David Ben-Gurion May 15, 1948 Autograph Letter Signed - "The Jewish People Have Attained The Epitome...The State of Israel Is Born"
** IN THE VERY MOMENTS OF ISRAEL’S INDEPENDENCE, BEN-GURION WRITES TO A FRIEND TO ANNOUNCE…”THE STATE OF ISRAEL IS BORN” **
Inspiring and moving autograph letter signed by David Ben-Gurion, penned from Tel Aviv on 6th Iyar (May 15), 1948, one day after Ben-Gurion signed the Israeli Declaration of Independence and two days before he would become its first Prime Minister. In this personal and expressive letter written on a lined postcard measuring 5.5''x3.625'', Ben-Gurion writes to his childhood friend, the activist Shlomo Lavi, regarding their long journey towards a Jewish state. Translated from Hebrew, the letter reads:
''When we first arrived here in Palestine, you as Levkovich and I as Grün, holding the banner of labor in our hands, we discovered malaria, swamps, and an Ottoman regime rife with corruption. But now, though the roar of artillery has yet to be silenced, and our sons fight on the front, our heart is joyful at the sight of such great progress.
The Jewish people have attained the epitome, the very essence of their existence; the State of Israel is born.”
Ben-Gurion references the parallel journeys of he and Lavi, as both moved from Plonsk (present day Poland) to the Ottoman Empire in 1906 and 1905 respectively, where they adopted Hebrew surnames and built lives dedicated to Zionist activism. This letter is likely one of the very first written by Ben-Gurion after signing the Declaration of Independence, and certainly one of the most personal.
The postcard is cancelled on 16 May 1948 over ''Doar Ivri'' postage stamp. Single hole punch and minor discoloration to edge, else near fine condition.
The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization, Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, and later first Prime Minister of Israel. It declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel, which would come into effect on termination of the British Mandate at midnight that day. The event is celebrated annually in Israel as Independence Day, a national holiday on 5 Iyar of every year according to the Hebrew calendar.
U.S. President Harry Truman was the first world leader to officially recognize Israel as a legitimate Jewish state on 14 May 1948, only eleven minutes after its creation.
Shlomo Lavi (Levkovich; 1882-1963), among the foremost visionaries behind the original concept of the kibbutz, close, lifelong friend of David Ben-Gurion, described by Ben-Gurion as "the most extraordinary individual of the Second Aliyah". Like Ben-Gurion, Lavi was born in the Polish town of Plonsk, and was a member of "Ezra", the Zionist youth group founded by Ben-Gurion and Shlomo Zemach. Lavi immigrated to Palestine in 1905, worked as a laborer in the Sejera agricultural colony, at the Atid Company’s vegetable oil factory, and at the Kinneret Farm, and was one of the founding fathers of the HaShomer Jewish civil defense organization. As a member of Kvutzat Kinneret (Kinneret Group), he conceived the idea of "HaKvutzah HaGedolah" (the "Large Group") – a concept that would soon develop into what became known as the "kibbutz". In 1921, he became one of the founders of Kibbutz Ein Harod. Following the establishment of the State of Israel, he served as a member of the First and Second Knesset.
** IN THE VERY MOMENTS OF ISRAEL’S INDEPENDENCE, BEN-GURION WRITES TO A FRIEND TO ANNOUNCE…”THE STATE OF ISRAEL IS BORN” **
Inspiring and moving autograph letter signed by David Ben-Gurion, penned from Tel Aviv on 6th Iyar (May 15), 1948, one day after Ben-Gurion signed the Israeli Declaration of Independence and two days before he would become its first Prime Minister. In this personal and expressive letter written on a lined postcard measuring 5.5''x3.625'', Ben-Gurion writes to his childhood friend, the activist Shlomo Lavi, regarding their long journey towards a Jewish state. Translated from Hebrew, the letter reads:
''When we first arrived here in Palestine, you as Levkovich and I as Grün, holding the banner of labor in our hands, we discovered malaria, swamps, and an Ottoman regime rife with corruption. But now, though the roar of artillery has yet to be silenced, and our sons fight on the front, our heart is joyful at the sight of such great progress.
The Jewish people have attained the epitome, the very essence of their existence; the State of Israel is born.”
Ben-Gurion references the parallel journeys of he and Lavi, as both moved from Plonsk (present day Poland) to the Ottoman Empire in 1906 and 1905 respectively, where they adopted Hebrew surnames and built lives dedicated to Zionist activism. This letter is likely one of the very first written by Ben-Gurion after signing the Declaration of Independence, and certainly one of the most personal.
