The holidays and vacation are over. The students have returned to school.
To my surprise, that evening I receive a call from Yoav. He introduces himself as an 11th grade student.
Yoav and his friend Eran are preparing a paper on the 1948 generation. They want me to tell them about the 1948 War, the Palmach, and illegal immigration.
I was very moved and I am still moved that today's young people are interested in the past of the establishment of the state, in illegal immigrants and refugees.
Due to my advanced age, my hearing on the phone is impaired and working on Zoom is not easy. Therefore, we decided to meet at my home in Haifa.
We met and the conversation lasted hours… it was businesslike. I am still amazed by their curiosity, maturity, and seriousness.
Blessed are the people whose sons are these.
I pondered in my heart and tears filled my eyes…Blessed are the people whose sons are these. A promising generation of young people, the Maccabees of tomorrow. I have no doubt about it…
I told them that in 1947, the immigration ships were a symbol of rebirth and determination. Thousands of Holocaust survivors sought to come to Israel, but the British Mandate authorities continued to restrict immigration. One of the ships that participated in the immigration effort was the ship "Pan York", which David Ben-Gurion gave the name "Kummitiyat", "Atzmaut", names that expressed the aspiration of the Jewish people to establish an independent state in the Land of Israel.
On this ship was my friend Ruth, who later became a teacher at a special education school in Haifa. I told them her shocking and chilling story...
About the British destroyer chasing their ship until they were arrested in Cyprus, behind barbed wire fences. Ruthie's story is the story of thousands of refugees who did not give up on their dream of reaching the Land of Israel.
The period I lived in and knew closely
Your last question was. "How do you summarize your opinion on the 1958 generation and the Palmach?" I was amazed by the question.
I decided to tell them my answer to you too... and to the entire generation of young people who are interested.
The answer is unequivocal!
When I tell you about the generation of 1948, about the years 1947-1949, I'm not just talking about history.
I'm talking about a period in which I lived and knew closely.
I'm talking about people who were young, about my friends and acquaintances...
For many of my friends who did not return from the battle.
On days of excitement and fear, yes I was afraid. There is no shame in being afraid.
These were days of responsibility and great faith that what we do today will affect the future.
I was in the Palmach at the time, in the Harel Brigade. So the 1948 War and the Palmach are not a story I read in a book, they are part of my life. They are part of my memory and part of my history and that of this country.
The Jewish community in the land faced many dangers. Young men and women enlisted out of a sense of responsibility. They worked, trained, guarded, went on operations, and together built a force that would be able to defend the community and the Palmach, for example, was not only a fighting force, it also worked on farms to support itself.
Nowhere in the world does the army work to support itself. There was a spirit of volunteerism, of kindness, a spirit of mutual aid. A sense that each and every one of us is part of a great mission. And when you are needed, No one stands aside....joining every mission.
There were difficult days. Days of deprivation, of great effort, days of danger, and there were also many heavy losses.
We need to remember that the young people who fell were sorrows who loved, laughed, were afraid… and through it all, they kept going….
I already told you that we were afraid too… It's okay to be afraid, but we continued. Because sometimes you have to get up and do… This was the 1948 generation, the 1947-1949 generation.
We can learn responsibility from them, we can learn volunteerism from them, we can learn friendship from them… and most of all, we can learn from them that we don't have to wait for someone else to do the work… You have to get up and do it.
A small act Can change lives.
My young friends. You don't have to live the life of 1948 or the Palmach to understand the legacy. Times have changed, the state already exists, we have an amazing and excellent army, there are institutions, there is a security system and there are many more things... But the need for people who care hasn't changed.
Even today, society needs people who are willing to volunteer, people who are willing to help, people who are willing to take responsibility, people who know that even their small act can change the life of another person, and this is perhaps the most important message I want to tell you.
Heritage is not just what we received from the past, heritage is also what we pass on to the next generation.
I tell you not to glorify the past, not to say that everything was better once upon a time... but so that we don't forget, that we don't forget the path, that we don't forget the price, that we don't forget the people, and that we don't forget the values.
And in a world where everything changes so quickly, there are things we cannot afford to lose.
We must not lose the memory that he is one of them.
We must not lose the responsibility that is one of them.
We must not lose hope…
And we must not lose the humanity that is above all.
The generation of 1958 dreamed of a state. Today, thanks to them, we live in a state. Now the responsibility passes to you young people. The next generation…
You need to protect the country, but also protect the society in which we live.
To be people who care,
To be people who respect memory,
To be people who know how to lend a hand,
To be people who know how to respect evil, as they did in the Palmach.
The Palmach is not just a story from the past, the Palmach is a memory of people who took responsibility for their future. Taking responsibility…
And their true legacy is our responsibility, yours, for the future, for our future in general.