. . . When God smote Egypt, He wished thereby to demonstrate that Jewish blood always has claimants. Today, also, it is necessary to convince not only the current Egyptian tyrant but also the self-declared saint, Nehru, the British Foreign Office, and the "moralists" in the United Nations that Jewish blood is not ownerless. Therefore, how grotesque is the attempt to convince us that we ought to rely on the declaration of the three great powers guaranteeing the status quo. We all know from experience how much value there is to the promises of the British Foreign Office and to the "friendship" of certain well-known officials in our own State Department. And, in general, how absurd it is to demand of a people that it be completely dependent upon the good graces of others and that it relinquish the ability to defend itself. The honor of every community, like the honor of every individual, resides in the ability to defend its existence and honor. A people that cannot ensure its own freedom and security is not truly independent. The third phrase in God's promise of redemption is: "And I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments" (Exodus 6:7). Blessed be He Who has granted us life and brought us to this era when Jews have the power, with the help of God, to defend themselves!
-- HaRav Joseph B. Soloveitchik in "Fate and Destiny: From the Holocaust to the State of Israel," pp. 33-44 (Ktav Publishing House, Inc.) (originally delivered as an address at Yeshivat Rabbenu Yitzhak Elhanan of Yeshiva University, Yom HaAtzma'ut, 1956).
And let us say, amen.
Shabbat Shalom.
