Sephardic
Contributions to the Development of the State of Israel
'ISRAIL
DEVLETI'NIN OLUSMASINA SEFARADI KATKILARI '
By
Shelomo Alfassa / May 5, 2008
This
paper is an official educational tool for the Zionist
Timelines
and the Israel at 60 programs of
The Jewish Agency for Israel.
(This
paper is dedicated to the memory of Hayim Azses of Jerusalem)
Lover of Israel • Diligent Scholar •
Proud Sepharadi •
Zekher Saddiq Librakha
Introduction
Over
the many centuries, while the Jewish people were exiled
from Eres Yisrael (the land of Israel), Jerusalem,
Safed, Hevron and other holy cities, retained a sparse
Jewish population, fed by a small but constant stream
of pilgrims. A cursory examination of Jewish personalities
demonstrates that Sephardim took it upon themselves to
migrate to and fortify Eres Yisrael, driven by a sense
of historic yearning for their ancestral home. Centuries
later, Sephardim continued to not only settle in the land,
but were key players in its modern development, although
this fact has, regrettably, been often eclipsed in the
historical narrative. Few documents and small bits of
history exist on Jewish national liberation and the development
of Eres Yisrael, and how the country came to be with assistance
and nurturing offered by Sephardic Jews. It is with tremendous
ignominy that the Sephardim have been almost completely
marginalized in the modern Zionist record of history.
Whether they came from Spain, North Africa or the Middle
East, what is fact and needs to be remembered is that
Sephardim played a considerable role in the State’s
origins and modern fruition. Throughout their centuries
in the Diaspora, Sephardim developed and devoted a sense
of philosophical and spiritual nationalism that prepared
the foundation for which modem Zionism stood on, and the
resulting fruit which is the return of the Jewish people
to their land.
