Tzipiyah.com

Every year, after Yom Haatzmaut, I have a bunch of thoughts bottled up which end up being put down on paper. This year is no exception, so I thought I would dedicate my Monthly update to these thoughts. Only one thing – Beware, I’m sure it’ll be quite long. Maybe the first draft for a book lol. But I plan on communicating some incredibly important ideas – Ideas you can comment on, discuss, or simply just read and think about. I think it’ll be a worthwhile read.

1. I went to pray on Erev Yom Haatzmaut in Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav. I don’t want to expand too much on the tfillah there, but I realized something interesting while praying there. Every year, when I prayed on Yom Haatzmaut, I would often close my eyes and imagine myself back in Israel, hoping to return very quickly and be a part of the amazing miracle we are celebrating. This year, even though I was in Jerusalem already, I caught myself closing my eyes once again and “imagining” myself in Israel! At that moment, I realized something important: It is very hard for someone to teach himself to stop imagining, and to start living – to stop living in a life of expectation and to start living in a life of accomplishment. I think the same idea applies to Klal Israel and that this is exactly the process we are going through today, both in and out of Israel. For 2000 years, we have been imagining, hoping and praying. We have been praying for our GUEOULA, redemption, and if we would ask anyone: “what will your redemption include?” the first thing they would answer is: “We will be brought back to Israel and regain our independence there”. Then, after our independence, we will rebuild our temple, rebuild ourselves as a nation of priests and a holy nation. 60 years ago, something amazing happened: the first part of our wish was accomplished! Yet, most of the Jewish world, Zionist or not, in Israel or out, is still in an expectation mode. How many of us realize that history has truly evolved? That our Judaism today is not, and should not be, the same as our Judaism 61 years ago, not, chas veshalom, because will change something from Halacha, but because our approach should be one which is relevant to a generation in the middle of their redemption. Rabbi Leon Ashkenazi used to tell people: “the big challenge of our generation is for Jews to stop window shopping History”. Lets stop looking from the outside, analyzing etc… Let’s stop even closing our eyes and imagining our independence, our return to Zion. Lets realize that we are living it! And let’s live it!

2. I really don’t like engaging in the dispute of whether to say a bracha or not on the Hallel because, even though I never heard a good reason not to say a bracha, I don’t like how the great holiday of Yom Haatzmaut, in my eyes the greatest holiday of the year, the holiest day of the year, (since, after all, we have been told that our final redemption, of which we are celebrating the start, will be greater than all the others) – I don’t like how this great holiday is reduced to an almost insignificant question (it is halachically significant, but in deeper ideological terms, it is insignificant). Yet, one thing that really bothers me is the way the question is something framed. People ask: Are we ALLOWED to say Hallel on Yom Haatzmaut (with or without a bracha)? Are we allowed? Is that really the question? The question is do we have an OBLIGATION to say Hallel on Yom Haatzmaut! Do you know anyone who asks “are we allowed to light candles and say hallel on Hannukah?” Chas Veshalom! No, we have an OBLIGATION. And so, let me reframe everything by answering the commonly asked questions on Yom Haatzmaut:

- You are not just ALLOWED to say Hallel on Yom Haatzmaut, you have an OBLIGATION – an obligation which many consider DEORAITA (from the torah) since it is derived from a Kal Vachomer from Passover which is DEORAITA.

- You are not just ALLOWED to listen to music on Yom Haatzmaut, even during Sfirat HaOmer… you have the OBLIGATION to be happy on that day because it is Simchat Yom Haatzmaut. Would anyone ask if we are allowed to listen to music on Purim or Hannukah if it fell during Sfirat HaOmer?

- You are not just ALLOWED to shave on Yom Haatzmaut, but those who shave during the year have the OBLIGATION to do so. There is an obligation for those who usually shave to shave every Shabbat, every yom tov, every holiday. Why is Yom Haatzmaut different? How can you go into such a holy day without looking presentable, without looking your best?

