Lee Diamond – Israel at 70 and Never Again
Israel at 70
A magic number
Seventy is equal
To “ayin” in the Hebrew
Alphabet
Ayin like Israel is
Seventy
But ע is also
Eye
Insight
Vision
שמע ישראל
Hear with your “ayin”
With your eyes
O Israel
It’s taken us 70 years
To understand and see
And hear the miracle
O Israel
A miracle by the Jew; of the Jew ; and for the Jew.
Given by the Divine
And built by the sublime
Nation of Israel.
We recreated our ancient language
Shema now Means “ hey there—
Listen Buddy”
We created a formidable
Defense, the IDF
We created a beautiful youth
Unlike any other
We cultivated the potential
Of a living earth
We developed science
Literature , art, music, mathematics , high tech
Built new social models
And buildings to reach God’s
Throne.
And that God touched our
Outreaching hand
And we clasped it
And transformed ourselves
Into a proud and glorious
Nation/ State YisraEl
As we stand at attention
Honoring the best of our
Youth who were sacrificed
For this vision
We stand at attention for
The work of OUR hands
While grasping the hand of God.
God bless our clasp
God bless our budding youth
May God steer us on
In a mutual
עision.
Never Again
Words that define us today
Words repeated for generations
Words that reflect a bitter past
And vows of determination
For a better present
And a guaranteed future
It took us time
to shout this from the highest rafters
It took the will of survivors
To find the strength and faith
To “reJewvinate”
our collective spirit
And to guarantee
This phrase
Of “Never Again”
We had no choice
We built the highest buildings
We built cities and collectives
We built bodies and souls
Upright
Muscled
Moral
Questioning but Just
And With the pride
That dismissed
The image of weakness
And pleading for life
We became the Maccabees of old
And the Samson’s of the present
No more walls
To crumble
Upon us
But walls of Just Jewish defense
They don’t understand
We will never surrender again
We are here to stay
Nothing will move us
No march
And no burning tires
No threats of continuation
We are forever.
They think of us
As a crusader state here today
And gone with the wind tomorrow
The Jews are home again
Home to stay
No need to try us!
In Tel Aviv
In Nahal Oz
In Kfar Saba
And in Israel’s eternal
Capital
In Jerusalem
“Jerusalem Jerusalem
I will never move from here
Jerusalem Jerusalem
Let the Messiah come
Let peace reign Supreme
