From Oppression to Freedom part 2

For Zion's sake I will take a stand and not be silent.

For Jerusalem's sake my voice will be heard.



For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest.

Until her righteousness goes forth like radiance and her salvation like a burning torch.



But history repeats its self and the cycle resumed.

And a new threat arose; the Roman Empire.

And the Jews were once again repressed and persecuted.

Tensions grew and in the year 66, they erupted into open revolt.

After long and hard years of battle, the revolt was crushed.

And the Holy Temple was destroyed and we were again in exile.



And we waited for the day that we would return to Zion and Jerusalem.

We were persecuted countless times; the crusades, the inquisition, pogroms in Russia.

We longed to return to Zion.

But all was not lost.

And amidst anti-Semitism and prejudice a leader would arise.

His name was Herzl and he had a dream; to have a Jewish state in the land of Israel where our forefathers had dwelled.

And others followed him.

And then came the Balfour declaration and it seemed like our dream had come true; but it was not to be.
 
And before that dream would come true our people yet again faced death.

And then came the Holocaust and six million of our number were torn away from us.



And we longed as never before for a state.

And in November of 1947, our dream seemed a reality.

But yet again it was not to be.

But less than a year later, the hope of two thousand years would become a reality.

The year was 1948, the day, March 14^th.


       And in the midst of war, with these words, David Ben Gurion declared the establishment of the state of Israel, "ACCORDINGLY WE, MEMBERS OF THE PEOPLE'S COUNCIL, REPRESENTATIVES OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ERETZ-ISRAEL AND OF THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT… HEREBY DECLARE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A JEWISH STATE IN ERETZ-ISRAEL, TO BE KNOWN AS THE STATE OF ISRAEL.!!!!" 
 

And through the following war, we did not forsake Israel and Jerusalem. The cycle that began when we entered the land under Joshua and were expelled by the Babylonians had come to an end.
 
For Zion's sake I will take a stand and not be silent.

For Jerusalem's sake my voice will be heard.



For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest.

Until her righteousness goes forth like radiance and her salvation like a burning torch.