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| From 090428-9 CORRIDOR |
I still haven't figured out why I have such an austere feeling deep within every time I travel through the corridor of the major highway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. It's as though I am entering a holy place that deserves, and even demands reverence and respect, a place which has been sanctified by the blood of many martyrs.
Rusted armored vehicles, once strewn along the side of the road, are now mounted and painted as a well-deserving memorial. Although empty and abandoned, they are evidence of others' sacrifice, making it difficult to forget a nation's modern historical events. Instead of headstones, the old shells of the vehicles are all that remain, reminding us of the heroes and heroines who forged ahead against unbeatable odds in the face of death. I, personally, can't help but wonder if I would have had the courage to face the same surmountable obstacles. What motivated these young people to come from among the nations, leave the safety of their homes and families, to persevere for a land and a people who were not their own? Not all Jews by any means, they were from many nations, hell-bent on securing a free nation for the Jewish People after the Nazi Holocaust.
The highway corridor was a strategic location. It was the only pass through the mountains surrounding Jerusalem from the coastal area of Tel Aviv. Armored vehicles tried to get through with supplies for the starving Jews in Jerusalem who were cut off after the rebirth of the nation of Israel. From Latrun, the border of the new nation, to Jerusalem was under Jordanian control from 1948 when the British pulled out until its liberation in 1967. At that time, Jordan and the rest of the Arab nations refused to accept Israel's independence.
They cut off any assistance to the Jews in Jerusalem who were destitute and in dire need of food and medical supplies. They were dying in the streets of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, desperate victims of harassment, discrimination, random murder, starvation and disease. The Jews were unable to escape.
They were totally dependent upon any supplies smuggled into them from the outside by those who risked their lives to provide the most meager means possible to live. If the supplies made it through the corridor, they were often smuggled in to the victims through the city's sewage pipes or by way of the cable car in which dead bodies were shipped out of the Old City.
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| From 090428-9 CORRIDOR |
But, the corridor became impassable as vehicles tried to maneuver through the harsh terrain and Arabs lay in wait to descend upon the caravans which often had to continue at a snail's pace. The volunteers were slaughtered, butchered, and robbed. The marauders left nothing behind but dead bodies and ransacked vehicles.
FOR these martyrs, and BECAUSE OF them, and many more, Israel is able to celebrate Yom Haatzmaut every year. Their memories beckon to us not to forget the price of freedom. We are indebted to them! Yet, I wonder if leaders in high places who "love the praises of men more than the praises of Hashem" will allow us to continue our freedom?
