Israel’s Tallest Buildings

By Rabbi Jonathan Lubliner Jacksonville Jewish Center

When I lead a group to Israel (BTW, you’re invited to join us for our next trip in December 2023), a visit to Tel Aviv always begins at the port of Old Jaffa. Gaze out to the Mediterranean and you will see the waters upon which Jonah sailed when he sought to escape God’s command to prophesy in Nineveh, the subject of the haftorah for Yom Kippur afternoon. Turn your gaze to the right and you’ll take in the skyline of modern Tel Aviv capped by the 61-story Azrieli Sarona Tower, Israel’s tallest building at 782 feet (122 feet higher than Jacksonville’s Bank of America building).

than sand dunes. It is said that in contemporary Israel, the bird one sees most is the crane - not the kind that flies but the one necessary to construct new buildings.

But the state of Israel’s tallest structure is invisible to the eye, although palpable to the mind and heart. 75 years ago, facing an existential threat and a future clouded with uncertainty, Israel declared to the world that she would be a Jewish state, yet one pledged to “complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex [and] guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture, safeguarding the Holy Places of all religions.” That towering statement, along with its commitment to open elections, an independent press, and an autonomous judiciary free from political coercion have all served as a superstructure for Israel’s growth as a prosperous democracy.

have wondered why the word “justice” appears twice.

raison d’etre

The silhouettes of Tel Aviv’s skyscrapers are impressive, especially if you consider that a little more than a century ago, the land north of Jaffa consisted of nothing more

No skyscraper can exist without a firm foundation, one anchored firmly in the bedrock. Israel’s bedrock is rooted in the values of our sacred tradition. The Torah states, “Justice, justice shall you pursue” (Deuteronomy 16:20). Given the Torah’s economy of words and its avoidance of repetition without intention, many commentators

Among the numerous answers to the question, my favorite is that of the medieval Torah commentator, Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089-1167), who suggests that the word appears twice because we are obligated to pursue justice - not only when a ruling will benefit us, but even when it is to our disadvantage. This is how Midrash understands the verse, “You shall not revile a judge” (Exodus 22:27): to respect the decisions of the court, whether favorable to you or not (Exodus Rabbah 31:8). This is the very essence of an independent judiciary.

It may seem paradoxical for Israel to be a democracy and a Jewish state. This polarity has given rise to many challenges, yet Israel’s character and future depend on both. To fulfill her mission as a “light unto the nations,” safeguard the rights of all her residents, and maintain her role as the fulcrum upon which Jewish life the world over rests, she must steward her democratic institutions while embracing Klal Yisrael as her

The great theologian, Abraham Joshua Heschel, once observed in his work, Israel: An Echo of Eternity: Well-meaning people used to say that a Jewish state would be an answer to all Jewish questions. In truth, however, the State of Israel is a challenge to many of our answers. What is the meaning of the State of Israel? Its sheer being is the message. [Its] ultimate meaning must be seen in terms of the vision of the prophets: the redemtion of all. The religious duty of the Jew is to participate in the process of continuous redemtion, in seeing that justice prevails over power, that awareness of God penetrates human understanding.

Israel’s achievements over the past 75 years have been enourmous; her accomplishments as lofty as the towers she has built, as enduring as the archaelogical digs which reveal the ancient Jewish past buried deeply in her earth. Yet even as her skyscrapers increase in number and grow even taller, may Israel’s highest ideals and noblest aspirations forever soar above her soil and dwell in the hearts of all who love her.