Michael Jacobs and Ken Stein
Israel celebrates 75 years of statehood in spring 2023. At its wellspring is 3,000-plus years of Jewish peoplehood.
On May 14, 1948 (5 Iyar on the Hebrew calendar, which in 2023 coincides with April 25-26), David Ben-Gurion read the Declaration of Independence in the Tel Aviv Museum. To mark the benchmark, the Center for Israel Education is presenting a range of enrichment opportunities to enhance understanding about the State of Israel, its development and its headings.
Included are student competitions with prizes for three age categories and CIE’s Lists of 75. Among these lists are 75 Zionist Founders, 75 Israelis From History and 75 Current Israelis, all of whom have contributed to the state’s past, present and future.
Augmenting these lists and the others to come is the extensive “Biographical Index (1885-1952)” found originally in each of the 26 volumes of Chaim Weizmann’s letters, presented with permission in composite format of those individuals who interacted with Israel’s first president over a lifetime.
When the United States turned 75 in 1851, its borders were uncertain, women couldn’t vote, and millions of people were enslaved. In its 75th year, Israel remains unfinished, clarifying its domestic identities, securing its borders, and still ingathering Jews in need and in crisis.
