A moment in history

Today is Yom Haazmaut, the Independence Day of the State of Israel. Peter Fritz shares an anecdote of how the Decleration of Independence was arrived at.

The Israeli Declaration of Independence was made on the 14th of May 1948. On that day, David Ben-Gurion declared the establishment of the Jewish State to be known as the State of Israel.

We know the saying – ‘two Jews, three opinions’, and it is well illustrated by the anecdote of a rabbi who arrived in a new city to take up his post.

On the first evening just before the Shema prayer was recited, half the congregation got up and the other half remained seated.

“Of course we stand for the Shema – it is the credo of Judaism, through thousands of years. Jews have died with the word of the Shema on their lips. So, everybody should stand”, screamed those who were standing.

“No” exclaimed the others. “According to the Shulhan Aruch, if you are seated when you get to the Shema, you remain seated.”

So, huge arguments erupted and eventually, in desperation, the rabbi inquired: “Well, who can we ask to settle this?” And they found a 98 year old man who was there at the very first day of the establishment of the congregation and they decided to form a delegation and ask him from him, “What is the custom of this congregation?”

And so in accordance with the Talmudic tradition, a delegation of three people was appointed – one representing the seated, one representing those who favoured standing, and lastly the rabbi. And they went to meet the old man.

The representative of the standing faction rushed forward and said: “Look, it is of course the custom to stand when the Shema is recited. Isn’t that the custom of the congregation?”

To which the old man said in a weak voice, “No, that is not the custom”.

Then the one who represented the seated members raced forward and said, “Isn’t it then the tradition to sit?”

To which the old man said, “No, no, that’s not the custom”.

The rabbi, desperate, screamed out, “Make a decision! Do you know what is going on week in week out? The people who are standing yell at the people who are sitting, and the people who are sitting yell at the people who are standing.”

“Yes. That is the custom.” said the old man quietly.

Well, the Declaration of Independence had a similarly noisy passage.

The first draft of the Declaration was made by Zvi Berenson, the Histadrut trade union’s legal advisor. Then it was revised by a group of three and framed by a further group of three.

And then a second committee meeting was held which finally produced the text. This text was then submitted for approval to a meeting of the People’s Council. During the process there were two major debates, centering around the issues of borders and religion.

The issues were hotly debated and finally it came to the inclusion of God in the last section of the document, which drew especially emphatic opinions. Ultimately, the phrase ‘Rock of Israel’ was used, which could be interpreted as either referring to God or to the land of Eretz Israel.

Ben-Gurion said of this conclusion that ”Each of us, in his own way, believes in the Rock of Israel as he conceives it.” And considering the many Jews present, and the exponentially more numerous opinions they would have, he added, “I should like to make one request: don’t let me put this phrase to a vote.” So indeed the phrase was accepted without a vote.

The ceremony of the Declaration was held at Tel Aviv Museum. However, it was not widely publicised, as there was fear that unrest was going to ensue. So messengers were sent to deliver the invitations, telling guests to arrive at 3.30 for a 4pm start, and to keep the invitation secret.

The final draft of the Declaration was typed at the Jewish National Fund building following its approval earlier in the day and was to be delivered to the ceremony by Ze’ev Sherf. The problem was that he had forgotten to organise transport for himself! So he went out onto the street, with the Declaration of Independence in hand, and flagged down a car. After much persuasion, he convinced the driver, who incidentally had no licence, to take him. If that’s hard to believe, the story gets better. The driver sped across the city and in the rush was stopped by a policeman. You can imagine the officer’s reaction when he was told that he was delaying the Declaration of Independence for the state of Israel! So he let the pair continue without a ticket. Finally, and seemingly against all odds, Ze’ev arrived at the museum at 3.59pm. Now that is history!