Sources & Philosophy
A Message to the Citizens of Israel |
The Onset of the First Independence Day |
Balfour Declaration |
Declaration of the Establishment |
Degania, Mother of the Communes |
Excerpt from Rosh Pina Regulations |
Excerpt from a Statement - A.D. Gordon |
Prayer for the Welfare of Israel |
From "The Jewish State" |
Independence Day to Independence Holiday |
Growing Vegetables Among the Rocks |
How was our National Flag Conceived |
Independence Day Programs - Various Kibbutzim |
Framework of Israel's Holidays |
Pioneers of the Settlement |
Signatories - Declaration of Independence |
Study About the Holiday |
Tel Hai |
The Day of Independence Haggadah |
The Ideology Independence Day |
The Nature of the Zionist Problem |
Ben Zion Dinur
A Message to the Citizens of Israel
The Third Minister of Education and Culture
We shall commence the festivity of the holiday on the evening of 4th of Iyar. We shall all gather, every citizen with family and relatives, neighbors and friends, and we shall celebrate the holiday with a communal meal and recital of the Declaration of Independence.
Let us bring light to our homes! The lights shall symbolize our exodus from slavery to freedom and from darkness to a great light. The candles shall also symbolize the glory of our heroes, our brothers and sisters, our beloved and cherished sons and daughters, who had given up their lives for our lives and our freedom.
Let us decorate the houses with greenery, with olive leaves. May the greenery symbolize the return of Israel to its land. This return of our initial pioneers to the work of the land which marked the beginning of the path to our sovereignty and independence. And may the olive leaf, symbol of our state, signify Israel's hope for peace.
In our shared meal, we will commemorate our yearning for Zion, the vision of the resurrection, our struggle to renew our independence in our homeland and the fulfillment of our vision. The reading of the Declaration of Independence, the founding charter of our state, shall revive in the heart of each and every one of us the awareness of the great tasks entrusted to us by our historical destiny. This call shall encourage each and every person to examine past actions and to plan future steps throughout the year in wake of these tasks.
In such a combination of the holiday celebrated at home, at a party attended by family and friends, at occasions in which people gather together, neighbors and friends, where memories are raised about sons and brothers, heroes and saints – in a house lit up, decorated with greenery, while reciting the Declaration of Independence – by all these shall the holiday be sanctified, it shall be woven into the chronicles of our life, and shall prevail in an atmosphere of joy, the joy of fulfilling the commandment, about which our predecessors have defined as security individuals and a stronghold for the nation.
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