MAY 11 • 2023 | 13

T

his year, Israel 
celebrates 75 years 
of independence 
as a Jewish state. 
Commemorations were 
held by Israelis, diaspora 
Jews and their 
friends around 
the world. It is 
indeed a special 
occasion for an 
extraordinary 
nation.
It is nothing 
short of 
miraculous that 
Israel has transformed itself 
from a poor, nascent country 
into one of the world’s 
most prosperous, high-tech 
nations, all within seven 
decades. Moreover, as recent 
political affairs in Israel have 
demonstrated, its citizens 
have the right to express 
their views within a vibrant 
democracy. As author and 
Israel-advocate Daniel Gordis 
recently concluded, the State 
of Israel “has accomplished 
far more than what anyone 
might have dared hope for 
in 1948.” Indeed, Israel has 
earned its 75th celebration.
For more than 100 years, 
the Detroit Jewish Chronicle 
and the Detroit Jewish News
have reported the remarkable 
story of modern Israel. Most 
Jews living today do not 
know a time when the Jewish 
homeland did not exist, but 
there was no nation of Israel 
when the Detroit Jewish 
Chronicle began publishing 
in 1916, or even when the JN 
began publishing in 1942. 

PRE-ISRAEL HISTORY
In 1916, most of the Middle 
East, including the areas 
once ruled by ancient Jewish 
kingdoms thousands of 
years ago, were controlled 
by the Ottoman Empire. 
This included the land now 
known Israel, as well as 
the current states of Syria, 

Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan 
that border modern Israel 
to its north and east. Egypt, 
an ancient land to the west 
of Israel, was controlled by 
the British. Although small 
numbers of Jews had lived 
in Jerusalem for thousands 
of years, most of the world’s 
Jews were scattered around 
the globe in the diaspora. 
The largest populations of 
Jews were in Europe and 
America, but smaller Jewish 
communities could be found 
in nearly every nation on 
earth.
Life for Jews has never 
been easy. Throughout the 
past centuries (and still today, 
unfortunately), they have faced 
prejudice and, in many cases, 
violence such as the pogroms 
in Russia and Eastern Europe. 
And this says nothing about 
less virulent, but still strong, 
antisemitism in the U.S., 
Europe and elsewhere.

The JN celebrates Israel@75.

of a Jewish
Homeland

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

continued on page 14