Holiday

Looking for some insights or new rituals for an upcoming holiday? Here we post practical, easy to use guidelines for the holy days, both Jewish and American, that mark the way stations along the circle of the year.

To access the Holiday Archive, click here.

Celebrating Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day….

Each time we mark the birth of the State of Israel, we joyously celebrate the blessing of Israel’s accomplishments. We are once again connected to the land and the places that link us to our historical heritage. We have established a home for the ingathering of exiles, a sanctuary. We have an extraordinary flourishing of Jewish culture, and a Hebrew language that is rich and flexible. On a more sober note, we take the opportunity to come recognize any unfulfilled dreams we hold for Israel. As we renew our commitment to keep re-imagining an Israel of our dreams, we pray as a world-side community for the stamina and courage to upgrade and enhance the life of Israel.

Meditation:

May you bring us to feasts and festivals in peace,

and may we celebrate them in joy in your holy city, Jerusalem.

Nodeh lecha shir chadash

We shall then offer You our new song.

Ritual:

On the eve or day of Yom Ha’atzmaut, invite friends and family to a seudat mitzvah, a festive meal, that features produce, food products, flowers and wines that are grown or made in Israel. Serve foods representing Israel’s pluralist fusion of culinary traditions and play traditional and contemporary music by Israeli composers and performers. When you invite your guests, ask them to bring an object that reflects their relationship to Israel. Examples might be: a tallit or kiddush cup bought in Israel, a certificate for trees planted in Israel, Hadassah or Jerusalem Report magazines, family photographs taken at Massada, a passport stamped at Ben Gurion Airport… The object needn’t come from Israel. After you arrange all the objects( including your own) on a ceremonial plate, ask the guests to tell the story of how their objects represent the blessings and challenges Israel poses.

Blessing:

Return us to Jerusalem, your city, your place of compassion, your place of promise, your place of in-dwelling. Sustain its majesty, protect it with strength, healing and wisdom.

Barukh ata Adonai, boneh Yerushalayim.

Blessed are You, with whom we build Jerusalem.

(Culminate your celebration by offering personals blessings for Israel that have emerged from the stories your objects evoked. You might begin a personal blessing this way:)

Ye’varech-echa: May Israel be blessed with ________________________.

Teaching:

May God bless you from Zion. May you see Jerusalem prosper all the days of your life…May there be peace for the people Israel. (Psalm 128)

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abbah quoted Rav: In the time to come, all the wild trees of the Land of Israel will bear fruit, for it is written in the Torah: "for the trees have born their fruit; fig trees and vine have yielded their strength." (Babylonian Talmud: Ketubot 112b)

L’shana haba’ah b’yerushalayim.

Next year in Jerusalem.

(CLAL Faculty)

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