Independence “Sanctuary”

How appropriate (or ironic, choose your adjective) that, on America’s Day of Independence, we visited Israel’s Independence Hall. The word used in Hebrew for the building is more literally translated as “sanctuary.” This can be seen as part of an attempt to secularize Hebrew and Jewish heritage. What previously was a religious sacred space is now “secularly sacred” – important politically and culturally rather than religiously. Interestingly, the Independence Museum is run by (and paid for by) the municipality of Tel Aviv, not the state of Israel.
Israel’s story of independence, as told by the guides and video of the Sanctuary:
The signing took place in one of the first houses built in Tel Aviv. In 1904, the second aliyah (wave of Jewish immigration) came to Israel and a large community settled in the port community of Jofa. On the 11th of April in 1909, sixty-six Jewish families bought a plot of land north of the port on the coast. The families gathered on a dune and cast lots for plots of land. In 1911, the first mayor of Tel Aviv (whose first name, ironically enough, was Major) built a house on the very ground where the lot-casting took place. He and his wife were childless and lived in the house until 1930, upon her death. Mayor Mayor dedicated the house to the municipality on the condition that it be a community Art Museum. The Museum opened in 1936. In 1971, the Museum moved and the house became a History Museum in 1978.
The original Declaration of Independence is no longer on public display. It was written on three leaves of paper which were sown together (like a Torah scroll is). Blue and white sewing on the side makes it appear like a prayer shawl. The Museum was chosen as a location because of its ability to perform as a bunker. At the time of the signing of the Declaration, several neighboring countries were moving in to attack Tel Aviv.
After 1937, the British became rather hostile to Zionism. It was in Britain’s best interest to help Arab states for World War 2 and for oil. But there would not be a Jewish national home today without the British, who facilitated Jewish immigration to the area and aided in land purchase. (Important to note here – historically, the Holocaust is NOT the central story that led to Israel’s birth as a state. The first wave of immigration occurred in the 19th century.) The Israeli Declaration of Independence is very clearly not religiously Jewish but rather nationally so. The document does not contain the word “God” and states that the Torah was written by the Jewish people (that is, not by God). Israel is about freedom from and freedom to. From Antisemitism and being the minority; to be Hebrew and create a culture from it. Many see the interaction between land and language with humans as what creates a national culture. The state of Israel is an attempt to normalize Jewish culture.