Millions of Jews the
whole world over
Hold their breath
Huddled around their
radios
Straining to hear the
latest bit of news
Hoping against hope
That the 20th century
The bloodiest of them all
Might still hold the
seeds of promise
For a tired people
An ancient people
A wounded people
Fresh from the killing
fields of Europe.
The United Nations meets
to decide the fate of the Jews!
For or against partition
of Palestine and the Yeshuv!
Australia votes yes!
Egypt votes no!
America votes yes!
Jordan votes no!
Canada votes yes!
Syria votes no!
Argentina abstains!
Chile abstains!
United Kingdom abstains!
A million Jewish hearts
beat as one!
Then, suddenly, the final
vote tally is taken!
Thirty three for,
thirteen against, ten abstain!
Like a thunderclap from
the heavens!
Partition wins!
There are to be two
states!
One Jewish, one Arab!
Hope is reborn!
The Jewish People again
have a homeland at last!
After two thousand years
of exile!
A Jewish homeland at
last!
Hope!
Hope renewed!
Hope restored!
With the simple stroke of
a pen
Hope, Hatikvah, again
triumphs over despair!
No more need Jewish
children
Shake and tremble in
their beds
Homeless no more!
Stateless no more!
Powerless no more!
Cheering and crying
Dancing in the streets of
Tel Aviv!
The world has changed
The tide has shifted!
From out of the ashes of
Auschwitz
The Jewish Phoenix has
arisen!
Resurrection! Redemption!
Shout it from the roof
tops of Jerusalem and Haifa!
Shout it from the valleys
of Galilee
And the orange groves of
Jaffa!
Shout it from the
mountaintops of Mt. Sinai and Mt. Hermon!
Am Chai Yisroel!
The Jewish People live!
jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2010
