A phrase said by a 19th century Dutch painter sums up Israel today.

Vincent Van Gogh once proclaimed that “That there is no blue without yellow and without orange.”  That may simply have been about painting, expressing that certain colours require others for their existence.  Some have suggested there is a broader philosophical meaning to this statement:  that all things are connected and that the tranquil colour blue works best when contrasted with the vibrant colours yellow and orange.

Unrelated to the world of art, Van Gogh’s comment is a statement about Israel right now.  Blue is Israel’s colour, found on its flag (derived from the blue stripes on a prayer shawl or tallis).

Yellow is the colour of the national impertaive (which sadly is not accepted as an impertive by some in Israel) to return all the hostages as quickly as possible.  Now is already too late.

Orange symbolizes the two gingy Bibas children, Ariel and Kfir, who were kidnapped with their mother  Shiri from Nir Oz on October 7, 2023 then aged nine months and four years.  They have not yet been returned and there is grave concern about their survival.

Israel’ as a nation (blue)  requires the return of all of the hostages (yellow) including the Bibas children (orange) and their mother Shiri.

The orange as a fruit has been integral to the development of the state of Israel.

Oranges are “new” to Israel having arrived around the year 900 CE with Arab conquerors, with sweeter varieties arriving in the 15th-16th century with Portuguese merchants (which is why the word orange in Arabic is burtaqal).

The Hebrew word for orange is tapuz........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)