GREATNESS: The Israeli "Gandhi"

Moriel and Hodaya visit Har Herzl Cememtery to learn about great men and women in Israeli history. They are in Kita Tet.





(In Memory of Rehavam Ze’evi, 1926-2001)
At the bottom of the stairs I had just descended, two teenage girls yelled at me: “Take our picture! Take our picture!”
I asked: “Why?”, and they replied: “BECAUSE WE ARE IMPORTANT!”
How can a photo-journalist walk away from such self-proclaimed ‘greatness’? So I accommodated their demand. After all, if youth proclaims greatness, who knows what will be in their future!
Don’t even ask what their importance was. They are teens! And most teens carry with them a confidence of self-significance. After all, unbeknownst to them, they have not yet been tamed by the experiences of life.
I photographed them and requested of them to tell about their day’s event at Mt. Herzl Cemetery.
Excitedly, they rambled on about learning of the historical greatness of the man Herzl, followed by lectures of heroes and heroines while visiting the military area. All the while, I thought: “What a perfect, yet - so it seemed – a missed opportunity for them to learn of greatness in their immediate generation, since the whole purpose for hundreds in appearance, including Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Peres, along with a number of other government ministers, that day was for the Memorial of Rehavam ‘Gandhi’ Ze’evi, assassinated over 8 years ago.”
As the girls sailed out the gate, running after their bus which was leaving them behind, I stood watching and silently prayed for teachers not to neglect to educate our youth of the examples of greatness which has passed on in their generation so they will be able to recognize greatness in their midst.