Page 114 - big friday
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I n the Besieged Jerusalem
Y eshurun Keshet
Y eshurun Keshet was the pen-name of Yaakov Koplewitz (1893-1977) – a
poet, writer, translator and critic, who lived in Jerusalem and wrote about life
in the city during the War of Independence and during the Six Day War. This
chapter from his book Besieged Jerusalem describes the events of the day
when the state was declared.
5Iyar 5708 (May 14, 1948)
We received simultaneously the news that set our hearts aflutter – that our leaders had
proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel – and the terrible news of the fall of
Gush Etzion, yesterday, 4 Iyar, when the Jordanian Arab League soldiers burst into the
area with tanks and destroyed it, after murdering its residents with horrific cruelty.
But today, at 4pm, the establishment of the State of Israel was proclaimed in Tel Aviv. It is
amazing how these words are able to contain such an enormity of creation, so pregnant
with greatness. Such simple words – "the State of Israel", this day, after two thousand years.
Indeed, it is easier to utter these words than it is to grasp their significance.
S eemingly, we are declaring the revival of the State of Israel on the basis of the UN
resolution and in accordance with the geo-political perception that it represented. But in
truth, this is not the case. The state that we are declaring is not the one declared by the
UN: they share only an external similarity. The state that they are "giving" us is a political
creation, while the state that we declared today is a creation of the faith in our hearts;
the former is a diplomatic concept, while the latter is a prophetic one. Had we intended
to base ourselves only on what was given to us (with a hesitant left hand, while the right
hand grabs it back) then we would have no basis even for rejoicing right now; certainly
we could not hope for the future of this "gift". A wise man already said, "Israel's salvation
won't come about through diplomats, but rather through prophets" – not through our
own diplomats, and certainly not theirs. But it might come about through the descendants
of the prophets, on condition that we bring with us, sealed in our hearts, the ancient and
well-preserved vision of our great past, such that we will be able to view the material
world as a vessel for the world of the spirit and its values. If the United Nations is fortunate
enough to have the great vision that we perceive within its plan – well and good; if not
(and it is clear in advance that it will not be so fortunate) – then "at its own risk!" The
defective and dishonest UN plan cannot under any circumstances be a proper framework
for our vision; let us not be surprised, then, at the incongruity between a vision that is alive
112 The Friday That Changed Destiny
Y eshurun Keshet
Y eshurun Keshet was the pen-name of Yaakov Koplewitz (1893-1977) – a
poet, writer, translator and critic, who lived in Jerusalem and wrote about life
in the city during the War of Independence and during the Six Day War. This
chapter from his book Besieged Jerusalem describes the events of the day
when the state was declared.
5Iyar 5708 (May 14, 1948)
We received simultaneously the news that set our hearts aflutter – that our leaders had
proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel – and the terrible news of the fall of
Gush Etzion, yesterday, 4 Iyar, when the Jordanian Arab League soldiers burst into the
area with tanks and destroyed it, after murdering its residents with horrific cruelty.
But today, at 4pm, the establishment of the State of Israel was proclaimed in Tel Aviv. It is
amazing how these words are able to contain such an enormity of creation, so pregnant
with greatness. Such simple words – "the State of Israel", this day, after two thousand years.
Indeed, it is easier to utter these words than it is to grasp their significance.
S eemingly, we are declaring the revival of the State of Israel on the basis of the UN
resolution and in accordance with the geo-political perception that it represented. But in
truth, this is not the case. The state that we are declaring is not the one declared by the
UN: they share only an external similarity. The state that they are "giving" us is a political
creation, while the state that we declared today is a creation of the faith in our hearts;
the former is a diplomatic concept, while the latter is a prophetic one. Had we intended
to base ourselves only on what was given to us (with a hesitant left hand, while the right
hand grabs it back) then we would have no basis even for rejoicing right now; certainly
we could not hope for the future of this "gift". A wise man already said, "Israel's salvation
won't come about through diplomats, but rather through prophets" – not through our
own diplomats, and certainly not theirs. But it might come about through the descendants
of the prophets, on condition that we bring with us, sealed in our hearts, the ancient and
well-preserved vision of our great past, such that we will be able to view the material
world as a vessel for the world of the spirit and its values. If the United Nations is fortunate
enough to have the great vision that we perceive within its plan – well and good; if not
(and it is clear in advance that it will not be so fortunate) – then "at its own risk!" The
defective and dishonest UN plan cannot under any circumstances be a proper framework
for our vision; let us not be surprised, then, at the incongruity between a vision that is alive
112 The Friday That Changed Destiny
