Embankment
The story behind headstands of the Prime Minister
Walk into any souvenir shop in Tel Aviv. You will probably find there this photo of David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s Prime Minister, in his funny swim trunks doing a headstand on the beach. Unless you know the background of how the picture was taken, you might think that he is just an amusing old man who wants to show off having a plenty of shot in the locker.
The reality is totally different, though. A romantic idealist and a native of what was Russian Poland back then David Yosef Gruen (Grün) spent all his life striving to achieve one lofty goal. His dream was the emergence of the state of Israel. We all know that he and his companions made it come true. So his backbone of character is his iron will and great commitment. By the way, his longing for the headstand on the beach was one of the manifestations of character. Regular work-outs helped 70-year-old David to be able to fulfill his small long-standing dream when the big lifelong one (Israel) had already come to fruition (even though the country was fighting off lots of enemies).
The reality is totally different, though. A romantic idealist and a native of what was Russian Poland back then David Yosef Gruen (Grün) spent all his life striving to achieve one lofty goal. His dream was the emergence of the state of Israel. We all know that he and his companions made it come true. So his backbone of character is his iron will and great commitment. By the way, his longing for the headstand on the beach was one of the manifestations of character. Regular work-outs helped 70-year-old David to be able to fulfill his small long-standing dream when the big lifelong one (Israel) had already come to fruition (even though the country was fighting off lots of enemies).
Task 11.1
The beach now has a comic statue of Ben-Gurion standing on his head on a sand. You have to pluck up the courage to do exactly the same next to the hero. You can engage other beach goers in your ingenious yoga. The more people doing a headstand you take a picture of, the more points you get. Min 5, max 10 points.
Let’s finish this story with David Ben-Gurion’s words, “Courage is a special kind of knowledge: the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought not to be feared”.
Let’s finish this story with David Ben-Gurion’s words, “Courage is a special kind of knowledge: the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought not to be feared”.
up to 10 points
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