Dear Friends and Partners.
I am writing to you on Independence Day, a very emotional day, since it is the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel, and after a week of very intensive emotions from every direction. From deep sadness and sorrow, the shock of recalled memories on Holocaust and Martyrs' Remembrance Day and the rebirth of the Jewish People, which is the establishment of our State, the national Jewish home.

I cried quite a bit this past week, out of pain and sorrow for all our dead and fallen, and then out of joy and pride on Independence Day. At one event at a navy base in Eilat, a crowd of thousands, including many children, stood at attention and sang "Hatikva". At 10:50PM (Israel time) Jews in Israel and all over the world were asked to sing Hatikva in unison and enter into the Guinness Book of Records. I tried to imagine all of you singing along with us. One of our people broadcast the event to a son studying in Argentina, and he sang together with us from his classroom.

As a daughter of Holocaust survivors who also experienced further anti-Semitism in Poland after the war, including a terrible pogrom in Kielce, where many survivors of the Nazis were ruthlessly and brutally murdered, I don't take the State of Israel for granted. I see it as a great privilege for the Jewish People and a precious gift that must be carefully guarded and protected. Despite that all is not perfect here, and there is certainly a lot to be fixed, I still proclaim, like the famous song, "I have no other land!".

During this difficult week, with countless stories of the Holocaust and survival being told and retold, I learned to appreciate even more those survivors still among us. They managed to raise new families, establish a state, studied, built this land and also brought it to unsurpassed technological and social achievements.

Many Holocaust survivors were killed defending the fledgling state and many more gave birth to children who fell in the many wars forced upon us. Later in the week, on Memorial Day, we watched movies and heard stories about Israel's soldiers. So many heroic stories about those who died before their time. As a mother of 4 soldiers either in active or reserve duty, the pain bores deep into my heart. I even felt a little guilty and uncomfortable for the happiness of those who have not paid the ultimate price with their bodies and blood. But at least many grieving parents are somewhat comforted by knowing that their sons and daughters died for their People and country.

The joint and amazing singing of "Hatikva" was both an emotional and proud climax for me. Is there any other people scattered all over the world ready to sing their national anthem together? Would the State of Israel have been created without the help of world Jewry?

On the other hand, would world Jewry feel so secure and proud if there wasn't a country always ready to absorb and welcome them, or send emissaries to every corner of the world to save Jews or Israelis in trouble? 

Dear friends, we would be thrilled if you could come and celebrate with us during this 60th birthday year. I'll end with something you might think a little "schmaltzy": "The People of Israel Lives - "Am Yisrael Chai"!  Long live the State of Israel- forever and ever!!

Sincerely,
Dr. Yehudit Antonelli