A TIME TO SPEAK
Vol. III:6 (No. 30)
June 2003 - Sivan 5763
THIS IS A STIFF-NECKED PEOPLE (Exodus 32:9)
Israel is one of the smallest countries in the world in size, and it numbers
about .0001 percent of the world's population.
From one viewpoint, especially held and expressed by foreign governments,
international organizations, academia, and much of the news media, Israel
is the foremost perpetrator of mischief in the world, and the gravest threat
to the world's well-being.
From another viewpoint, Israel is the target of obsessive hatred, aggression,
terrorism, boycott, false accusations, slanders and hypocritical demands.
From either viewpoint, the focus is on war, violence and controversy, as
though nothing else were going on in Israel and there were nothing else to
note or report about Israel.
In fact, a great deal else is going on.
In the midst of the dangers and losses and grief imposed on them since the
first day of renewed nationhood, Israelis pursue --
-- ingathering of the exiles
-- restoration of the land
-- scholarship and higher learning
-- science and technology
-- medicine
-- literature and the arts
-- sports
1] HOMECOMING
He will hold up a signal to the nations,
And assemble the banished of Israel,
And gather the dispersed of Judah,
From the four corners of the earth.
-- Isaiah 11:12
When Israel declared its restored independence in 1948 -- with Egyptian bombs
already falling upon it -- it numbered 640,000 citizens. Now the population
of Israel is close to 6,600,000. (Of this figure, some 19 percent who are
not Jews have all civic rights and enfranchisement.)
Close to 3,000,000 Jews have been ingathered from a worldwide Diaspora. Many
of them were:
-- Survivors of the hell-fires of Europe.
-- From the ancient Jewish communities of the Middle East and
North Africa
that escaped from or were cast out by Arab regimes
-- The resolute who broke through the Iron Curtain of the former
Soviet Union and its satellites
-- From long isolated Jewish communities of Yemen, Ethiopia and
India
-- Drawn by love of Zion
from the comforts of the Americas
Hundreds of thousands arrived penniless, robbed of all material possessions
and often of all kin, many of them broken in health. They were welcomed,
cared for and absorbed into the society of Israel -- without help from any
United Nations agency.
2] THE LAND
The arid desert shall be glad,
The wilderness shall rejoice
And shall blossom like a rose
It shall blossom abundantly.
Isaiah 35:1
They shall plant vineyard and drink their wine
They shall till gardens and eat their fruits
-- Amos 9:14
The biblical Land of Milk and Honey was for centuries neglected and abandoned
by a succession of foreign conquerors to whom it was a minor subject province,
barren and desolate, scarcely populated and little cultivated.
From the 1880s onward, Jewish pioneers drained swamps, cleared away rocks,
and carried in water to redeem the Land acre by acre. Often, as in the time
of Nehemiah, they had to work while they carried both a tool and a weapon.
Israel is an arid country, and much of it is desert, rocky and mountainous,
that cannot be made arable. Yet with innovative techniques of agronomy and
horticulture, and the construction of a National Water Carrier for irrigation,
it now produces an abundance of milk and honey, fruits, vegetables, grains,
dairy products, and flowers.
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Sde Boker, in the northern Negev, is the center for institutes and schools
dedicated
to arid zone research, working to device ways to make deserts indeed blossom.
Scientists and students come here from many countries, and learn the techniques
that
help to make their own lands blossom.
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Israel has been wine country since biblical times. A modern winery on the
Golan Heights displays ancient stone carvings found nearby that attest to
Jewish vintners in this place more than 2,000 years ago.
Revived cultivation of grapevines and winemaking was sponsored by Baron Edmond
de Rothschild, in the settlements he fostered. Now several regions of Israel
produce a spectrum of wines, from table wines to fine vintages.
3] SCHOLARSHIP AND HIGHER LEARNING
I set my mind to study and to probe with wisdom
all that happens
under the sun.
-- Ecclesiastes
1:13
Israel ranks first in the world in the percentage of citizens who hold a
university degree.
Major institutions of higher learning are:
-- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem -- that houses the National
Library
-- Tel-Aviv University
-- Bar-Ilan University (in Ramat-Gan)
-- Haifa University
-- Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (in Beersheba)
-- The Haifa Technion for advanced studies in technology
-- The Weizmann Institute (in Rehovot) for advanced studies in
science
named in honor of Chaim Weizmann, first President of Israel and himself
distinguished as a chemist.
