When I was looking to buy a house many years ago, I remember distinctly the advice I received from an older friend: “Almost anything from the ground up can be changed. Just make sure that the foundation is sound.”
Today was all about foundations: institutional foundations, the foundations of our memories, and the foundations of our faith and history.
We are in Jerusalem. And we traveled this morning to a curved building that I have walked passed maybe 200 times…and never walked in. It is the home of the Sochnut, the Jewish Agency (responsible for immigration and absorption), Keren Ha-Yesod, United Israel Fund (responsible for fundraising outside of Israel and for social service programs inside). And Keren Kayemet L’Yisrael, the Jewish National Fund (responsible for purchasing land for the State of Israel and now for supporting infrastructure projects). It may seem boring…but these ARE the foundational institutions of the State of Israel.
Uri, our guide, showed us a picture of David Ben Gurion’s To-Do list from November 29, 1947, written in this building. That day, the U.N. voted for the partition of Palestine, which – had the Arab world agreed to- would have created a two-state solution: a country for the Jewish people and a country for the Palestinian people living in this region.
We all have To-Do lists, right? Buy milk, change the sheets, take out the trash. If you zoom in on the picture, you will see what Ben Gurion’s list consisted of: Establish a Government, Choose a Name for this new country, Write a constitution, Set up a system of laws, Get an Anthem.
In the course of only 6 months, Ben Gurion and others checked off most of the items on his list. The result was the establishment of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948. And the incorporation of the 3 “national institutions” into para-state organizations.
I know there is much angst (legitimately) over the devastation in Gaza and the plight of innocent Palestinians. I feel it, as well. And, I marvel at how the Jewish people chose to create a different history for themselves than the Palestinians, going back to 1901.
In that year, the KKL (Jewish National Fund) began to purchase legally land for a place for displaced Jews from throughout the world might live. That process has continued to this day. (And by the way, no land since 2015 has been purchased for the State of Israel outside the Green Line.) Since 1920, KHY (United Israel Fund) has raised funds to support – at first – the establishment of a new country and the social service infrastructure. And since 1929, the Sochnut (Jewish Agency) has brought over 3 million refugees from other countries to live in Israel, helping with absorption and resettlement.
Israel chose to both accept and create its destiny, not waiting for others to provide for them. History had shown that no one would take care of the Jewish people. We were forced to care for ourselves.
Foundations, though, are not just physical. They are emotional and intellectual, as well.
So, our second piece of our foundation-building today was in a uniquely spot, the outdoor market in Jerusalem called Machane Yehuda. Pictures do not create a true picture of the melange that is this market. With stalls crammed next to each other, you might see a bakery next to a fruit stand, next to a fish seller next to a halva store (a sweet treat made with ground sesame, sugar, and other decadent ingredients).
I have spent many hours in Machane Yehuda, between shopping for fresh vegetables and breads and pastries, to eating fabulous meals, to taking hundreds of pictures of people populating the aisles and alleys of this place.
What makes it a foundation of memory? Three things. 1. Spend just 15 minutes in and around the market and you will see Jews whose original homes were Ethiopia, Russia, Poland, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Greece, Italy, Spain, Germany, the United States…and a dozen more countries. It is a reminder that Israel has been a home to the homeless. Though unwanted in so many places, Israel welcomed each with an open heart. Thus, it is a memory of our past. 2. Know how certain sights, sounds, or smells trigger memories? There in this fruit and nut stand that I always visit. Each time I go, I remember who I was with, what we spoke about, how I felt. A memory of our lives. 3. Invariably, I stop at Halva Kingdom, a halva maker since 1947. Today, I tasted chocolate whiskey halva…OMG. Whenever I have halva from this vendor, I think of the sweetness they have brought to Israelis for 75+ years. The memory of a sweet life.
Finally, we moved on to the foundation of faith and history…the foundation of learning.
We visited the brand-new National Library of Israel. Originally set to be dedicated two weeks after Simchat Torah (October 7), it opened with no fanfare a few weeks later. It is a repository of 4.5 million books, covering 4 areas: humanities, Islamica, Judaica, and Israelica.
I highly recommend everyone visit this national treasure. But what took my breath away was in the exhibit hall. I looked upon a first edition printing of the Babylonian Talmud. What made this book so special is that it was the FIRST printed Talmud ever, printed by Daniel Bromberg in 1520. And here it was…before my eyes.
We are called “People of the Book.” Yes, we are people of the Torah and Bible. But, we are also people of learning, people who record their history – their pains, their hopes, their successes – from which future generations might learn. This book I was looking at teaches us about our arguments, our truths, our dreams, our compromises, our fears. And I realized that they are the same as today…modernized, to be sure…but the same eternal truths that guided our ancestors can guide us, as well.
Today, I dug down deep and (re)discovered our foundations. Though Israel has been torn asunder by October 7 and its aftermath, its foundation remains strong and true…a foundation built on preparing for the future and helping one another; a foundation of remembering from where we come; and a foundation of the values and truths that have permitted us to live up to the idea of being a light unto the nations.
How shall we rekindle that light?
(Pictures: the reading room of the National Library; Ben Gurion’s to-Do list; my favorite fruit and candy store in Machane Yehuda; the Sochnut; 1520 printed Talmud)
The State of Art 