This is how Amos Oz, in his memoir A Tale of Love and Darkness, describes what happened the night the UN voted to establish a Jewish state:

“… my father said to me as we wandered there, on the night of November 29, 1947, me riding on his shoulders among rings of dancers and merrymakers, not as though he was asking me but as though he knew and was hammering in what he knew with nails: Just you look, my boy, take a very good look, son, take it all in, because you won’t forget this night to your dying day and you’ll tell your children, your grandchildren, and your great-grandchildren about this night when we’re long gone.”

As we celebrate Israel’s birthday, host Marcela Sulak reads from Oz’s iconic description of the events surrounding the struggle for Israeli independence.

Text:
Amos Oz, A Tale of Love and Darkness. Translated by Nicholas De Lange. Harcourt, Inc., 2003.

Music:
Ofra Haza – Eli Eli (lyrics by Hannah Szenes)
City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra – Hatikvah

Producer: Laragh Widdess
Technical producer: Alex Benish