Address of Knesset Speaker MK Yuli-Yoel Edelstein at the Independence Day Torch Lighting Ceremony on Mt. Herzl April 15, 2013 Citizens of Israel, With the fall of darkness, we are in the difficult moments of the sharp transition from grief and loss to joyous celebration. In this rare hour: An hour of favor and togetherness. In this ultimate Israeli hour, a prayer and desire emerges from the bottom of our hearts: “Heavenly Father, Israel’s Rock and Redeemer, bless the State of Israel, the first flowering of our redemption. Shield it under the wings of your loving-kindness and spread over it the tabernacle of your peace.” Happy Independence Day Israel! Citizens of Israel, I was not born in this country, and her landscapes were not etched inside me during childhood. As a child, I never dreamed that the day would come that I’d be standing here, beside the grave of the Visionary of the State, as a representative of the Israeli Knesset. I never dreamed, not because I didn’t dare, and not because I was afraid. As a child, I was barely familiar with the State of Israel, and I never dreamed I’d be a part of her; therefore, I never knew such a dream was possible; that one could dream so far, so deep, so different. Lo and behold, today, the fifth of Iyar, 5773, I stand here, exactly twenty six years after the fifth of Iyar 5747, the day I was released from prison, and my heart is sighing, overflowing, full of prayer and gratitude. “Blessed is he who has given us life, sustained us and enabled us to reach this occasion!” “We spoke in many languages And we barely knew each other And we left many places and there was only one place we loved and yearned for.” Thus it was written in “The Song of the Convoy” And we all know the refrain: “And the convoy continues From the past century, Distant are those who left, Farmers and pioneers Who labored and travailed Without seeing the end of the road.” And indeed, we are different. We are Sabras alongside new immigrants, Sephardim alongside Ashkenazim. We have “made aliyah” from Africa and America, from Asia and from Europe. We are religious and secular. Haredi and traditional. We have come from the ghettos and the camps; we escaped from a terrible past and from an even more threatening future that awaited us, somewhere out there. We broke through the Iron Curtain and we fled from sealed borders. Others left a promising future, wealth and success; and so very many were born here, in the land of our forefathers, in Tel Aviv and in Jerusalem, in Qiryat Shemona and in Eilat, in Beit El and in Netivot. But the convoy, Citizens of Israel, does not continue just from this past century, neither from the one before; its roots are deeper. This year, the sixty fifth year of our independence, we mark the “Year of National Heritage.” Our national heritage did not begin last century, and not in the last millennium. Our national heritage is thousands of years old. The Zionist Movement and the State of Israel owe their existence to our national heritage that shaped us as a nation and united us during the years of exile. It is not we who preserved our memory; rather: Our memory preserved us. It is not we who guarded our heritage; rather: Our heritage guarded us. Our national heritage endowed us with the Bible and sowed hope in the hearts of the exiles of Babylon. The study of Torah and the hope for redemption kept the heads of the warriors of the First Jewish-Roman War held high, and guided the devotion of the scholars of Yavne. It was these that consoled the European Jews during the Crusades, and strengthened the hearts of the Marranos in Spain. It was this that was the support for the Jews on board the Exodus. This was our support, and this will be our support today, now; as we build our future here in the State of Israel. It is not only a shared fate that brings us together - but also a shared destiny. The core values of the Jewish people and our heritage are those that unite us, despite our differences. They connect us, and they will shape us in our future as a nation. I do not see before me a cultural melting pot. On the contrary! The existence of the “other”, which some see as a decree - I experience as a blessing. There are some who see the cultural and ethnic diversity of Israel as a catastrophe. They see our disagreements as a sign of decay. But I see them as a sign of life, a promise of growth. The Jewish national heritage, Jewish culture, is a culture of diversity and disagreements. It is a culture that sees value in the saying that “there are seventy facets to the Torah.” I see before me an Israeli society in which there is no ideal Israeli. There is no one way to be Israeli. There is a plethora of Israeli experiences, a wide range of Israeli identities. Our unique cultural and ethnic richness is part of the secret of our success, part of the wonder of the State of Israel. The financial wonder, and the fact that Israel is a technological empire stem very much from the integration of Sabras and immigrants, the integration of Israeli daring and Jewish creativity. We do not need to accept the diversity as a matter of having no choice in the matter, but we should rather cherish it. We should allow it to thrive, and allow ourselves to grow from it. We must continue with our arguments. However, when we argue about equal rights and obligations or about budgets, about “left” and “right,” we mustn’t strive to defeat our opponents! We must strive for a society that has rivals within it, a society in which haredim can fulfill their lifestyle in accordance with their beliefs, and within that will be able to accept responsibility for the safety and future of the country, just as seculars of the same age do. We must allow a range of identities, alongside a rich shared heritage. The torch lighters who were chosen this year are individuals who represent a nation. Intellectuals and doers, people of the book and of the sword, all deeply devoted to the preservation of memory and bequeathing it to the future generations. They are the passers of the torch of heritage and memory from one generation to the next. Two of them are representatives of youth movements. Youth, in your hands lies the future of the State of Israel. You are the hope for national renewal. Our future lies in Zionism, and not in cynicism! Shed the layers of tiredness from upon yourselves; burst the bubble, and we will connect to our heritage and our memory, the beating heart of our nation. Israel is celebrating her sixty fifth birthday, but her existence still is not to be taken for granted. Israel celebrates sixty five years of independence, and yet there are still those who refuse to recognize her, refuse to recognize us. We fought for our right to exist, and we stand on guard to protect the state we built with sweat, blood and hard work. No one will deter us! We are determined to continue weaving the Zionist dream, and to strengthen Zionism within and without of Israel. We should go up at once, and possess; for we are well able to overcome! Happy Independence Day Israel! .