This nation of 6,000,000 also has at least twenty colleges, that give Bachelor
of Arts degrees, and many institutes for professional and vocational training.
Yeshivot for religious studies are, naturally, more than bountiful.
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The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, founded in 1925, built its campus on
Mount Scopus.
During the War of Independence in 1948, Jordan laid siege to Mount Scopus
but could
not overcome the small Israeli garrison that defended it.
Under the terms of the Israel-Jordan Armistice of 1949, Israel held Mount
Scopus, while
Jordan was left in control of the areas all around it. Israel was guaranteed
access to Mount
Scopus, but Jordan refused to honor that guarantee. No international body
complained.
Cut off from its campus, The Hebrew University built a second campus in another
part
of the city. In 1967, access to Mount Scopus was restored. So, The Hebrew
University,
with its many libraries and research institutions, now has two campuses in
Jerusalem.
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4] SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
In proportion to its population, Israel contributes the highest number of
research papers to scientific journals worldwide.
[Comment: This standing has not thus far been affected by the faddish editors
of scientific journals in Great Britain and the EU who now refuse even to
open an envelope received from Israel much less read the contents.]
Innovations, designs and developments imported or adopted on several continents
include:
-- Solar energy installations
-- Desalination plants
-- Electronics
--Telecommunications technology, used in the Windows computer
systems, the AOL Instant Message software, voice mail, and cell-phones
In aeronautics, Israel Aircraft Industries has supplied customers worldwide
with its unique designs and developments -- especially in the fields of
-- security technology
-- radar systems
-- signal and image gathering
-- advanced detection and sensors
-- early warning and protective systems
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Hi-tech items and components designed and made in Israel are now distributed
so
widely that officials in Arab states are hard pressed to make sure that none
infiltrate
their domains via inclusion in products assembled in the United States and
elsewhere.
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5] MEDICINE
I am going to bring her [Judah] relief and healing . . .
-- Jeremiah 33:6
Jews have been prominent as physicians since the Middle Ages, among them
the supreme scholar Rabbi Moses ben-Maimon, and the supreme poet Yehuda Ha-Levi.
Even rulers who persecuted Jews sought the services of Jewish doctors.
The quality of medicine in Israel now ranks high by world standards, and
it has its most lavish ratio of physicians per capita -- approximately one
doctor for every 450 people.
At the numerous hospitals, medical schools and research institutes, there
are a steady stream of discoveries and developments in medicine. New discoveries
have been made and new procedures introduced that improve both diagnosis
and treatment, for the healing of many of the ills the flesh is heir to.
There are four Schools of Medicine, among them the Hadassah-Hebrew University
School of Medicine that also maintains the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem,
the foremost medical center in the Middle East, and one of the foremost in
the world.. The Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus, like the Hebrew University
campus, stood cut off and empty during the years of the Jordanian occupation,
and a second hospital complex was built in another part of the city.
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Hospitals in Israel today are heavily stressed and strained to deal with
the victims of Arab terror
attacks. Doctors, nurses, therapists and others have had to learn how to
cope with injuries never
known before. For example, the kind inflicted by bombs that fire steel bolts
dipped in rat poison.
Hospitals in Israel provide full and equal care for Arab patients, some of
whom come from
neighboring (hostile) lands for special treatment.
A doctor in a Jerusalem hospital noted that when Jewish victims of terror
attacks are brought in
some Arab patients cheer. She admitted, "It gets hard when they cheer".
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4] LITERATURE AND THE ARTS
Culture in Israel is a mosaic of the ancient and the modern, the Western
and the Eastern, with every Jewish community bringing home the traditions
they had developed in arts and crafts.
Books:
Of the making of many books there is no end.
-
- Ecclesiastes 12:12
Israel ranks second in the world in the publication of new books.
These include works of religious and secular scholarship and research, history,
fiction, plays, poetry, polemics, and politics. There are also many translations
from English and other languages, from classics to current best-sellers.
Museums:
Israel ranks first in the world in the number of museums in relation to the
size of the population. There are hundreds of them, from the complexes of
the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and the HaAretz Museum in Tel-Aviv, through
single-rooms exhibits in villages and kibbutzim.
