Special thanks Moshe Schwartz who inspired the titular question of this article
Almost three quarters of a century after its birth, who would have imagined
that the essence of the State of Yisrael would still be a focus of debate and
mostly among Yisraelis?
The subject was brought to my attention a couple of weeks ago. One of my
friends told me that her youngest son who is in high school was given an
assignment on the issue. Students, she told me, were requested to deliberate on
whether Yisrael’s National anthem, “Ha’Tikvah,” which includes expressions to the
yearning of the “soul of a Jew” to Zion should be revisited. Following such
pondering, the students were instructed to express an opinion on whether its lyrics
which, do not mention non-Jews should be modified and include other minorities
such as Druze, Muslim, Christians, and others who are Yisraeli citizens.
As a frame of reference, the teacher suggested a few sources. One of them was an article entitled “Lost in Translation – Hatikva in Arabic Too” was written by Gadi
Benmark. In it, Benmark evokes that Yisrael follows the example of Canada.
There, the anthem, “Oh Canada” was originally written in French, in the
seventeenth century when Canada was “The New France.” The British, who arrived
much later, explains Benmark, evidently felt that the French version excluded
them and hence added an English language version, which is not a translation of
the French one. “So now,” comments Benmark, “it is a national universal song
that every Canadian, of every origin, can sing proudly.” In conclusion, Benmark
suggests that Yisrael duplicates the Canadian experience so that every Yisraeli
can sing the version that suits them.
With all due
respect to Canada, not only do I consider such an analogy inappropriate, I also
deem it an insult.
I am afraid that no matter how one addresses it, neither the French, nor the
English possess the same bond to Canada, which is a few hundred years old, as
the one that Jews have forged with the Land of Yisrael for over a few millennia. And
I am not even touching upon the Biblical connection, as I much as I hold it
true, simply because I believe that in today’s geo-political environment, religious
arguments are irrelevant. The union between the People and the Land, in the
case of the Jews, reflected itself for thousands of years not only in religious
rituals and customs. It also paraded itself in Literature, Art, Archeology and
documented historical accounts.
Canada, unlike Yisrael, was created in a unilateral move by the British in
1867. The British Parliament then passed the North America Act. Canada was
introduced into the family of nations in an arbitrary step by a colonial power.
Its purpose, its goal, its core, and its nature were left undefined.
The creation of the State of Yisrael was anything but an arbitrary move by one government.
No act of one state, one parliament or a single colonial power decreed its foundation or created it. Its idea, yes, but not its actual creation.
From the very first moment of the inception of the notion, starting
with the Balfour Declaration, Yisrael (AKA Palestine, the artificial name given
to it by the Romans in 135 C.E.) was defined as the place where a National Home
for the Jewish People, not just a home for Jews, would be erected. The State of
Yisrael was decreed as Jewish in its essence and by more than one source.
The Jewish character of Yisrael was further reinforced in the San Remo Accord
of 1920 which was voted upon by the Supreme Council of Five that acted as an
International Court of Law. It was an International Order, not just an Act of
Parliament of one power.
And then, of course there was U.N resolution 181 of November 29, 1947. In it,
the family of nations, voted to establish two states in Eretz Yisrael, one
Arab, and one Jewish. The Jewish State was born following a democratic vote after a long painful labour period.
Ironically
enough, more than the Jews defined the nature of their state, the Gentiles did.
As a Jewish state, the only Jewish state on the globe, might I add, Yisrael
should adhere to the designated nature and substance decreed to it. It should
keep the blue and white flag with the powerful symmetric Star of David at its
center. It should maintain the emblem of the Menorah that adorned the Temple of
Solomon and it should keep the words of Ha’Tikvah intact.
If someone feels that certain lines in Yisrael’s Jewish National Anthem are
hard for them to digest, I suggest they refrain from singing it. Losing our
national identity at the cost of accommodating others is not an option, I am afraid. Turning
Yisrael from the Jewish National Home to merely a home for Jews is a risk we
cannot afford to take. That is one of the most important lessons that our
Jewish history curriculum has taught us.
We cannot
and should not allow ourselves to fail that course.
