THE PEDIGREE OF
ISRAEL’S FOUNDING FATHERS
When you think of
the early years of the State of Israel, names like Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, Levi
Eshkol, Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres come to mind. They did not
become leaders overnight, but it was as if they had been prepared for
generations for the historic task of leading this incredible State from its
birth through its infancy. All were visionaries, nurturing a sense of safety,
security, caring for each other, advancing in all fields of science and
technology and dreaming big.
It was Shimon Peres
who said: If I have any regrets, it is that I did not dream even bigger!
Unlike many
politicians of other countries, rich and poor, they did not arrive to lead with
mediocre talent and lots of luck and connections. Sons succeeding fathers
happens not only in North Korea but as well in Kenya, Congo, India, Malaysia
just to name a few democratic states, not to mention autocratic Sheikdoms and
Sultanates and Emirates.
Let us look at the
genealogy of one such Israeli politician: Shimon Peres
His grandfather on
his mother’s side was a graduate of the famous Volozhin Yeshiva, described as a
“wise Jew proud and strong-minded”. Since the age of nine, Shimon read
Dostoevsky, Gogol, Tolstoy and other Russian writers. Apart from reading the
classic Jewish writers of that time, Shalom Aleichem, Mapu, Peretz,
Mendele-Mokher Sefarim, he also read Russian Classics. Shimon’s paternal
grandfather was an offspring of the Voloshin Yeshiva’s founder. He grew up well
versed in the Talmud and could speak Hebrew, Yiddish as well as Russian and
Polish.
You do not become a
statesman of the stature of Shimon Peres overnight or not even in one
generation!
I am reading the
biography of Shimon Peres by Michael Bar-Zohar
It is an interesting,
absorbing read and my opinion, respect and admiration for SHIMON PERES goes up
with each page.
(photos of Technion taken during my recent visit)
Lucky to have had
such great leaders at the time of the birth of the State of Israel and later on
to lead the country to the state of innovation and science and technology and
advances to such fabulous heights
dwarfing most of the Europeans, in the geographical region where it is, surrounded by States and
Statesmen who cannot hold a wimpy candle up !
