Imagine this: streets full of families dressed in blue and white, bright-eyed Israelis smiling from ear to ear, often with Israeli flags hanging with great pride on their backs. They are rushing off to meet their fellow citizens in the street, to dance and sing with others, following the sound of the car that will lead to a square full of festivity, where they will party all night because of their pride in their homeland.

Yom Ha’atzmaut commemorates the independence of a country that is small in size but bigger than many others in its many accomplishments.

From a patch of earth that was nothing, pure desert, Israeli companies have developed technologies that can absorb and draw water from the arid land, and have even created a forest in the middle of the desert.

In the south of the country, you can be dazzled by the opportunity to stroll between columns and columns of date trees. Ahhh...date syrup that is used in various sweets.  Dates that you open in the middle to enjoy the delicious fruit inside.

Immediately after the first rains, in October and November, the country covers itself with a green carpet that lasts until the arrival of the dry summer, and you can enjoy flowers such as the iris, the weir, the tulip and the hyacinth— typical flowers of Israel.

   This small country is known for the genius of Israelis who worship technology; it is not for nothing that Israel is known as the Start-Up Nation.  A lot of applications that are used normally and routinely in our daily lives originated in Israel. People the world over cannot manage driving anywhere without the famous Waze app.

Many companies worth millions of dollars come to the country to learn, and to study deeply the various technologies that Israel develops.  These companies have an immersive experience with the product they are studying, which often ends up in further development, purchase of the product, or partnership in the company.

The Brazilian way of being is similar the famous Israeli chutzpah.  And though it may take some time to understand that sting, once it is understood, it’s loved and respected around the world.

Israel provides joy to its citizens because everyone helps each other, and the country has made gains not only in technology, but in the academic world, where fantastic ideas spring up and extraordinary and intelligent people win Nobel prizes.  And Israel has so much more: culture, music, dance, tours, poetry, gastronomy, unique architecture, and living history:   you can walk through the beautiful city of Jerusalem in the shadow of olive trees, and see excavations of our ancient civilization and, who knows, perhaps even watch archaeologists make a discovery.

On Yom Ha’atzmaut, we celebrate all of this and more on a day full of partying, knowing that everyone is proud to be able to scream: I was born in Israel.

It's priceless.

Photo by Lilian Knobel