Tears of sacrifice; joys of independence

Today, Israel is 61-years-old-and-young

And here and abroad, we are celebrating this modern miracle: the rebirth of the state of Israel in its ancient cherished homeland, the land of Israel.

I am typing not ten minutes from the modest building on Rothschild Boulevard where Prime Minister David Ben Gurion read the Declaration of Independence, May 14,1948 (5 Iyar, 5708). (The declaration was followed by an invasion of the new state by troops from Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria, starting the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known in Israel as the War of Independence.)

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
— Attributed to Thomas Jefferson, but also to Thomas Paine, Abraham Lincoln, and many others

Everyone here understands intimately the daily struggle to maintain independence — a life, a homeland, and normalcy. (Not by accident does Memorial Day for Israel's fallen soldiers and victims of terror immediately precede Independence Day.)

For now, the national flag — flapping in the spring breezes, flies from cranes, rooftops, cars, windows, and thoroughfares. Today's air shows, family barbecues, and educational broadcast programs follow a night of dancing, singing, and fireworks — welcome pauses in forgetting the existential reality for a few precious hours.

Happy Independence Day!
!יום עצמאות שמח