All throughout Independence Day, singers and performers entertained the masses on the various stages across the country, but it seems a deeper look at the day's events provided a far more interesting picture: All of Israel was a stage on Thursday. While the smoke from Wednesday's late night parties made way for the smoke of barbecues on Thursday afternoon, one could notice that an entire nation was having fun and celebrating, and it had many more than 68 reasons to do so. "We established our sovereignty here anew, despite the endless attempts to destroy us," he said. "But on this day, it is our duty to recognize all the good things we have, things that many generations of Jews across the world could have only dreamed about." In a short greeting recorded for the torch lighting ceremony, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "Here, in Jerusalem, leaders from around the world come to visit. They say to me in wonderment: 'What a wonderful country you have, a vibrant, entrepreneurial, which builds both spiritually and materially.'" Netanyahu added: "They see the roads, the construction, the technology, the economy, the society, the art. Above all else, they see you, the citizens of Israel, your talent and initiative, your mutual responsibility for one another, your unity in times of trouble." The torch lighting ceremony this year was especially rousing, as 57-year-old Herzl Biton, one of the torch lighters, touched hearts in the audience at Mount Herzl and across the country watching on television. Biton, a bus driver who fought off a Palestinian terrorist in January after being stabbed, delivered his words with extraordinary emotion and flare -- becoming the star of the ceremony. An equally touching moment came when Tel Aviv resident Yaakov Ernfeld, 83, a deaf and mute Holocaust survivor who has worked extensively with the Association of the Deaf and the Deaf Institute for Advancement, lit his torch with his granddaughter Noa Sadeh at his side, who read his words aloud for him. Meanwhile, as many Israelis throughout the day celebrated by sitting back and watching the various music performances or breathtaking aerial displays provided by the air force over 45 cities, many others chose to celebrate with their feet -- some 1.25 million people spent the day hiking and sightseeing the country's nature reserves, forests and parks.
Some of these reasons were evident at the "civic heroism" themed torch lighting ceremony Wednesday night at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, for whom Independence Day eve also marks the anniversary of his May 1987 release from Soviet prison, delivered the keynote speech.
