The Jewish State

HaTikva

In The Jewish heart

A Jewish spirit still sings,

And the eyes look east

Toward Zion

Our hope is not lost,

Our hope of two thousand years,

To be a free nation in our land,

In the land of Zion and Jerusalem

The title of the Israeli national anthem is HATIKVA, which means "The Hope." Hatikva is about "hope," the undying hope of the Jewish people, through the long years of exile, that they would someday return to independence in their homeland. During the two thousand years of exile, the Jewish people always kept a heartfelt prayer in their hearts for return to Israel. They said special daily prayers for return and they celebrated the holidays according to Israeli seasons and calendar. This is the message of the Hatikvah's first stanza. Zion is another name for Israel and Jerusalem. When the Jewish people pray their eyes, hearts and prayers are directed toward Israel and Jerusalem. For many long painful years, the land of Israel was in the hands of foreigners. The Jews who lived in Palestine were not free. Yet their hope for freedom and independence never died. The second stanza of the Hatikva recalls the undying hope of Jews through the generation, Jews who lived in other countries and Jews who had remained in Palestine.

When we sing the Hatikva together, we are doing much more than just singing a nice melody. We are making a promise that we will never forget the undying Jewish hope for independence and that we will do all within our power to help the State of Israel prosper.

The Declaration Of The Establishment

Of The State Of Israel (May 14, 1948)

ERETZ-ISRAEL (the Land of Israel) was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books. After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom. Impelled by this historic and traditional attachment, Jews strove in every successive generation to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland. In recent decades they returned in their masses. Pioneers, ma'pilim (immigrants coming to Eretz-Israel in defiance of restrictive legislation) and defenders, they made deserts bloom, revived the Hebrew language, built villages and towns, and created a thriving community controlling its own economy and culture, loving peace but knowing how to defend itself, bringing the blessings of progress to all the country's inhabitants, and aspiring towards independent nationhood.

The catastrophe which recently befell the Jewish people - the massacre of millions of Jews in Europe - was another clear demonstration of the urgency of solving the problem of its homelessness by re-establishing in Eretz-Israel the Jewish State, which would open the gates of the homeland wide to every Jew and confer upon the Jewish people the status of a fully privileged member of the community of nations. This right is the natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their own sovereign State.

ACCORDINGLY WE, MEMBERS OF THE PEOPLE'S COUNCIL, REPRESENTATIVES OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ERETZ-ISRAEL AND OF THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT, ARE HERE ASSEMBLED ON THE DAY OF THE TERMINATION OF THE BRITISH MANDATE OVER ERETZ-ISRAEL AND, BY VIRTUE OF OUR NATURAL AND HISTORIC RIGHT AND ON THE STRENGTH OF THE RESOLUTION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY, HEREBY DECLARE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A JEWISH STATE IN ERETZ-ISRAEL, TO BE KNOWN AS THE STATE OF ISRAEL.

WE DECLARE that, with effect from the moment of the termination of the Mandate being tonight, the eve of Sabbath, the 6th Iyar, 5708 (15th May, 1948), until the establishment of the elected, regular authorities of the State in accordance with the Constitution which shall be adopted by the Elected Constituent Assembly not later than the 1st October 1948, the People's Council shall act as a Provisional Council of State, and its executive organ, the People's Administration, shall be the Provisional Government of the Jewish State, to be called "Israel".

THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

WE EXTEND our hand to all neighbouring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighbourliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle East.

WE APPEAL to the Jewish people throughout the Diaspora to rally round the Jews of Eretz-Israel in the tasks of immigration and upbuilding and to stand by them in the great struggle for the realization of the age-old dream - the redemption of Israel.

PLACING OUR TRUST IN THE ALMIGHTY, WE AFFIX OUR SIGNATURES TO THIS PROCLAMATION AT THIS SESSION OF THE PROVISIONAL COUNCIL OF STATE, ON THE SOIL OF THE HOMELAND, IN THE CITY OF TEL-AVIV, ON THIS SABBATH EVE, THE 5TH DAY OF IYAR, 5708 (14TH MAY,1948).

Law of Return

Right of aliyah:

"Every Jew has the right to come to this country as an oleh."

Aliyah means immigration of Jews, and oleh (plural: olim) means a Jew immigrating to Israel. The Law of Return was passed by the Knesset on the 20th Tammuz, 5710 (5th July, 1950).

The Israeli Flag

 In 1948, after nearly two thousand years of exile, the State of Israel was reestablished as the Jewish homeland. The new Israeli flag of the modern state has been a symbol of the proud return of the Jewish Nation to its homeland.

