Vampire Weekend's Surprising Jewish Stories
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Israel’s 75th birthday is a time to celebrate what we can all agree upon: Israel is an amazing place.
This week marks the 75th birthday of the State of Israel. Despite the country’s enormous internal friction due to the contentious judicial reform, Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel’s birthday, is a time to take a step back and celebrate what we can all agree upon – that Israel is an amazing place. In fact, there are many aspects of Israel that are not only amazing, but are completely unique.
Here are 14 amazing and unique facts of Israel in honor of her 75th birthday.
Israel is the size of New Jersey. The entire country fits into the geography of the United States 463 times and just into the state of Texas 33 times. In fact, there are only three States smaller than Israel: Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island.
What the physical land of Israel lacks in size, it makes up for in renown and diversity. The tiny country has four world renown seas – the Mediterranean Sea, the Dead Sea, the Red Sea, and the Sea of Galilee. It has radically diverse environments from desert area, to plush farmland, to mountains, to coastal areas. Imagine having all of those in New Jersey!
Israel has physical locations that are completely unique in the world. The lowest point on Earth is the Dead Sea in Israel which is 1377 feet below sea level. In comparison, the lowest point in North America is Death Valley which is 282 feet below sea level. The oldest active port in the world is Jaffa which is adjacent to Tel Aviv. Jaffa is over 4000 years old. The world's oldest continuously inhabited settlement in all human history is the city of Jericho.
The Jewish people have been in the Land of Israel for over 3800 years, making it one of the longest connections between a people and a land. There has always been a continual presence of Jews in Israel. Even when 99% of Jewish People were exiled from their land after the Destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians and the Second Temple by the Romans, some Jewish presence in the Land of Israel remained.
Even when 99% of the Jewish people were exiled, we always dreamed and prayed to return. Whether at the Passover Seder when we say "Next Year in Jerusalem" or facing Jerusalem as we pray three times of a day for the Jewish people’s return to Jerusalem, Israel as our homeland has always been part of the Jewish Diaspora ethos.
No people in the ancient world who were exiled from the homeland ever returned. They were assimilated into their new cultures. Not only did the Jewish people return from an exile – but they did it twice! Once after the Destruction of the First Temple and then again in the last 150 years to build the modern State of Israel.
On May 15, 1948 – the day after the State of Israel was declared – the front page of the NY Times headlined "Zionists Proclaim New State of Israel; Tel Aviv is Bombed, Egypt Orders Invasion" – what a welcome. From the moment of return, even before the State of Israel was declared, Jews returning had to defend themselves against an enemy that was greatly superior in manpower and ammunition. Not only did the Jewish people’s return after 2000 years go against the laws of history, it was a miracle that they survived!
In 1861 when Mark Twain visited the Land of Israel, he described it as "...[a] desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds – a silent mournful expanse... There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere.” Other reports confirm that the land of Israel barren and uncultivated. Jewish immigrants began returning in the 1880s and committed to cultivating the Land. Efforts began to drain the swamps and cultivate the deserts – and in a short time the modern miracle of "making the desert bloom" occurred in Israel.
In a short century, Israel has become an economic and technological powerhouse. It ranks in the top 15% of all nations’ per capita income, on par with Spain. Israel has the third highest number of companies listed on Wall Street after the USA and China. Israel has the seconds highest ranked cluster of hi-tech companies after Silicon Valley, with tech powerhouses such as Google, Facebook, IBM, HP, Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle and more all having R&D facilities in Israel.
Not only has Israel built itself into a powerhouse economically, it has used its technology and ingenuity to positively impact the world. From offering humanitarian aid when disaster has struck in countries such as Turkey, Haiti, Sri Lanka, and more; from offering environmental advancements such as drip irrigation to countries in Africa; to offering security advancements and expertise to countries all over the world – Israel has strived to encompass the Jewish idea of being "a light onto the nations".
The notion that Israel is a "Jewish State" drums up the connotation that Israelis are homogeneous. Many foreigners assume Israelis are all Jewish and of European descent. In fact, Israel is one of the most diverse populations in the world. The current Israeli population of about 9.6 million people is about 75% Jewish, 20% Muslim Arab, and 5% other religions,
Amongst the 75% of Jews, the vast majority are either immigrants themselves or second or third generation immigrants. In fact, Israel is the world's largest per capita immigrant absorbing country in the world. Since 1948, over three million immigrants have entered Israel, including approximately one million from the former Soviet Union since 1990, and approximately 15,000 Ethiopian Jews in the early 1990's. Israel's population is 10 times larger than it was in 1948, compared to the USA doubling during that time period. Many see this immigration as the fulfillment of the Biblical promise of the "Ingathering of the Exiles" – that Jews from all corners will be brought back to Israel.
Every monotheistic religion sees Israel as a holy place, with churches and mosques found across Israel. Even the Bahai religion, which believes in all monotheistic faiths, has its international headquarters in Haifa.
Israelis have excelled at modernizing themselves while maintaining deep ties to their beliefs, traditions, and heritage. While Israel bustles with light trains, hi-tech centers, and the most sophisticated security apparatuses, there are also more Jews studying Judaism in Israel than in the history of the Jewish people.
As we celebrate the 75th birthday of the modern State, let’s remember the famous words of Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion: "In Israel, in order to be a realist, one must believe in miracles."
