Above:
David Ben-Gurion, the reborn nation's first prime minister
"I shall now read to you the scroll of the establishment of the
State, which has passed its first reading by the National Council,"
David Ben-Gurion announced.
The
crowd rose spontaneously to sing Hatikvah, the newly formed
state's national anthem.
Hatikvah—Israel's National Anthem
Hatikvah,
Israel's national
anthem, is a declaration that the
exile has ended!
The anthem's title means "the
hope." It refers to
the hope that the Jewish
people had for nearly
2,000 years that they would
someday return to their
homeland. The anthem declares that the exile has
finally ended and that the dream to
go back to Zion has become a reality.
The history of the Jewish
people
began with Abraham, and the
story of Abraham unfolded when God
told him to leave Ur of
the Chaldeans,
promising him and his
descendants a new home in the
Land of Canaan (Genesis 12).
This Land is now known as
Israel, named after Abraham's
grandson, whose descendants are
the Jewish people. The Land is
often referred to as the
Promised Land, because of God's
repeated promises in the Tanach
(Old Testament)
to give the Land to the
descendants of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob (later renamed Israel
by God).
During their nearly 2,000 years of
exile, the Jewish people always
had a deep longing in their
hearts to return to Israel.
Some said special daily prayers
concerning going back to
the Land. Indeed, when Jews in exile
pray, their eyes, hearts, and
words are directed toward
Israel and Jerusalem, the Land's
eternal capital.
The Israeli Declaration of
Independence on May 14,
1948, the day the British
Mandate expired, was the
official announcement that a new
Jewish state, named the State of
Israel, had been formally
established in parts of the
ancient kingdoms of
Israel and Judah.
The anthem sung, Hatikvah,
had been written in 1886 by Naftali Herz Imber (1856-1909),
who had moved to the Promised Land
in 1882 from Galicia. The melody
was arranged by Samuel Cohen, an
immigrant from Moldova.
התקוה
Kol od balevav pnima
Nefesh Yehudi homiya
Ulfaatei mizrah
kadima
Ayin l'Tzion tzofiya
Od lo avda tikvatenu
Hatikvah bat shnot
alpayim
Liyot am hofshi
b'artzenu
Eretz Tzion
v'Yerushalayim
Hatikvah
As long as deep in the
heart,
the soul of a Jew
yearns,
looking toward the east,
the eye gazing to Zion,
our hope is not
lost,
the hope of
two thousand
years,
to be a free people in
our Land,
the land of Zion* and
Jerusalem.
Listen to Israel's
national anthem, Hatikvah.
* Zion is another name for
Israel and Jerusalem.
Designed & created by
Ebenezer − Operation Exodus Israel