The postcard is cancelled on 16 May 1948 over ''Doar Ivri'' postage stamp. Single hole punch and minor discoloration to edge, else near fine condition.
The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization, Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, and later first Prime Minister of Israel. It declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel, which would come into effect on termination of the British Mandate at midnight that day. The event is celebrated annually in Israel as Independence Day, a national holiday on 5 Iyar of every year according to the Hebrew calendar.
U.S. President Harry Truman was the first world leader to officially recognize Israel as a legitimate Jewish state on 14 May 1948, only eleven minutes after its creation.
Shlomo Lavi (Levkovich; 1882-1963), among the foremost visionaries behind the original concept of the kibbutz, close, lifelong friend of David Ben-Gurion, described by Ben-Gurion as "the most extraordinary individual of the Second Aliyah". Like Ben-Gurion, Lavi was born in the Polish town of Plonsk, and was a member of "Ezra", the Zionist youth group founded by Ben-Gurion and Shlomo Zemach. Lavi immigrated to Palestine in 1905, worked as a laborer in the Sejera agricultural colony, at the Atid Company’s vegetable oil factory, and at the Kinneret Farm, and was one of the founding fathers of the HaShomer Jewish civil defense organization. As a member of Kvutzat Kinneret (Kinneret Group), he conceived the idea of "HaKvutzah HaGedolah" (the "Large Group") – a concept that would soon develop into what became known as the "kibbutz". In 1921, he became one of the founders of Kibbutz Ein Harod. Following the establishment of the State of Israel, he served as a member of the First and Second Knesset.
** IN THE VERY MOMENTS OF ISRAEL’S INDEPENDENCE, BEN-GURION WRITES TO A FRIEND TO ANNOUNCE…”THE STATE OF ISRAEL IS BORN” **
Inspiring and moving autograph letter signed by David Ben-Gurion, penned from Tel Aviv on 6th Iyar (May 15), 1948, one day after Ben-Gurion signed the Israeli Declaration of Independence and two days before he would become its first Prime Minister. In this personal and expressive letter written on a lined postcard measuring 5.5''x3.625'', Ben-Gurion writes to his childhood friend, the activist Shlomo Lavi, regarding their long journey towards a Jewish state. Translated from Hebrew, the letter reads:
''When we first arrived here in Palestine, you as Levkovich and I as Grün, holding the banner of labor in our hands, we discovered malaria, swamps, and an Ottoman regime rife with corruption. But now, though the roar of artillery has yet to be silenced, and our sons fight on the front, our heart is joyful at the sight of such great progress.
The Jewish people have attained the epitome, the very essence of their existence; the State of Israel is born.”
Ben-Gurion references the parallel journeys of he and Lavi, as both moved from Plonsk (present day Poland) to the Ottoman Empire in 1906 and 1905 respectively, where they adopted Hebrew surnames and built lives dedicated to Zionist activism. This letter is likely one of the very first written by Ben-Gurion after signing the Declaration of Independence, and certainly one of the most personal.
The postcard is cancelled on 16 May 1948 over ''Doar Ivri'' postage stamp. Single hole punch and minor discoloration to edge, else near fine condition.
The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization, Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, and later first Prime Minister of Israel. It declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel, which would come into effect on termination of the British Mandate at midnight that day. The event is celebrated annually in Israel as Independence Day, a national holiday on 5 Iyar of every year according to the Hebrew calendar.
U.S. President Harry Truman was the first world leader to officially recognize Israel as a legitimate Jewish state on 14 May 1948, only eleven minutes after its creation.
Shlomo Lavi (Levkovich; 1882-1963), among the foremost visionaries behind the original concept of the kibbutz, close, lifelong friend of David Ben-Gurion, described by Ben-Gurion as "the most extraordinary individual of the Second Aliyah". Like Ben-Gurion, Lavi was born in the Polish town of Plonsk, and was a member of "Ezra", the Zionist youth group founded by Ben-Gurion and Shlomo Zemach. Lavi immigrated to Palestine in 1905, worked as a laborer in the Sejera agricultural colony, at the Atid Company’s vegetable oil factory, and at the Kinneret Farm, and was one of the founding fathers of the HaShomer Jewish civil defense organization. As a member of Kvutzat Kinneret (Kinneret Group), he conceived the idea of "HaKvutzah HaGedolah" (the "Large Group") – a concept that would soon develop into what became known as the "kibbutz". In 1921, he became one of the founders of Kibbutz Ein Harod. Following the establishment of the State of Israel, he served as a member of the First and Second Knesset.