Fifteen is a significant number. Its value in Hebrew numerology is one of the names of God. In the Jewish calendar, it is the date on which various holidays commence. In human years, it heralds the tantalizing transition from childhood to adulthood, an age of promise and pluck.
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So it is that this milestone Israel Hayom anniversary stirs in me a mix of pride and gratitude for what has been achieved, and excited anticipation of what the future yet holds.
We are long past having established ourselves as a force for expanding public opinion and spearheading change. A sunny horizon now beckons.
When my beloved late husband Sheldon and I founded the newspaper, we applied the same logic that had always guided us in both business and philanthropy: to challenge old thinking and provide new and unparalleled value.
For decades, Israeli media had been monopolistic in content and tone. The "right" politicians had been mollycoddled while stories that clashed with conventional thinking were ignored or consigned to the back pages. News reporting had ambled along a set path like a blinkered wagon horse.
A lack of public information about developments fateful for the nation is not good. Nor is a lack of national faith or pride.
Sheldon and I, caring deeply about the country, its self-image, and its global standing, decided to do what we could to amend this apparently intractable situation. The result was Israel Hayom, and its instant success was instant proof of its necessity.
This newspaper reflects the true leanings of mainstream Israelis: patriotic, optimistic, unapologetically embracing a Zionism of both Jewish and democratic principles, and demanding that their elected representatives be subjected to equitable public scrutiny. Only thus can opinions be freely reached. Only thus can the way forward for the country be found.
Not for nothing does the Star of David proudly and permanently grace our front page!
"Israel Hayom makes it feel good to be Israeli," one subscriber told me, an assessment that I savor.
Like the newspaper of record that it is, Israel Hayom has covered major events in the country's life with style and substance. Witness the US Embassy opening in Jerusalem or the American recognition of Israeli sovereignty on the Golan Heights. Not for nothing did President Trump grant Israel Hayom a record number of interviews.
Nor have we shied from the difficult struggles that are far from national consensus. We have taken a strong stand, for example, on the question of governance in the Negev and over the Temple Mount. Because, after all, the debate is no less newsworthy than its outcome.
And how we have grown! The Israel Hayom Group now includes Makor Rishon newspaper and the Bat Yam publishing house. And our digital edition features an English-language edition that magnifies our international impact.
My only regret is that my darling Sheldon is not here to witness the fruition of his vision.
But I am comforted to know that, from the dawn distribution to the closing of the press each evening, his legacy lives on in the pages of the newspaper he so loved.
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