The collections include the fine arts, archaeological artifacts, relics and
records of national and local history, displays on science and national history,
and such special interests as a Museum of Maritime History, a Museum of Japanese
Art, a Museum of Dolls and even a Museum of the History of Taxation.
Fine Arts
In the 1920s, an Academy of Art was founded in Jerusalem called after Bezalel,
the master artist who made the adornments for the Tabernacle after the Exodus
from Egypt (Exodus 31:1-5). Other art schools abound, as do galleries and
exhibits. Working artists abound, with a wide range of styles and techniques
and degrees of talent or lack thereof.
Foundations and schools for decorative arts preserve the traditional styles
and skills in ceramics, metalwork, weaving and embroidery of the ingathered
Jewish communities.
Music and Dance:
And David and all Israel danced before God with all their might --
with songs, lyres, harps, timbrels, cymbals
and trumpets.
-- I Chronicles 13:8
In biblical times, the people of Israel were known for their music -- so
much so that even conquerors who bore them into exile demanded of them
"Sing us one of the songs of Zion
" (Psalm 137:3) Today there are musical groups and performers almost beyond
counting.
The Israel Philharmonic, ranked as one of the best symphony orchestras in
the world, was founded in 1936 under the name The Palestine Orchestra. Its
first performance was in Jerusalem, and conducted by Arturo Toscanini.
Other major ensembles include the Jerusalem Symphony and the Israel Defense
Forces orchestra and choir.
Many cities and towns have their own orchestras, besides chamber music groups
and soloists on many instruments.
There are also many groups and venues for music of the ingathered communities
-- European, Sephardic, North African. Also always popular are folk music,
klezmer, jazz, pop and rock.
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During Gulf War I in 1991, violin virtuoso Isaac Stern was playing a concert
in Jerusalem
when sirens blared to warn of an impending attack of Iraqi scud missiles.
The audience put
on their gas masks and stayed in their seats and Maestro Stern went on with
his performance.
Some observers saw this as a victory for civilization. The local correspondent
for the ABC
television network had a different interpretation: "The Jews paid good money
for their
tickets and they were going to get their money's worth"
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The Israel Opera is a full-fledged company for productions of grand opera.
The Light Opera Company of the Negev tours the land presenting operettas,
musicals, and Gilbert and Sullivan.
Dance companies range from the classical Israel Ballet, through the Yemenite
Inbal troupe, to the modern dance Bat-Dor and Bat-Sheva companies, and several
folkdance groups. Smaller dance ensembles and solo performances can be seen
all around the country.
Theater may be classical, contemporary, or experimental, original works in
Hebrew or translations from other languages. Plays are performed by the renowned
Habima Theater and other repertoire companies, and by groups of actors assembled
for a single production. There are also presentations by local theater groups,
some of them amateur or semi-amateur.
5] SPORTS
Israelis enjoy sports, both as active participants and as fans of rival basketball
and soccer teams.
They also compete in international games and tournaments, and have taken
medals in fields as disparate as swimming, wind-surfing, tennis, pole-vaulting,
judo, and figure skating.
The epicenter for sports is The Wingate Institute-National Center for Physical
Education and Sports, that trains teachers, coaches and promising young athletes,
oversees the Israel Olympic Teams, and pursues advances in sports medicine.
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The Institute is one of the numerous sites in Israel named in honor of Major-General
Orde Wingate, a British Christian lover of Zion.
During his tenure in British military service in Mandate Palestine, he became
mentor
to the Jewish defense groups formed to counter Arab terrorism. His feelings
ran so
contrary to British government policy, that he was banished from the land
and forbidden
ever to return to it.
General Wingate served in World War II and was killed in Burma. The young
members
of the defense groups that he trained and inspired -- among them Moshe Dayan
--
became the first officer corps of the Israel Defense Forces.
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What else are Israelis doing?
They are starting new enterprises at one of the highest rates in the world.
They are paying taxes at one of the highest rates in the world
They are working, and at times they are going on strike
They are getting married and raising families
They are cutting their grass, and going on picnics and to the beach
They are meeting at sidewalk coffee houses for snacks, chats and energetic
debates
At the age of nineteen, young men and women are enrolling to give years of
their lives -- and sometimes their very lives -- to military service.
Well into middle age, men leave their homes and families and jobs for weeks
at a time to do reserve military service
Because they know that if they do not, then it will all be snatched away
from them.
END