I remember the first time I was at the Wall It was in 1938. The few old Jews standing near the wall With their caftans and payot Were a curiosity to me then And I to them, a curiosity. I was told to plant a prayer in the wall. "Don't let it happen here - " I wrote on a scrap of paper In English Thinking of America as "here" I meant it, Not realizing how much I was going to mean it! I prayed it Not knowing how deeply I was going To pray it. Hitler was a distant rumble of thunder then And I was more interested in getting A few good shots with my camera Than in praying. How dare the British soldier tell me "No picture taking at the Wall!" Whose Wall was it? In 1948 when I made Aliyah My casual prayer had been answered, It hadn't happened here! But the Wall was "Juden rein" I remember Burma Road 600 had fallen at Latrun Bab el-wad was strewn with Shot out trucks and overturned jeeps. Ours was among the first "sheruts" That went up to Jerusalem after the siege. We veered round sharp turns We slid down steep hills We bounced over jagged ruts We skidded on rough stones. We sang "Me'al Pisgat Har Hazofim Shalom lach Yerushalayim." We felt we were climbing up to Yerushalayim - Yerushalayim had not been destroyed And brothers were alive within its gates. I remember the very first army parade On the football field at the Port of Tel Aviv I sat right behind Ben Gurion then, You can recognize his two wings of white hair on some of my films. We clapped like mad When the Chief of Staff Halted in front of him, Saluted And he saluted back. We sobered down At the sight of the automobile marked "Ambulance" We laughed At the bedraggled horse and wagon labeled "Enemy booty" And we cried - Especially those with numbers tattooed on their arms Cried. One said to me between his tears "I've stood at mightier parades than this My arm was outstretched And I had to say 'Heil Hitler, Heil Hitler' Over and over again - Lest someone suspect me of being a Jew. And now I need say nothing My hands can clap And my heart is beating, "This is mine! This is mine! Mine! A Jewish army. Mine! And I am crying because I am yelling "I am a Jew! I am a Jew!" I remember how we wondered What we would call the State. Judea? maybe. And then the name, Israel, was announced. And how right it was How simple How simply right! I remember how Weizman walked Under crossed sabers at his inauguration President of the State of Israel! The first inauguration In two thousand years "The first in two thousand years!" We said it over and over again The dreamed reality Had to be made real The first parliament in 2000 years The first Jewish money in 2000 years The first Jewish state in 2000 years And Jerusalem was our Holy City Again after 2000 years.