Yom Ha'atzmaut (Hebrew: יוֹם הָעַצְמָאוּת, lit. 'Day of Independence') is Israel's national day. It commemorates the Israeli Declaration of Independence on May 14, 1948, and is marked by various official and unofficial ceremonies and observances.
Because Israel declared
independence on May 14, 1948, which corresponded with the 5th of Iyar on the
Hebrew calendar, Yom Ha'atzmaut, originally celebrated on that date, ran into a
religious conflict. To avoid Sabbath desecration, we may celebrate the holiday
one or two days before or after the 5th of Iyar.
In the Hebrew calendar, days
begin in the evening; Yom Ha'atzmaut is observed from nightfall until the
following evening of the designated day.
History
David Ben-Gurion proclaiming
independence beneath a large portrait of Theodor Herzl, founder of modern
Zionism.
Israelis observe Yom Ha'atzmaut
to commemorate the Israeli Declaration of Independence, which future Israeli Prime
Minister David Ben-Gurion proclaimed on behalf of the Yishuv on May 14, 1948.]
The mood outside of Ben-Gurion's residence just before the announcement was
joyous:
The Jews of Palestine were
dancing because they were about to realize what was the most remarkable and
inspiring achievement in human history: A people that had been exiled from its
homeland two thousand years before, which had endured countless pogroms,
expulsions, and persecutions, but who had refused to relinquish its
identity—which had, on the contrary, substantially strengthened that identity;
a people who only a few years before had been the victim of humanity's most
significant single act of mass murder, killing a third of the world's Jews,
that people was returning home as sovereign citizens in their independent
state.
Most countries refused
concentration camp refugees, including
the U.S., until emergency legislation passed. Israel was the only country
without restrictions for Jews.
The State of Israel was founded
eight hours before the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine, which
was due to finish on May 15, 1948.
Independence Day, 1978
The operative paragraph of the
Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel of May 14, 1948,
expresses the declaration to be by virtue of our natural and historic right and
on the basis of the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly. The
operative paragraph concludes with the words of Ben-Gurion, who declared the
establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz, Israel, to be known as the State of
Israel.
While Israel was quickly granted
diplomatic recognition by many countries, including the Soviet Union and the
United States, The Arab League, and most Muslim-majority countries resided in
Israeli recognition. On May 15, Israel's neighboring Arab countries declared
war on it. They invaded the territory of the former British Mandate, thus
escalating the ongoing 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine into the 1948
Arab–Israeli War. However, this war ended with an Israeli victory amidst the
1949 Armistice Agreements, which established the Green Line as Israel's
international border.
Events
·
Independence
Day celebrations in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square, 2008
·
Israeli
Air Force Independence Day flypast, 2011
·
Eve
of Independence Day
Memorial Day, or Yom Hazikaron,
ends at sunset and is immediately followed by the onset of Independence Day. In
the Hebrew calendar system, days end and begin at sunset.
An official ceremony is held
annually on Mount Herzl, Jerusalem, on the evening of Independence Day. The
ceremony includes a speech by the speaker of the Knesset (the Israeli
Parliament), artistic performances, a Flag of Israel, forming elaborate structures
(such as a Menorah Magen David), and the ceremonial lighting of twelve torches,
one for each of the Tribes of Israel.
Religious Customs
Hallel recited at the Day to
Praise Israel Independence Day event in Jerusalem on April 23, 2015
In response to widespread public
feeling, the Chief Rabbinate in Israel decided in 1950–51 that Independence Day
should gain the status of a minor Jewish holiday on which Hallel is recited.
Their decision that it be recited (without a blessing) gave rise to a bitter
public dispute, with Agudath Israel rejecting the notion of imbuing the day
with any religious significance whatsoever and religious Zionists believing the
blessing should be obligatory. The Rabbinate also ruled that they were
"unable to sanction instrumental music and dances on this day which occurs
during the sephirah period." The recitation of the blessing over Hallel
was introduced in 1973 by Israeli Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren. His Sephardic
counterpart, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, leader of
Modern Orthodox Judaism in America, strongly denounced the innovation.[19]
The Religious Zionist movement
created a liturgy for the holiday, which sometimes includes the recitation of
some psalms and the reading of the haftarah of Isaiah 10:32–12:6, which is also
read on the last day of Pesach in the Diaspora on the holiday morning. Other
changes to the daily prayers include reciting Hallel, saying the expanded
Pesukei D'Zimrah of Shabbat (the same practice observed almost universally on
Hoshanah Rabbah), and blowing the Shofar. Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik questioned
the Halachic imperative in canonizing these changes (it is unclear what his
practice was regarding the recital of Hallel). In any case, most of his
students recite Hallel without the blessings. Several authorities have promoted
including a version of Al Hanisim (for the miracles) in the Amidah prayer.[22]
In 2015, Koren Publishers Jerusalem published a machzor dedicated to the
observance of Independence Day and Jerusalem Day.
Sabbath observance
Independence Day is rarely
celebrated on the 5th of Iyar itself, and in most years, it is moved forward or
backward by one or two days. According to the rules of the Jewish calendar
explained in Days of Week on the Hebrew calendar, the 5th of Iyar can fall on a
Monday, a Wednesday, a Friday, or a Saturday. To avoid Sabbath desecration, it
was decided in 1951 that if the 5th of Iyar falls on a Friday or Saturday, the
celebrations would be moved to the preceding Thursday (3 or 4 of Iyar).
Additionally, since 2004, if the 5th of Iyar is on a Monday, the festival is
postponed to Tuesday (6 of Iyar).
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