Four Questions about Israel. Omer day 1.

Day 1 of counting the Omer.

Here's a part of a post asking four questions about Israel. The whole piece is here:

http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/four-zionist-questions-for-the-seder/?utm_source=Thurs+April+5&utm_campaign=Thurs+Apr+5&utm_medium=email

Four Zionist Questions for the Seder

April 4, 2012 by eJP

by Rabbi Daniel R. Allen

Israel and Zionism should be at the core of our Passover observance. The Exodus from Egypt had a goal not just of freedom for the Jewish People but a return to our own land, our own sovereignty, and our own Jewish ways of living. We are required to make the story meaningful for every generation; hence we should be asking four important questions about Israel and considering four kinds of Zionists.

Four Zionist questions for the Seder

All countries have governments, borders, neighbors, culture, language(s), economies, their own internal politics, and legitimacy within the family of nations. Why is Israel the only country whose legitimacy as a sovereign state is challenged in so many ways by so many people?

On all other nights we may think of places all around the world we would like to visit. Why on this night do we say only “Next Year in Jerusalem?”

On all other nights we may consider the advantages or challenges of the country of our citizenship. Why on this night do we consider what makes Israel different from all other countries?

Most countries and societies need and welcome the voluntary sector in order to achieve their declared dreams. Israel’s Declarations of Independence challenges us all to “ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions,” as well as to make peace with her neighbors. Why, on this night, are we not working more diligently to assist Israel in achieving its stated goals of equality for all her citizens, to build a more inclusive democratic society and peace with all her neighbors?