Parshat Ki Tza'a: From Yaakov to Ben-Gurion | Israel today

And behold, Jacob is dreaming, and in his dream the Lord stands above him and secures the land of the Land of Israel to him. Jacob awakens from his sleep and swears an oath, if God will take care of me and preserve me and give me back and give me bread and clothing, I will know he is with me. Rabbi Amrachai the Amorite came and demanded, God gave Jacob everything but no bread, because if God gives bread what more can Jacob ask for.

1924 In Jerusalem, at the cornerstone laying ceremony for the new workers 'building, unemployed workers in Eretz Israel shout at the workers' leader David Ben-Gurion, "Leader, bread!". Ben-Gurion replied, "I have no bread, I have a vision."

David Ben-Gurion, in his first months in Israel, had a fever, suffered from hunger, but did not ask for help. He persevered and lived in a small cave in Jerusalem, with a candle and one meal a day, and a vision was formed. Years later, he would become the father of the modern Israeli nation.

Although Ben-Gurion was a secular Jew, he was immersed in the Bible. He saw in him the rock of the existence of the people of Israel in the land of the Land of Israel and the greatest work of Judaism for all mankind. the declaration of Independence. get rid of this week, we read the book of Hosea court without a doubt Ben-Gurion had identified him: "and Dbrti upon prophets together and Anci revelation Hrbiti and Bid prophets together Admh."

Ben-Gurion had dreams and plans of action that will make them a vision come true. he called on the citizens of the nation Born to unite forces and encourage national creation. Today, we seem to be moving away from this prophecy. There are impressive intellectuals, scientists and cultural figures in our country, but most of us are preoccupied with ourselves. Most of us measure our success with money and IQ tests. The face of our world.

"I was a boy and also an old man and I did not see a righteous man left and his seed asking for bread," said our sages.

And so - in caring for our common future, we must strive to be more just.

The great challenges of our generation still lie ahead and can no longer be ignored: formulating a new social contract, caring for ecology and climate, protecting our national resources from exploitative corporations, and so on.

In the spirit of Ben-Gurion, and also in the spirit of Jewish tradition, we can not forget the vision - and even when there is not too much bread. 

The author is the Director of Training and Development at Beit Ben-Gurion in Tel Aviv, a Fellow of the Heschel Institute for Sustainability and the Wisdom Program at the University of Haifa

Vocabulary: Terrible 

Jacob leaves his house, runs away from his brother.

In the evening he lies down to sleep and in his dream he realizes that God is in place.

He responds with fear: "What a terrible place this is" (Genesis 22:17).

The word "terrible" in the Bible means - awe-inspiring.

There is a terrible angel in the Bible, and he speaks terribly and God himself is called terrible.

Today the word "terrible" is also used to say that something is really bad - "the food was terrible", and also as a substitute for the word "very".

So the word has somewhat lost its deep meaning, the perspiration that accompanies it, which is - in one word - a pity. 

Writing: Daniel Shereshevsky

In collaboration with 929 - an Israeli cultural project led by Rabbi Bnei Lau, which makes the Bible accessible in open discourse www.929.org.il