How the Israeli Flag Was Chosen?

The Israeli flag was born at the First Zionist Congress in 1897.

The zionist leaders saw in the talith, the traditional Jewish prayer shawl, the flag of the Jewish Nation. The blue and white talith with which the Jews wrap themselves when they pray: that is the Jewish symbol.

This talith was taken from its bag and unrolled before the eyes of Israel and the eyes of all nations. A blue and white flag with the Shield of David painted upon it. That is how the Israeli national flag, that flew over the First Zionist Congress, came into being.

The blue stripes above and below the Magen David remind us of the talith. When we see the Israeli flag, we remember the faith and the prayers of the many generations of Jews who longed for the return to their homeland.

The Magen David

The Magen David (Shield of David) is a traditional symbol of Judaism. The star is made up of two triangles, one right-side up and the other upside down. One of them points upward toward all that is spiritual and holy. The other one points downward--toward all that is earthly and secular. By leading a life of Torah and mitzvot the Jew strives to bring together the worlds of spiritual and the earthly, the worlds of the holy and the secular.

Legend tells us that King David, the King of Israel, adorned his shield with this six-pointed star, thus the star is named the Magen David.

1492  Jews are expelled from Spain. Columbus, with conversos Jews aboard, reaches the New World. 

1500s  Rise of Kabbalah in Safed, Palestine. 

1628  First Jews settle in Barbados, an English colony. By 1710 there are two synagogues on the island. 

1648-49  Chmielnicki cossack massacres in Poland. 

1650  Twelve Jewish families granted permission to settle in Curacao. Jews settle in Jamaica, permitted to own land and practice their religion. 

1654  Jews expelled from Brazil; twenty-three land in New Amsterdam. 

1655  Jews allowed to resettle in England from which they had been barred since 1290. 

1700s  Rise of Hasidism in Russia and Poland. 

1732  Congregation Mickve Israel, oldest synagogue in Western Hemisphere, built in Curacao. 

1760  Jewish merchants and their families settle in New Orleans. 

1791  Jews granted citizenship in France. Beginning of Jewish Emancipation in Europe. 

1820s  Rise of Reform Judaism in Germany. 

1840  Jews in Damascus, Syria, are accused of blood libel, arousing world reaction. 

1858  Edgardo Mortara, a little boy, is abducted in Italy after forced conversion, creating world-wide protests. 

1868  Benjamin Disraeli becomes English prime minister. Queen Victoria makes him Earl of Beaconsfield. 

1881  Czar Alexander II assassinated in St. Petersburg, Russia. Pogroms and persecution of Jews follows, and immigration to America is accelerated. Two million Eastern European Jews will emigrate to America through 1914. 

1894  French staff officer Alfred Dreyfus is convicted of treason and imprisoned on Devil's Island in the Caribbean. He is later exonerated. 

1896  Theodore Herzl founds political Zionism; First World Zionist Congress is held. 

1917  Balfour Declaration pledges British support for Jewish national homeland. United States enters world War I against Germany. Russian Revolution. 

1919  Jewish delegations to the Paris Peace Conference after World War I seek minority rights for European Jews. 

1922  British Mandate on Palestine (Land of Israel) approved by League of Nations. 

1929  Arab rioters kill sixty-seven Jewish settlers in Hebron, British Mandate Palestine. 

1931  Three million Jews live in Poland, making it the largest Jewish population outside the U.S. 

1933  Rise of Adolph Hitler. German Nazis proclaim general boycott of all Jewish businesses. 

1935  Germans pass Nuremberg Laws restricting legal and civil rights of German Jews. 

1939  Germany invades Poland, starting World War II. Steamship St. Louis. carrying 907 Jewish German refugees, is turned back by U.S. and Cuba. U.S. Jewish population estimated at 4,770,000. 

1940  Nazis establish ghettos in Poland. 

1941  Einsatzgruppen (special units) follow German troops into Soviet Union, perpetuating systematic murder. 

1942  Nazi leaders refine the "Final Solution" -- the genocide of the Jewish people -- at Wannsee Conference. 

1945  Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal estimates that 6,000,000 Jews have been murdered by the Nazis. 

1947  Ancient scrolls, some dating from 22 B.C.E., are discovered at Qumram near the Dead Sea. UN approves partition of Bitish Mandate Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. 

1948  Israel is founded as a nation and is recognized by the United States. 

1950s  Hundreds of thousands of Jews from Europe and Arab lands come to Israel. 

