As the evening fell over the Memorial Day we live again the transition – so specific to the Israeli life – between mourning and joy, between contemplation and jubilation and we enter the Independence Day. It’s a good opportunity to remember the events that happened 62 years ago and the words of David Ben-Gurion which marked the apparition of the Jewish state on the map of the world, words which are still the basic act of foundation of the nation, as well as the guiding principles of the existence of the State of Israel.
(video source SchlichimMetrowest)
The ceremony that marks the end of the Memorial Day and the start of the Independence Day ends with the singing of the national anthem – HaTikvah (The Hope).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1I6d0OTSOA
Here is a fragment of the comment that accompanies the song on YouTube.
‘Israel’s national anthem sung by Enrico Macias. The poem was written by the Zionist Naftali Herz Imber in 1877 in Iaşi, Romania. In 1882 he moved to Palestine where he continued working on his poetry in 1886 he published his first book of poems one of them was “Tikvateinu,” which soon after became the Jewish anthem. The book was entitled “Barkai” (“Morning Star”) and was published and printed in Jerusalem!’
I noticed the title of the book that first contained the poem. A few years before the Romanian national poet Mihai Eminescu who lived much of his active life in the same city as Imber, Iasi, had published his most famous poem ‘Luceafarul’, a masterpiece of the Romanian literature. The translation of the name of the poem is ‘The Evening Star’. When Imber publishes his first book in Hebrew after arriving in Palestine he names the book ‘The Morning Star’. A coincidence?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q_GeVsT58Y&feature=related
And yes – the fireworks are part of the festivities. Above you can see a clip showing the fireworks in Tel Aviv last year.
Let the celebrations begin.
Happy Birthay, Israel!
For Israel, many, many Happy Birthdays!