Israel & The 9 Days of – ‘WE’
One of the reactions to the Emancipation was Zionism and the Zionist Movement. Zionism was dedicated once again to finding a solution for our need to secure the meaningful continuous future of the Jewish People. It was a reaction that established a new relationship between the Jewish People and the Land of Israel and in time it brought upon the foundation of the State of Israel. Zionism suggested that by establishing a Jewish homeland in Israel, the Jewish People may not be uniform in the way they practice Judaism but they could be a unified people once more with a common homeland. The settlement of Palestine in the late 19th century, the Holocaust, large scale immigration of Jewish communities to Israel from all around the world and the difficulties faced in the establishment of the State of Israel all led to the need for a new period of Holidays and Days of Remembrance. So, when we think about Yom Ha-Atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, we should not think of Yom Ha-Atzmaut by itself. We should be thinking of the nine days that that build up to it. From Yom Ha-Shoah, through Yom Ha-Zikaron to What we call The 9 Days of – ‘WE’