Nostalgic Moments

by Beny Maissner (originally published at holyblossom.org on May 2, 2016)

Every year, as Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel’s Independence Day) approaches, I am filled with yearning memories and nostalgia. It is hard to believe that it has been almost six decades since I served in the Israel Defence Forces’ Special Unit Nachal.

As if it were yesterday, in 1962 Nachal ascended Mount Gilboa to break ground on Hill 500, the summit, for a new Military and Jewish National Fund settlement to be called Ma’Ale Gilboa. Immediately to the east, we looked down on the Valley of Beit She’an, in Israel’s lower Galilee. Farther east, we saw Jordan, two Arab-Palestinian villages, Fakua and Jalabun, on the outskirts of the Jordanian city of Jenin.

As the first unit to settle on this stony mountain, devoid of vegetation and so near to the border, we had two tasks—planting trees, 150 to be exact, and keeping the border secure from infiltration and terrorism. Living with and working side-by-side many childhood friends from the B’nei Akiva Youth Movement, I felt honoured to serve my country and to help realize the Zionist dream.

Over the years, we have kept in touch, gathering for reunions where we relive the moments none of us will ever forget and share our individual collections of photographs, some of which I include with this article. Notice the dignitaries who came to greet us at the opening ceremony on November 29, 1962. Among them, the military Rabbi of the Israel Defence Forces; the Chief Commander of our Nacahal unit, Shmuel Eyal; Yitzhak Rabin, who was second in command to the Chief of Staff and would become Prime Minister; and a very young Shimon Peres, who would become President and Prime Minister. Knesset member, Avraham Burg, placed a Mezuzah on the door where the Synagogue would be. And then there was me, at the age of 18, holding up the front, right corner of the Chuppah and escorting the Torah to its new home. This  was a highlight of my life.

So please forgive me if I become overly sentimental and emotional on Yom Ha’atzmaut. While I have happily made my home in North America, I am never far from my Israel and she is never far from me. It seems you can remove the Jew from Israel, but you cannot remove Israel from the Jew.