28 | DECEMBER 28 • 2023
J
N
OUR COMMUNITY
O
n May 14, 2023, Israel and Jews
throughout the world celebrated
the 75th anniversary of the day
David Ben-Gurion declared the modern
state of Israel in the wake of the UK
leaving British Mandate Palestine. It was
a rocky start. Surrounding Arab nations
immediately attacked Israel, but the
newly formed country prevailed against
overwhelming odds.
Since then, the tiny but mighty nation
grew from a population of about 600,000
in 1948 to nearly 10 million today. Over
the decades, the country has integrated
people of widely diverse backgrounds. The
country’s population is 73.5% Jewish, 20%
Arab-Israeli, with the remainder percentage
being Christian, Druze and others.
The “Startup Nation” grew from a feeble,
fledgling, tiny nation into one of the world’s
foremost digital and technological centers,
a nation that punches well above its weight
in per capita income and tech development.
And that remarkable accomplishment was
celebrated throughout the world this year
— including here in Metro Detroit and
at the Detroit Jewish News, whose exhibit
“Israel@75” has traveled throughout the
community.
Detroiters hosted Israeli artists,
musicians and speakers, multitudes of
celebrations were organized by synagogues
and the Jewish Federation of Detroit,
which kept Israel in the spotlight all year,
including taking more than 100 people to
Israel for the Motor City Mission.
However, throughout its 75-year history,
Israel has often had to defend its right to
exist. Wars were fought in 1956, 1967, 1973,
the first Lebanon War in 1982, the second
in 2006, and several intifadas since 1987
— and always lurking in the background is
the constant threat of terrorism against its
citizens and the Jewish people around the
world who consider it their homeland.
That threat exploded into reality on
Oct. 7, when Hamas launched a heinous
and barbaric terrorist attack, killing 1,200
people — the most Jews killed in one
day since the Holocaust — men, women,
children and babies. Hamas terrorists
used body cams and phones to film the
carnage. About 240 Israelis and Americans,
Germans, Thai, British and other foreign
citizens were taken hostage, including
children. To date, only about 100 have been
released.
In the wake of Oct. 7, there was shock,
rage and mourning around the world.
Israel vowed to root out Hamas once and
for all and launched an attack on Hamas
in Gaza that continues to this day. Because
of Hamas’ cowardly strategy of using their
own people as human shields, the cost in
loss of life and sheer human misery has
been incalculable and the world’s sympathy
begins to waiver.
More than 130 IDF soldiers have died to
date and thousands have been wounded.
Families are mourning their lost loved ones
and those still in the hands of terrorists
in Gaza while Hamas continues to launch
rockets into Israel every day.
Yet, Israel stands united.
After a year in which many thousands
of Israelis took to the streets to protest
proposed judicial reforms, as of Oct.
8, those divisions were left in the past.
Reservists who had protested proposed
judicial reforms returned to duty (360,000
reservists were called up by the IDF). Over
2,000 Haredi men volunteered to join the
IDF. Israeli city-dwellers volunteer on
farms and kibbutzim, families open their
arms and homes to those displaced by the
war, and the country mobilizes to fill in for
the reservists now defending the homeland
against the evil of Hamas.
The American Jewish community rose
to the occasion as well, including Metro
Detroit, which has long supported Israel.
The community rallied, holding vigils
and other events, and raising close to $30
million locally. (American Jews raised
$1 billion in the first month after the
war, according to Ruderman Program
researchers.)
Detroiters have gone to Israel as
volunteers to fill the gap in services left
when reservists were called to the IDF.
Their stories have been chronicled in the
pages of the Detroit Jewish News these last
few months, and new stories continue to
come in: stories of volunteers, fundraisers,
memorials — to say nothing of the prayers,
services and memorials held throughout
the community.
And always with the words: Am Yisrael
Chai.
We stand united with our beloved Israel
and the remarkable people who took a
barren desert and turned it into a thriving,
modern country, who have faced existential
threats time and time again and have
prevailed, who continue to fight for their
right to exist — and who do so as one
nation, undivided.
The JN salutes the strength and resolve of
the Israeli people — our newsmakers of the
year.
The Newsmakers of the Year:
The People of Israel
JACKIE HEADAPOHL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
From celebrations in the spring of 2023 to days of
darkness in the fall and winter — Am Yisrael Chai.