“We are a normal country living an abnormal existence.”

Israel’s creation fulfilled the Zionist hopes of millions of Jews, spawned some of the largest humanitarian rescue operations in history, set forth a new course for the Jewish People, and proved the power of the ideas of redemption and nation renewal. It was also a nation of paradoxes: seeking peace amidst war, pushing out the Palestinians while taking in hundreds of thousands of Jews, grappling with the cultural and ethnic differences between European and Middle Eastern Jews, and living up to the promises made in its founding document, the Declaration of Independence. Its first 19 years of existence, from 1948-1967, offer a gripping story of triumph and tragedy, great achievement and grave mistakes, heroes and villains, and the kinds of complexities that make for provocative, entertaining, and compelling learning.

Photograph: Independence Hall, Tel Aviv. Formerly the home of Tel Aviv’s first mayor, Meir Dizengoff, this room was where David Ben Gurion and the Zionist Movement leadership proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel, May 14, 1948.