I know that many people will disagree with me halachically, but let us reframe the questions in the above mentioned way. Then, if anyone disagrees with me, come to me, lets discuss and see what the halacha truly is. I’m sure you’ll have your sources – I also have mine. However, to ask the questions any differently is like saying: “I’m really sorry I’m bothering anyone with my Zionist ideology, but I’d like to be allowed to celebrate”. In truth, we are doing nothing less than God’s will and we should not ask for forgiveness for it. We should proudly state how we are fulfilling our obligations.

3. I was discussing many of these issues with a friend who likes to push my buttons hehe. However, when trying to push my buttons, he told me something which I know is on many people’s minds. He said: “I only like celebrating things which come from God” - in other words, no rabbinic “invention” (even though, the source for the obligation of celebrating Yom Haatzmaut is in the Torah, but I won’t get into it, I can refer you to sources if you are interested) . I then asked him – so, why do you light candles of Channukah? He answered: Well, Channukah is old, not a new invention! This reminded me of a related thought. Once, someone told me he was in the bus during Yom Hazikaron and the siren started ringing. Everyone stood up in silence but 2 religious jews stayed sitting in the back. After going out, the person telling me the story asked the Jews – why did you not stand up in respect? He was asking innocently, not knowing all the political implications of his question. They almost walked away not answering but one just said: “Does it say in the Shulchan Aruch that we should stand up for Yom Hazikaron?” I know that many yeshivas don’t learn history but I’m sure they should still know that the shulchan aruch was written before the establishement of Yom Hazikaron!

And so, to all these claims, I want to say one very clear thing: History did not stop a long time ago and God did not stop participating in that history! Saying God stopped participating in History is the oldest form of Kfirah (rejection of Judaism) dating back to Aristotelian Philosophy!

So, once again, History did not stop 2000 years ago with the finalizing of the Tanach. It did not stop 1500 years ago with the finalizing of the Talmud. It did not stop 500 years ago with the finalizing of the Shulchan Aruch! History is still going on, and our Judaism is in a relationship with that history. When God does a miracle for us today, just like 2000 years ago, we have the obligation to say thank you and to celebrate a great holiday celebrating the revelation of God on that day! Anyone who thinks Judaism is static and cannot be relevant to current events rejects God’s participating in our time and therefore, willingly or not, is ascribing to an Aristotelian form of Kfirah. There are two forms of Kfira today – the secular one and the religious one: The secular say “Do you really think God established the state? It was us! It was the Palmach, the Irgun etc…” The religious Kfira says: “Do you really think Hakadosh Baruch Hu established the state of Israel? It was them! It was the Palmach, the Irgun etc…” They come from very different places but they say the same thing! Again, I know there are more subtle rejections of Yom Haatzmaut, and I’d be glad to discuss them with you, but such a form of rejection is nothing more than old-school Kfirah.

4. On the same subject – I just want to comment on semantics a little. People speak of the “establishment” of Yom Haatzmaut as a holiday. However, as I have said already, the source for Yom Haatzmaut is an obligation in the Midrash derived from Kriyat Yam Souf that every time we are delivered we should have a holiday and say hallel (and a kal vachomer in the gemara). Therefore, it is not so much establishement as fulfilling a millennium old obligation.

5. On a final note, let’s think of something interesting: In general, the only thing God cannot do for us is say thank you. He can take us out of Egypt, or even out of hundreds of countries, he can bring us to Israel, establish our independence, bring us to Jerusalem, etc… He can do it all. The only thing he cannot do, is say thank you for us, because if he does, then its meaningless. We are the ones who need to say thank you! In our case, where all the amazing miracles, incredible miracles, most amazing miracles of history, were done through natural means, saying thank you is the most important thing we need to do because it shows that we understand that God’s hand was behind all of this. In Sanhedrin, Chizkiyahu ha-Melekh is severely criticized for not reciting Hallel in honor of God on the day marking the defeat of Sancheriv. According to the gemara, this failing lost him the crown of Melekh Ha-moshiach, and doomed us all to an extended galut. Clearly, then, not only is failing to recognize chasdei Hashem a grave offense, but even neglecting to sing God’s praises can have disastrous results. Saying thank you is what Yom Haatzmaut is all about – saying Hallel is the only Mitzvah we have on Yom HAatzmaut, the rest being either rabbinic or Minhagim, - this is simple basic recognition to God for taking us out of exile and starting our process of redemption.