Meet the head of the WZO
Avraham Duvdevani spent much of his adolescence in Mount Herzl
*How did you become the man who has the honor of keeping the keys the Mount Herzl?
Mount Herzl, a part of Memorial Mountain which also includes Yad Vashem, is where our state's visionary - as well as other dignitaries - is buried, and is the most visited site in Jerusalem after the Western Wall. Mount Herzl has been owned by the WZO since the state of Israel was established, and by being elected to be the president of this organization I have had the honor to hold the keys to it - a huge honor and an even bigger duty: the duty of tradition.
What does Mount Herzl mean to you? Do you have a personal experience that is associated to the site, and connects you to it?
Mount Herzl is much more than just a national site to me. It's where I grew up, and our adolescence is a meaningful period in our lives, which shapes us. My high school, Netiv Meir, was right across the street from Mount Herzl, and as teenagers we found ourselves spending much of our spare time in the main plaza, right near the entrance to the Mount. Therefore, I associate Mount Herzl not only to its national place, but also to feelings of youth and joy, as Mount Herzl was part of the background whern meeting friends during the time we were building our personalities and identities.
The memory and special place Mount Herzl had in my teenage years affected greatly the way I see the WZO today. Mount Herzl should be about life, about the essence of the present and serve as a compass to the future, for both individuals and society. That is why it is where we built the Herzl Museum, which serves memorial purposes, alongside the interactive educational center which serves tens of thousands of teenagers - both Israeli and from overseas - soldiers and adults, all engaging in conversation about our lives in our motherland as well as planning and building the future of our people in our country.
What do you know about Mount Herzl that the general public might not know?
Some know - though not enough, in my opinion - that throughout the mountain there is a "connecting path" paved by youth movements, starting in Yad Vashem and running all the way to "the last remnant" memorial. this path in now celebrating its 10th birthday, yet many people still are not aware that it exists. This is a path connecting the Jews who perished in the Holocaust and the Jews who died here, fighting for their homeland after the horrors they survived. The path connects them so that we remember them, learn from them, gain strength in our faith form them, and strive for a better tomorrow. This is a path that symbolizes the continuity and the realization of the Zionist dream.
What do you find Zionist? Do you believe there is modern-day Zionism, or is that a term that belongs in the past?
I see Zionism as, first and foremost, the sense of responsibility even when we are not the ones in charge. In other words, Zionism is the spirit of voluntary duty - without it, each person would just do what he or she is told, and we would end up with very little force and no joint goal.
I should mention that for diaspora Jews, the Zionist spirit is not very different than the one that existed during the first Zionist Congress in Basel. We must continue to instill within the diaspora Jews the Hebrew language and the spirit of the ingathering of the exiles. These are two missions that have yet to be fully accomplished.
In modern day Israel, the state is no longer the goal. Establishing the state is just a means to achieve our main goal, which is the role-model society: A society of equality, social justice, ethics and mutual help. Putting the general interest before the personal interest - that is the spirit of voluntary duty..
What do you wish the state of Israel for its 65th birthday?
That it grow more and more Zionist.
