Holy Days Archive

Welcome to CLAL Holy Days, the place where you will find the latest thoughts and reflections by CLAL faculty and associates on upcoming Jewish holidays.

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YOM HA'ATZMAUT

In our lifetime, a great event has occurred -- the recreation of the State of Israel. Coming on the heels of the Holocaust, the creation of the State constitutes the Jewish people's affirmation that we still believe in God and the infinite value of life. Our will to pursue the perfection of the world is unbroken.

The age of miracles did not end in biblical times. Today, humans are full partners in divine miracles; political, military, economic and social action are all expressions of the Jewish covenantal mission.

On the yearly anniversary of the declaration of independence of Israel (May 15, 1948/5 Iyar 5708), Jewry celebrates Yom Ha'Atzmaut (Israel Independence Day). The twenty-four hours before are set aside for Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day) for the thousands of dead (and tens of thousands of wounded) who made the supreme sacrifice so that Jewish life could be restored to full dignity and Israel could come into being.

Those able to do so should go to Israel to join the feast as was customary in the biblical Exodus holiday. In the Diaspora, one should gather with the community for prayer. Hallel, the classic prayers of thanksgiving for great deliverances, should be recited, preferably with the full blessings worthy of an event of this grandeur. The day should include song and dance, feasting, Israeli fairs and Israeli films. Above all, tell and retell the heroism of the War for Independence, the diplomatic effort to win U.N. recognition, the in-gathering of the exiles from D.P. camps and surviving European communities, from Arab lands, from Russia, from Ethiopia.

At home, a contemporary seder shared with the family, lighting candles, eating Israeli food (falafel, hummus, pita, etc.), decorating with Israeli arts and crafts, accounts of personal experiences, study of the history of the emergence of Israel are all appropriate rituals of the day. There is no prescribed Haggadah (retelling) text for Yom Ha'Atzmaut yet. Every person who creates a home seder walks in the footsteps of Moses and the talmudic rabbis in creating a narrative of God's mighty acts in history to guide us as we mend the world.

(Irving Greenberg)