Step back from the twists and turns of the daily information overload coming from the Middle East and consider the sweep of history since 1948 . Look at the light-years traveled since the darkness of the Holocaust , and marvel at the miracle of a decimated people returning to a tiny sliver of land — the land of our ancestors , the land of Zion and Jerusalem — and successfully building a modern , vibrant state against all the odds on that ancient foundation .
In the final analysis , then , the story of Israel is the wondrous realization of a 3,500-year link among a land , a faith , a language , a people , and a vision . It is an unparalleled story of tenacity and determination , of courage and renewal . And it is ultimately a metaphor for the triumph of enduring hope over the temptation of despair .
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