The Big B-G

This morning I came to the realisation that Ben-Gurion is much more than just an airport, a street name in every town in Israel and possibly the Jew with the largest head in history. Ben Gurion's house, appropriately situatued at 17, Ben Gurion Boulevard in Tel-Aviv (I wonder what the street was called before), is an absolute little gem of a museum that lets you get up close and personal with the founding father and first prime minister of our State. Oh, and admission is totaly FREE! Great result for the jobless bums amongst us.

The exquisitely preserved house, filled with personal items and memerobilia, really gives you an intimate look at Ben Gurion's private and public life, and a strong sense of the real greatness of the man who was the driving force behind the establishment of our state.

The living room is full of ornaments presented to Ben Gurion by various heads of states from all over the world. The corridor is covered with photographs of Ben Gurion with a who's-who of famous figures from the international world of politics. His library of thousands of books and journals on numerous subjects including politics, religion, philosophy and literature, in various languages including hebrew, english, russian, yiddish, spanish and arabic, leaves one wondering how the man found the time for so much study when he was building and running a country.



Ben Gurion is a man of many quotes, many of which reflect the strong values and hopes of the pioneering generation. Well for the purposes of your amusement let us now analyse together whether any of these ideals have stood the test of time.

1) "The Supreme aim of the State of Israel is the redemption of the Jewish people, the ingathering of the Exiles."

Jews are still making aliyah today, even out of desire rather than necessity, the crazy fools! That's one in the bag for David.

2) "I have confidence in the Jewish youth. They will not disdain trivial matters and will not deter from great deeds."

Times change David. Big Brother, Survivor, Kochav Nolad, dodging national service. Looks like you didn't forsee american pop culture. The jury is definately out on this one.

3) "The love of the people and its assistance are valuable and vital assests which should be kept most preciously."

Well there's a lot of imported assistance from Philipino carers, and Arab and Chinese builders. There's certainly no love lost in the unemployment office and when you're trying to park in Tel-Aviv. On the other hand, a basic cohesion and sense of unity between us jews is still strong, so for the time being, we'll give you this one David, but only just.

4) "Every man and women hide in them mighty forces and one should only know how to reach them discover them and operate them."

Mighty forces? If only David was here for Tel-Aviv gay pride parade, but I don't think that's what he meant. He obviously spoke these words before the sexual revolution. But on a serious note, the constant advancement and modernisation of Israel and the technological successes borne out of this country suggests that enough people have and are indeed discovering their mighty forces. Words wisely spoken Dave!

5)"I do not dream and I do not like war, and I still believe, more than before the possibility that a state appeared, that after we are in great numbers and strong in the country, the arabs would understand that it would be best for them to come to an agreement with us."

Sorry David. Wishful thinking I'm afraid. Well you can't win em all.

6)"The state of israel will not be tried by its riches, army or techniques, but by it's moral image and human values."

Yeah, with this "Holy Land" thing and the Ten Commandments, we've really just made our lives more difficult. Truer words were rarely spoken.


Even great statesmen can't be right all the time, but at least some of what Ben-Gurion envisioned of Israel is still alive today, and I sincerely hope that we can continue to live up to his values and ideals a long time into the future.

They just don't make leaders like this any more. Maximum Respect!