Jeremy Jerusalem Day Lecture

so we have a little bit time and so I'll just speak from my heart and hopefully a little bit about me my English is pretty good but I'm not American my grandfather walks from Russia to Israel in 1916 when he was 15 years old how many people here are 15 or younger no one older than 15 to 20 years old and like just because money for 20 of them and they walked for a year it took them a year and a half to get to Israel and eventually they arrived in Israel [Music] Israel and you wanted to buy the cheapest college in America in addition to any page textbook after translating all the text in here studying from doesn't just to understand the words origin and study for the test he was putting in 16 hours of days 17 hours a day of studying it was one fateful Saturday night his friends a bunch of they said English why did you come to the game tonight and my dad said that while okay what games week wasn't white [Music] my father goes to show us make sure that went down the football field this is so new to YouTube every single kid in the United States of America like this there's no goalie here you know I just did in soccer there's someone trying to stop me and just have to keep the ball that's why I work there's no one trying to stop me oh my gosh we person getting a football antenna for this is 45 yard line my father did this 45 hours that is a professional but no that's like serious and they never see emerging football like that before and so I don't know if this really happened I just can't tell you what to do my father tells me this part of the story and these people from each other they said we have a secret women from Israel and now the kicker is usually not at the start of the teens with only 30 points a touchdown to seven points but this team that was other colleges such a small komotini was so bad they've never been to get into the endzone so the entire strategy of the team became okay let's make it hard for you there on the field and then my father took the field and my father became the high scorer on the football team he was so good in football betting on football scholarship to Oklahoma University he was so good he was drafted to the Chicago Bears spring training and there's something like just my mother is gonna kill me but it was then introduced European soccer stop kicking to American football and because the Hungarian guy of all things no one even knows about my anyway and then come back to the second hole beautiful his father walked for a year nap to get here he wasn't just ever forget about Israel the dream of the Jewish people but the dream of the Jewish people took almost a second seat to the awesome like Atlanta Georgia life in Atlanta was amazing he had a beautiful home and a wonderful car great job who's an amazing career and Hereafter but my father got stuck in America for 20 years and it was in 1991 there was the University in the middle of all the flights to Israel one channel could separate a lot of flights they got like only up behind me and they pretty much never since I was 10 years old at that time and then right after the war I've never allowed to talk there to destroy in Israel and they're like well we got stuck here quite a long time because it's time for us to move back and so I moved back to Israel in 1991 and I've been here ever since so what the high school repair of at the possible here served in the military here and ever and ever since so although I think this is quite good cuz I won in the men to torture my rooms right here my life is here my wife is here for families here so far more Israeli than I am American here's where I am now so the reason why I'm told that school is first of all that that's a cool story about my father in the football people should know that story the other reason one culture that stories because that is a microcosm a little bit of the story of the Jewish returning to the land in his room where my brother my grandfather came from a Jewish co-op Orthodox Jewish may be inclusive as we walked for a year and a half across the plains of Russia wasn't very realistic he just so my grandmother became a secular zionists and if he joined she needs to die the abuse to dine with the first chief oops established in Israel and you know my grandmother didn't participate in this element of kyboots de gallo but she would stick Anya on Yom Kippur used to have barbecues on the beach if dictionary just to stick it to God it was like an anti religious movement the beginning of Zionism and when my family came back it was a totally different reality and my grandmother was running away from Europe he was running away from anti-semitism running away from hatred he was running away from what would be the Holocaust just a few years later when my family came back to Atlanta Georgia in 1991 we were running away from Atlanta life in America was amazing we were running into desert this time not a secular zionists but as a religious silence was like a vision with a destiny that's totally different from the United States Israel didn't even know one is to be a minority there so Derek are thinking of serving in the first military organizing or Jerry since the times of Kingdom it's a totally different reality it's a different Jewish light painting and so the transition there was at the beginning of the [Music] there's a price to pay for there's terror then there's only this young huh Shailaja that's the reminder the price we pay when you don't have this [Music] all of us currencies in the world it's definitely powerful military released from what think about where we were 75 years ago in Auschwitz and think about the fact that we have the strongest military in the Middle East emerged August economies in the world but that's not enough Jerusalem represents so much movement it's like we're here for a personal mission the Jewish people are here except a chemical level right everyone knows that if you ask an arabian the purpose of being as you they'll say that that can go wrong if you ask our informant you in California they'll say what's the purpose of being achievement to kick along the both of us Tikrit alone they don't look pretty different but the Jewish people but what is the full sentence it's little kick although wena Kingdom we need a country because one June may be disabled well what did you can