What if a new tradition has emerged?Israel's Declaration of Independence, for the first time since the state was established in 1948, was read from the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Sunday evening during an event organized by several Jewish organizations.
Only a small audience was allowed to attend the historic event due to the coronavirus limitations from the government.
However, as the event was broadcasted live throughout the Jewish world in several languages including English, Spanish and French, thousands around the world were able to watch the reading online.
The reading of the Declaration of Independence from the Western Wall in Jerusalem - the spiritual, national and religious center of the Jewish people - aimed at emphasizing the connection between Diaspora Jewry and the State of Israel, and could be the start of a new tradition on the Sunday between Yom HaShoah and Independence Day, as wished by the World Zionist Organization (WZO) who organized the event.
"The Megillah is an exemplary Jewish-Israeli document that reflects vision and values, culture and morals, politics alongside ethics.
The Declaration of Independence has a founding value in Israeli sovereignty," declared Dr. Yizhar Hess, deputy and acting chairman of the WZO.
The readers came from a variety of streams in Judaism – Conservatives, Orthodox, Reform and secular – in a real and valuable effort to celebrate the multiplicity of faces in the people of Israel and in the Zionist movement.
"On this day, we seek to inculcate a custom and tradition for the days ahead in order to validate the glorious vision of the Declaration of Independence, while at the same time connecting Jewish communities around the world to the special ten days between Holocaust Remembrance Day and Independence Day," Hess said.