1956  Sinai campaign by Israel, France, and England. 

1960  Adolph Eichmann stands trial in Israel for crimes against the Jews and humanity during WorId War II. 

1967  Israel is victorious over Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq in Six Day War. 

1969  Golda Meir elected Prime Minister of Israel. 

1970  Soviet Jews agitate for right to emigrate. 

1973  Egypt and Syria attack Israel on the Day of Atonement, starting the Yom Kippur War, which Israel wins. 

1978  Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. 

1985  Operation Moses, airlift of Ethiopian Jews to Israel. 

1987  Uprising of Palestinian Arabs, known as the Intifada, begins on Judea, Samaria (West Bank) and Gaza. 

1989  Soviet Union permits Jews to emigrate on their first application for visa. 

1991  Breakup of Soviet Union leads to rise of nationalism and outbreaks of anti-Semitism. 

1992  Operation Solomon brings almost all Ethiopian Jews to Israel. 

1993  Israel signs Agreement with the PLO. 

1994  Israel-Jordanian Peace Treaty. 

World Jewish Population

1900 11,000,000

1914 13,500,000

1939 16,728,000

1948 11,500,000

1969 13,786,000

2000 13,191,500

Population by Country

United States               

 5,800,000

Israel                           

4,847,000

France                         

600,000

Russia                         

550,000

Ukraine                                   

400,000

Canada                                   

360,000

UK                                         

300,000

Argentina                                 

250,000

Brazil                           

130,000

South Africa                

106,000

Australia                                  

100,000

Hungary                                  

80,000

Belarus                        

60,000

Germany                                 

60,000

Mexico                        

40,700

Belgium                                   

40,000

Italy                                         

35,000

Uzbekistan                  

35,000

Venezuela                                

35,000

Uraguay                                  

32,500

Aberaijan                                

30,000

Moldova                                 

30,000

Netherlands                 

30,000

Iran                                         

25,000

Turkey                        

25,000

Sweden                                   

18,000

Switzerland                  

18,000

Georgia                                   

17,000

Chile                                       

15,000

Kazakhstan                 

15,000

Latvia                          

15,000

Romania                                  

14,000

Spain                           

14,000

Austria                        

10,000

Denmark                                 

8,000

Poland                         

8,000

Morocco                                 

7,500

Hawaii                         

7,000

Panama                                   

7,000

Czech republic             

6,000

India                                        

6,000

Lithuania                                  

6,000

Slovakia                                  

6,000

Columbia                                 

5,650

Greece                        

5,000

New Zealand               

5,000

Kyrgystan                                

4,500

Bulgaria                                   

3,000

Estonia                        

3,000

Peru                                        

3,000

Puerto rico                  

3,000

Costa rica                                

2,500

Hong kong                  

2,500

Yugoslavia                   

2,500

Croatia                        

2,000

Japan                          

2,000

Tunisia                         

2,000

Tajikistan                                 

1,800

Norway                                   

1,500

Guatemala                   

1,200

Finland                        

 1,200

Paraguay                                 

1,200

Turkmenistan               

1,200

Cuba                                       

1,000

Ecuador                                  

1,000

Ireland                         

1,000

Monaco                                  

1,000

Zimbabwe                   

925

Portugal                                   

900

Yeoman                                  

800

Bosnia                         

600

Gibraltar                                  

600

Luxemburg                  

600

Ethiopia                                   

500

Kenya                         

400

Netherlands Antilles

400

Us Virgin Islands         

400

Bolivia                         

380

Zaire                                       

320

Jamaica                                   

300

Singapore                                

300

Dominican Repub        

250

Philippines                   

250

Syria                                       

250

Thailand                                  

250

Armenia                                  

200

Bahamas                                 

200

Suriname                                 

200

South korea                 

150

El Salvador                  

120

Iraq                                         

120

Tahiti                           

 120

By Cities

New york                    

1,750,000

Miami              

535,000

LA                              

490,000

Paris                            

350,000

Philidelphia      

254,000

Chicago                       

248,000

S. Fransico      

210,000

Boston            

208,000

London                       

200,000

Moscow                      

200,000

Buenos Aires   

180,000

Toronto                       

175,000

Washington     

165,000

Kiev                            

110,000

Montreal                     

100,000

St. Petersburg  

100,000

Countries with fewer than 100 persons.

Afghistan, Albania, Algeria, Bahrain, Barbados, Bermuda, Botswana, cayman islands, china, Cyprus, Egypt, fiji, islands, French Guyana, Guadeloupe, Haiti, hondurus, Indonesia, maceedonia, malta, Martinique, Mozambique, Burma, Namibia, new Caledonia, Nicaragua, slovenia, Taiwan, zambia.