save a few whales why don't you can like say small portion of the rainforest you're gonna change the world during a country you want to change the other like the whole thing we would have changed the whole world the ecology the environment poverty sickness I mean here's what I think about I think about my grandmother's name is worth like he walked in when he was 15 the last person you go on our family tree is my grandfather's grandfather his name was said in sometimes I can play this game especially when I'm in there but I have elected on a few years since I started this farm but then the last time I was in the airport I had this degree would be like been a magic stone that I can bring said from Yellowstone I mean I've been invited to speak literally involved every continent in the world I've been to Australia New Zealand South Africa all over the United States bang during their work is literally the nicest airport in the world there's no better than a lane [Music] it goes on the side of the wall the last time I was there it had all of Israel's militarized innovations that they created here in drip irrigation technology and all of these amazing technologies that visual has developed and it's going down this moving sidewalk looki and what's going on in world [Music] energy from Morocco and Chinese towards that were buying up everything in Israel the Chinese people are so much of Israel's economy it's like all these tourists from all over the world and my grandmother's my sister and then he sees a soldier walking towards me and I know that my grandmother oh my god this is a soldier because if it's you it'd be honest up saw the soldier three hundred years ago it was usually bad news for the Jews but the soldier turns to his side he sees on the side there's this path with a Jewish star I just have no question my great okay where is appealing query ceilings where's Misha and you must become here zucchini it's like the Jewish dream is manifest but now it's like oh it's like we're already here but all of our dreams all of the promises are such a crazy idea we are this is the final question let me tell you I mean what my best friend's name is no see he was served in the Navy SEALs he's one of the founders of our are the guys like but he's really just Arabic they just don't make juice like that it look little I could look at this guy like something is happening here that's like this ancient Judean is coming to be but it's like old but it's very minute and then we think about is like addition they can kick it renew our days as a whole it's like we're living through it right now so that's a lot I was a child he was he was he was we we [Music] are you kidding me the story of the Jewish people inspired the civil rights movement in America to bring equality to all just a few years ago the dalai lama sent a delegation of students here in israel they asked me to speak to this group of Tibetans that's awesome [Music] and as I need to give a little more information to my bookie so we just why do they want to hear from us what if they what are they coming to Israel Courtney what is this about and so what was that message back saying that across the road China invaded Tibet and the difference and now they're sort of under this Chinese occupation it's ironic there's the whole world oh the Israeli occupation politics of China to meet the Jews that the Jewish people most never really lost their way but for 2,000 years they never gave up [Music] inside the Jewish people story is literally the greatest story humanity has ever told no one has ever saw anything like the story this is the world history I think about the prophets why is the Torah story to begin with if it's about dog mitzvahs it she just looked at the shore tomorrow haunted Ten Commandments are just wanna tell us what that they we just get it over with but that's the way the toys the reason we are the next chapter in the Jewish school and what that means for you is that you can choose which character you wanna play who do you want to be in this marvelous story that's unfolding the rabbi that walked amongst Martin Luther King his name was Abraham Joshua Heschel there's a real famous picture that you're holding a Torah scroll right next to this black pastor there and before he died he left one marvelous sentence the total carry and he says remember above all else built your life as though it were work of art is the greatest because if all of us have characters in the emotional story of the Jewish people all of us get to offer our own story we can to make it not just to warn apart make [Music] but if this participate no one else in joint sugar little me that's going to be amazing you want to go back to your country that's a resume builder oh by the way what you know I serve as an officer in the most respected military in the world that's a good way to get a job but in your experience I mean you're gonna be an accountant or a lawyer for the rest of your life until you duck this term is never coming back do you think just be here as much as you can but then you take part of the story then you can be a part of the Jewish story in Australia or in America or in Johannesburg but that's what's the company how your story making a working part and so don't ever show - here it's like a reminder that inside almost like we have a dream the Jewish people have a destiny in our destiny is like unfolding before our lives but if the Jewish people have a destiny what that means that each and every one of us individually we all have a destiny ask ourselves what is my destiny how do I live my best life because we only got one chance at this world so let's really make it count and as we dance through the streets of here shall I touch the Kotel just know that's not your hand touching the hotel that's your mother's head with your fathers and their mothers and their fathers their mothers their fathers their mothers and their fathers all the way back it's like through the generations of history we get to touch the Kotel and so that is the best don't ever show my new lives in that this is just the beginning Giusti has never ever ever been this big not at the times of King David not the times of King Solomon of the times of the mekinese this is the most marvelous truth so far the movers have ever seen and we're just getting started [Applause]