By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
I marvel at the miracle.
Most of the time I take it for granted, but every year, on Israeli Independence Day, I marvel anew at the miracle called the modern State of Israel.
Israel was established 67 years ago. At the time there were 806,000 citizens. Today there are 8,345,000. That is a ten fold increase.
That's a miracle.
When Israel was created Tel Aviv Yaffa had 100,000 residents. Today there are 14 cities with over 100,000 residents and 6 of those cities have over 200,000 citizens. That's a miracle.
Israel grew by 162,000 people last year. There were 44,000 deaths. 32,000 people made aliyah - despite, or perhaps in spite of, the tension of this past summer. That's a miracle.
Here is the most remarkable number of them all. 176,000 babies were born. Every birth is a miracle.
Now multiply that by 176,000.
75% of Israelis are native born sabras.
6,251,000 are Jewish. 1,730,000, or 20.7% of the population, are Arabs.
These numbers are nothing short of a miracle. At 67 years old Israel has exceeded all expectations. 67 years ago, when our parents and grandparents witnessed the birth of the State of Israel, they hardly believed it would last this long.
Happy birthday and forever more.
Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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