Two weeks ago we memorialized those lost in the Holocaust, last week we remember the soldiers who have fallen in battle, Israelis and Jews from all over the world who sacrificed their lives to secure Jewish sovereignty in the land of our forefathers. It’s no coincidence that these dates were aligned by the State. It’s a trajectory of history, but by no means the full history. Jews, dispersed around the globe have faced Zion to say their prayers for more than 2000 years. There are many things to say on the eve of Israel’s 68th birthday. A turning point was reached this year, as we mentioned in our Annual Assessment: Our numbers have reached what they were before the Shoah. More than six and a half million Jews are living happily in Israel. Although this may seem like a paradox, Avinoam Bar-Yosef explains why this is so in his opinion article titled The Improbable Happiness of Israelis, published on May 9th in the Wall Street Journal.