“For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest”
—Isaiah 62:1
Jewish history is an unending story which comes down to us across the centuries.
There are several concentric circles of history: First is the circle of preservation. How did our people manage to preserve its identity in diaspora and exile, without a territorial base or political organization, in conditions under which no other people succeeded?
Second is the circle of power, reflection, and prolonged resonance. Third is the realm of suffering: a history that passeth all understanding. Fourth is the circle of renewal, the ability to take a language, land and people separated for centuries and to revive together, to forge a new nation and an independent life.
We, the Jewish People, stand as we have often stood, restored to our Land, small and still dispersed, vulnerable, yet inspired by an old, powerful dream: our restored home! We are today, still, inspired by a large, powerful dream, a vision: AM ISRAEL CHAI!
Today, the State of Israel is a dream come true. AM ISRAEL, the State of Israel, is center, and vanguard, of the entire Jewish People.
AM ISRAEL CHAI V’KAYAM! A joyous Independence Day to all CIJR’s friends and supporters!
(Baruch Cohen is CIJR’s Research Chairman and a Member of the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Center)