12/05/2024
THE GENERATION OF REBIRTH
As we are about to begin Yom HaZikaron (Israeli Memorial Day) and Yom Ha'atzmaut (Independence Day) I found the following to be an interesting analysis of the generations of Israelis, especially the current one.
The article is an editorial by Elad Tene (editor in chief of the newspaper Makor Rishon (May 10, 2024). Translation taken from Daniel Gordis’s blog: “Israel from the Inside.”
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BETWEEN the GENERATIONS OF 5708 (1948) and 5784 (2024)
There is a span of three generations between 1948 and 2024: the generation of the Founders, the generation of the Builders, and the generation of Rebirth. Everyone reading this belongs to one of those three generations. Every one of you, of us, has accumulated here, individually and collectively, endless momentous events and powerful memories. Joy and exaltation, sadness and crisis. And too many Memorial Days.
The generation that founded the state is tied in our memory to the moment of declaring independence. Immediately after that came the War of Independence, the nation’s institutions were created, and the refugee camps that had been built for immigrants became towns.
The Generation that Built is tied in our memory to dozens of moments of victory: cultural flowering, wars, political upheavals, and economic successes. This was also the generation that solidified our sovereignty. But the Generation of Rebirth we’d never met until recently.
This is the young generation that some of us looked at with ridicule or worry, and we wondered—what does that generation have in common with us? What does it have to do with Israel?
In recent months, that generation has reminded us that as is the case in any chain, it is also tied to us. But no less than that, it also proved that we are dependent on it.
After the death and the attacks, this is the generation that revived Israel’s spirit, that reminded us what real power is. In the midst of the darkness that followed the horrors, this generation shined light. It left behind families, children and careers, work and peaceful lives, and went out to defend our home and in order to win.
This is the generation that lost friends, evacuated wounded, paid shiva calls—and pressed on. This generation was filled with feelings of guilt, believing it could have done more. It sounded the shofar, reminding every neighborhood along the Gaza strip, “My brother, I’m here at your side.”
This is the generation that transcended the divisions in the people, could tell the difference between what really mattered and what didn’t, between holy and profane. This is the generation that is now promising that we are here, and that we’re not going anywhere.
This is not an optimistic column. The divisions in the people are still here. The hostages are still living in hell on earth, and even victory on the battlefield, at least for the moment, is not certain. We’re going to be caring for the wounded for as long as the eye can see, but at least we will know that there arose here a generation in which we can trust. That on the day that we will no longer be alive, there will be those who will guide Israel with confidence.
Between 1948 and 2024 span three generations. On this year’s Memorial Day and Independence Day, it’s the Generation of Rebirth that is illuminating the path for us. That generation is Israel. And we, all of Israel, are casting our eyes on it.
