ever present sinfulness would steel him against hardship and make him vigilant against threats to jewrye world. >> but that understanding would never harden his heart. it would never extinguish his faith. pres. obama: instead, it broadened his moral imagination. and gave him the capacity to see all people as deserving of dignity and respect. it helped him see not just the world as it is, but the world as it should be. what shimon did to shape the story of israel is well chronicled. starting in the kibbutz he founded with his love he began work on building the model community. ben-gurion called him to serve at headquarters to make sure the jewish people had the armaments and organization to secure their freedom. after independence surrounded by enemies who denied israel's existence and sought to drive it into the sea, the child who had wanted to be a poet of stars became a man who built israel's defense industry, who laid the foundation for the formidable armed forces that won israel's wars. his skill secured israel's strategic position, his boldness sent israeli commandos to rescue jews