to the nations of the world” - a moral torch in a world of darkness.

To aid us in this mission, we were given Israel as a land that would shine forth to be an example to all humanity. The realization of this mission is not easy and in times during our history we have failed miserably.

At the end of this week’s Sidra lies a crucial verse that sums it all up.

“And you shall be holy for me ….And I will separate you from the nations to be to Me.”

Rashi – quoting the Rabbis states: “If you are separated from the nations (in that you set an example to the world and retain your identity), then you will be to Me. Otherwise you will belong to Nebuchadnezzar (who destroyed the First Temple in 586 B.C.E.), and his ilk.

In celebrating Israel’s 60th, we must remain steadfast in our holy mission to be a moral light to the nations of the world.

We thank the Almighty that after we had become “fodder for the cohorts” of Nebuchadnezzar during the Holocaust, that we were granted the recognition of statehood in Eretz Israel. This is the land that we never abandoned or forgot, a land that we prayed for every day for over 2000 years, that G-d should return us to. A land which our “ancestors” down the ages made the challenging journey to, as did my great-grandfather R’ Simchah Khmelnitsky together with members of his family.

We live in world which views Israel critically, siding with the plight of the Palestinians and ignoring the plight of Israel in its daily dealing with terrorism on a scale that is unknown in any other country. Israel is but a tiny country the size of Wales, yet surrounded by vast Arab states which would rejoice at its liquidation. Yet it is a country whose productivity and genius is a world leader.

Yet we even have among our own people “critics” whose sympathies lie with our enemies, including Rabbis from the left, who add fuel to the hatred with their articles that appear in the Jewish press. Perhaps they are just well meaning fools but they are most certainly short-sited visionaries!

The 60th anniversary must be a time to thank the Almighty and to build solidly on the foundations of Jewish identity for the future.

May the Almighty grant our people and its land only peace and tranquillity and indeed for all humanity. Amen.