Israel

vacation

dad joke

Albert Einstein

trivia

is a country built on people rather than territory whereby people's faith is their passport.

Ours is a country built more on people than on territory. The Jews will come from everywhere: from France, from Russia, from America, from Yemen... Their faith is their passport.

is, for right-wing nationalist, both admired for standing up to the muslim enemy and for existing as a far off country that might take the jews off their hands.

Others have sought comfort in the fact that Trump has made some positive noises towards Israel, and that Binyamin Netanyahu has given him a friendly welcome. But this is to forget what European Jews learned long ago: that nasty rightwing nationalist can be pro-Israel for reasons utterly alien to Jews' own feelings about the country. So ultra-nationalist might admire Israel either because they see it as standing up to those they deem the Muslim enemy or because they like the idea of a country far away that might take the Jews off their hands. Neither of these sentiments makes them pro-Jewish.

is one of the great outpost of democracy in the world.

Israel... is one of the great outpost of democracy in the world

is a place where, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles.

In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles. David Ben-Gurion

is a place where, for a Jew, just living there is equivalent to the observance of all the biblical precepts.

Residence in Israel is equivalent to the observance of all the Biblical precepts. Eleazar b. Shammua

is a place where, for a Jew, it is an atonement for one's sins just to live there.

Living in Israel is itself an atonement for one's sins. Meir. Sifre

is the very embodiment of Jewish continuity: It is the only nation on earth that inhabits the same land, bears the same name, speaks the same language, and worships the same God that it did 3,000 years ago. You dig the soil and you find pottery from Davidic times, coins from Bar Kokhba, and 2,000-year-old scrolls written in a script remarkably like the one that today advertises ice cream at the corner candy store.

Israel is the very embodiment of Jewish continuity: It is the only nation on earth that inhabits the same land, bears the same name, speaks the same language, and worships the same God that it did 3,000 years ago. You dig the soil and you find pottery from Davidic times, coins from Bar Kokhba, and 2,000-year-old scrolls written in a script remarkably like the one that today advertises ice cream at the corner candy store.

israel, n.Trivia

Keep exploring Israel→

israel