{"id":131,"date":"2018-03-12T11:12:45","date_gmt":"2018-03-12T11:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/matnasim.kulam.org\/2018\/03\/12\/yom-haatzmaut-liturgy"},"modified":"2018-06-12T10:21:20","modified_gmt":"2018-06-12T10:21:20","slug":"yom-haatzmaut-liturgy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matnasim.kulam.org\/en\/2018\/03\/12\/yom-haatzmaut-liturgy\/","title":{"rendered":"Yom Ha’Atzmaut Liturgy"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article<\/a> presents a survey of some of the liturgical traditions that have developed to celebrate Yom Ha’Atzmaut in different communities. An excerpt\u00a0from “Celebrate! The Complete Jewish Holiday Handbook<\/a>” by Lesli Koppelman Ross<\/a>, this article was shared on My Jewish Learning<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Yom Ha\u2019atzmaut Liturgy<\/h2>\n

There is a wide variety of ways in which Jewish communities religiously commemorate Israel\u2019s Independence Day, many involving special prayers for the day. The following article surveys some customs that have developed since the founding of the state in 1948.<\/p>\n

While not widely adopted in the Diaspora, special liturgies [of Yom Ha\u2019atzmaut] are fairly common in Israel, where government leaders regularly attend the festive prayer services. The one for the evening, designed by Israel\u2019s Chief Rabbinate in 1949, begins with psalms of thanksgiving (Psalms 107, 97<\/a>, 98) and ends with a single blast of a\u00a0shofar\u00a0<\/i>and a prayer that as we have witnessed the beginning of redemption, we will also merit hearing the\u00a0shofar\u00a0<\/i>announcing the messiah.<\/p>\n

Their morning service includes the introductory psalms customarily recited on Shabbat and festivals,\u00a0Hallel,\u00a0<\/i>also recited on festivals but here without the introductory blessings, and, again without the preceding blessings [for the haftarah], the prophetic portion\u00a0Isaiah 10:32- 11:12<\/a>. A preview of the messianic era, it contains the familiar line, \u201cThe wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the lion lie down with the kid\u201d (Isaiah 11:6<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The choice of this particular reading suggests the Rabbinate\u2019s belief that Israel\u2019s independence is in fact redemption on par with the Exodus, since the same\u00a0haftarah\u00a0<\/i>[prophetic reading] is read in the Diaspora on the last day of Passover. Still, many rabbis were and are reluctant to put the two in the same category. That is why they omit the blessings: It is fine, and appropriate, to express gratitude to God for this incredible shift in our national fortune\u2013so we say\u00a0Hallel.\u00a0<\/i>But if this is not\u00a0the\u00a0<\/i>historic redemption we have been waiting for, the introductory blessing\u2013which states that our recitation is a commandment of God\u2013along with God\u2019s name, would be said in vain. The same reasoning holds for the\u00a0haftarah.<\/i><\/p>\n

Not everyone has agreed with the rabbis\u2019 reticence. Some feel that the official service comes up short in reflecting the magnitude of the unique occurrence it celebrates, one which fits the pattern of exile and redemption recurrent throughout Jewish history. So organizations and congregations on their own say the blessings prior to\u00a0Hallel\u00a0<\/i>and the\u00a0haftarah.\u00a0<\/i>They include the\u00a0shehecheyanu,\u00a0<\/i>in thanks for being brought to this point, which is fully accepted as appropriate for anyone who regards Israel independence as an occasion of real joy. During the\u00a0Amidah\u00a0<\/i>[the silent prayer that is the center of all Jewish prayer services],they recite\u00a0Al Hanissim\u00a0<\/i>(\u201cFor the Miracles\u201d), just as we do on Hanukkah and Purim.<\/p>\n

Some also read the Torah (Deuteronomy 7:1-8:18<\/a>, describing what would happen after the Israelites entered the Land, or\u00a0Deuteronomy 30:1-10<\/a>, about being returned to the Land after exile and misfortune). A prayer for the welfare of the State of Israel, one in memory of those fallen, prayers for Jerusalem, and a Zion Lover\u2019s Prayer have also been added to services, along with the song expressing belief in the coming of the messiah,\u00a0\u201cAni Ma\u2019 amin.\u201d\u00a0<\/i>Many of these changes were incorporated into the\u00a0machzor\u00a0<\/i>(festival prayer book) developed by\u00a0Hakibbutz Hadati\u00a0<\/i>(the religious\u00a0kibbutz\u00a0<\/i>movement).<\/p>\n

Communities around the world have added their own touches. An announcement of the number of years since the establishment of the state prior to sounding the\u00a0shofar\u00a0<\/i>at the\u00a0Ma\u2019ariv\u00a0<\/i>[evening] service is modeled on the Yemenite Tisha B\u2019Av custom of proclaiming the number of years since the destruction of the Temple.\u00a0Ma\u2019ariv\u00a0<\/i>in some communities is chanted to the\u00a0yom tov nusah\u00a0<\/i>(holiday melody).<\/p>\n

A\u00a0Tikkun L \u2018Yom Ha\u2019atzmaut,\u00a0<\/i>an anthology of readings and prayers (parts of\u00a0Kabbalat Shabbat, Shema, Leshanah Haba B\u2019Yerusha\/ayim, Shir Hama\u2019 alot<\/i>\u2013perhaps sung to the tune of Israel\u2019s national anthem\u2013and\u00a0Ani Ma\u2019amin),\u00a0<\/i>is used by some Moroccan and other congregations for Ma\u2019ariv and Shacharit.\u00a0<\/i>Some add\u00a0Psalm 27<\/a>\u00a0(\u201cThe Lord is my light and my help\u201d).<\/p>\n

The Conservative movement prayer book includes a customized version of\u00a0Al Hanissim\u00a0<\/i>along with suggested readings related to Israel. The Reform movement prayer book includes a service written especially for Independence Day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article presents a survey of some of the liturgical traditions that have developed to celebrate Yom Ha’Atzmaut in different communities. An excerpt\u00a0from “Celebrate! The Complete Jewish Holiday Handbook” by Lesli Koppelman Ross, this article was shared on My Jewish Learning.\u00a0 Yom Ha\u2019atzmaut Liturgy There is a wide variety of ways in which Jewish communities […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":132,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/matnasim.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131\/"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/matnasim.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/matnasim.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post\/"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matnasim.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4\/"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matnasim.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments\/?post=131"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/matnasim.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131\/revisions\/"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":192,"href":"https:\/\/matnasim.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131\/revisions\/192\/"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matnasim.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/matnasim.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/?parent=131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matnasim.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/?post=131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matnasim.kulam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags\/?post=131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}