Mazal Tov, Eretz Israel, 78 Years

Happy birthday!

Today, you are 78 years old.
For 78 years, your children have once again crossed the threshold of your home.

What can one wish for a land like you?
A future of peace, of love, of prosperity, certainly!

But more than anything, today I simply want to express the love you inspire in me.

Yesterday, I listened to countless testimonies, 
from soldiers, from parents of soldiers,
from great voices of the Jewish world,
religious and not, young and old,
who came to you from the four corners of the earth, just as our sacred texts foretold.

The messages were so abundant, so powerful,
that I found myself lost in this flood of words…
almost unable to find my own.

But the night brings clarity.

And so, I chose to gather all those voices, all those testimonies, into one single word:

Love.

A deep, unwavering attachment that binds us to you.

Perhaps it is, in some conscious or unconscious way, part of the tikkun we have all been carrying since the sin of the spies.
I cannot say.

But what is certain is this:

You are part of us.
And we are part of you.

Even the nations of the world cannot separate us —
Jew or Israeli? Israeli or Jew?
They do not know.

Let them remain in their confusion. We have seen far worse.

We stand before you today to say how much we love you,
how proud we are of you,
and how grateful we are to the Master of the World for giving us this land —
a source of all blessings.

You are a subject of the world.
You stand at the center of the stage.

The eyes of the world are fixed upon you.

You are in the midst of what feels like the final chapters of your battles.
The criticism is harsh.
The storyline is not always understood.

But we hold tightly to our closest companion, Emunah.

She whispers gentle words,
reminding us of who the true Author of this story is.

And you know…

Soon, you will stand at the center of the final act —
flooded with light,
under the applause of the world.

Your faithful will rise to their feet,
clapping without restraint,
rushing to honor you for a role no one else was willing to take.

And the ignorant critics…
will fall silent,
empty, forever.

Mazal Tov, Eretz Israel.

Mikhal