Trutharchivist

All right. I know it's only been a week since my last SU, but that's just how things go. Truth to be told, I actually should've written this two days ago; I didn't because working on my phone would've been kind of hard. Now I have my computer, and so we go. I started on it yesterday, but... it was a busy day. I wasn't in a proper state of mind to finish it.

Yesterday was Israel's Independance Day, and the day before it was the Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers and terrorism victims. I could tell the story of why those days - that's what I originally planned to do - but you know what? Let's start with a simple question: are those Jewish holidays?

I mean, you'd think it's pretty simple. Israel is the only Jewish country in the world, so its national holidays are automatically Jewish holidays, right? But when we talk about Judaism the religion, instead of the Jewish ethnicity and nation, it suddenly becomes complicated. Many Jews world wide will tell you that no, those holidays are Israeli national holidays and not Jewish holidays. People in Israel celebrate them, outside of it - why should they? Others will go in the opposite direction, say that all Jews worldwide should celebrate the Israeli Independance Day with religious rituals - special prayers, mostly. Some will tell you that the State of Israel is the Devil's handiwork, and if anything this should be a day of mourning.

No one can really say, in the name of all Judaism (and even in the name of all Orthodox Judaism), whether or not it's a religious holiday. They can try, but in classic Jewish manner they'll just argue over it with some people. So, I can only explain my stance, and try to explain the others, too. Obviously, it all comes down to one's view on Zionism.

Now, I plan on writing a more elaborate essay on the history of Zionism, so I'll be brief here - Zionism started as a solution to the antisemitism problem (in that it's a problem everybody hates Jews) from secular Jews, so most religious leaders were opposed to it. Some did think there is a religious ideal in returning to Israel and founding a state here, others thought that to seek independance is a sin (long story, honestly - I'll get to it), and yet others just thought joining a secular enterprise will cause more people to leave Judaism.

I, personally, am from a group that to this day sees the State of Israel as part of a religious ideal. This is kind of complicated, because Orthodox Jews await the Massiah for ultimate salvation and the end of days - building the Temple in Jerusalem for the third time, etc. The land of Israel is holy to us, sure, but is there really a religious ideal to found an independant state there? We-ell... I'm not sure. Honestly, I was more born into this worldview than acquired it after deep thought. What I can say is that there is an assumption this will lead up to the comming of the Massiah. Historically, it's pretty evident (ever since the days of the Hasmonean dynasty) that Jewish independance is only necessary in the case it's impossible to keep the commandments otherwise (see Antiochus IV Epiphanes, nicknamed Epimanes - the mad. See also Epmperor Hadrian). Even the original return to Israel after the first exile, as depicted in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, was still under the Persian rule. The Torah does call for Jewish kingship - in Deutronomy 17, 15: "be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite." (this translation contains an interpretation that while being the standard understanding, is not wholly loyal to the original wording.) - which may well be the source of this idea, but there is still room for different interpretations. It might be that we celebrate it for the miracles we believe G-d gave us during our war for independance, against the surrounding countries.

So, people of this group - religious Zionist Jews (I only know about Orthodox, there are Reform Jews that support Israel but I'm not sure if they see it the same way) - celebrate the IID (I know it's not the best acronym, but let's keep things short) with a few additions and alterations to the daily prayers, taken from the changes made for other holidays - adding a few Psalms, mostly (though this isn't gettingto the full extent, I honestly think elaborating will just be confusing). They also celebrate the same way most secular Jews do - with barbecues and watching fireworks and flypasts, and other stuff.

Some Jews, though, don't think the State of Israel is such a wonderfull thing that they should change their prayers for it. There's an old story that goes around, about the leader of the Haredi (Ultra Orthodox) Jews in Israel at the time of the founding of the state. As a preface, I'll say that during certain days of the calendar that are considered happy, Jews say the Hallel - six certain chapters of Psalms. In most of the year excluding those days - and some other days that are considered happy but not happy enough to say the Hallel - we say a certain set of prayers called Tachanun. One more detail - David Ben-Gurion, the founder of Israel and its first Prime Minister, wasn't religious, and probably never went to a synagogue during his days as a Prime Minister. Anyway, this leader of Haredi Jews - the Hazon Ish - said when asked that he prays like Ben-Guryon in the Independance day prayers: he says neither Hallel nor Tachanun. The basic idea behind this stance, I think, is that there are some things to be thankful for in the founding of Israel; but it's not a step forward to ultimate salvation and the coming of the Massiah, and it's not important enough to give thanks to G-d the way we do in Channukah, for example. (I don't use this example just because Channukah is one of the more well-known Jewish holidays - there is more to it, as you can note from my brief mention on the Hasmonean dynasty. Do inform me, here or in a PM, if you want an elaboration.)

Then, there are Satmar Hassidim. Those are the guys who do say Tachnun (and obviously don't say the Hallel) in IID. Furthermore, if by happenstance they get to this part of Tehillim (the Hebrew name for Psalms) during this part of the year (which they did this year, apparently) - they'll make sure not to say it during this day. They'll add it to the previous day or something - everything to avoid seeming to say the Hallel during this day. Those people claim that the State of Israel is the Devil's handiwork, that Jewish independance in Israel before the Massiah comes is not only unideal but actively sinfull, especially since said independance is led by secular Jews. Not being a Satmar Hassid (and not having studied the book their Rabbi wrote on the topic, sadly), I can't really elaborate much on their opinion - just say that there is an elaborate rationale behind it (I did mention an entire book written on the topic). Anyway, when someone tells you about anti-Zionist Jews - it's them and other, similar groups, who truthfully and honestly believe Jewish independance in Israel is problematic, and that trying to achieve it is at least part of the reason G-d punished us with the Holocaust (seriously. It was said by Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum of Satmar, a Holocaust survivor himself).

Anyway, this is a partial summary of the different stances among Orthodox Jews towards the Israeli Independance Day, not getting into more elaborate disagreements inside some of the sects. Hope it was interesting to read about it!

One more thing I want to add before finishing with this very long SU, though, is this: for 60 years now, during the IID, the International BIble Contest for Jewish Youths is held in Jerusalem. It's for Jews worldwide during their teenage years, on the Hebrew Bible specifically - no New Testament, obviously. And while there is some try there to void the Bible from its religious context (believe it or not), I still think it deserves a mention in a post about the religious side of the holiday. Out of all the events of the IID, this is the only one I really care about watching - and I can answer the easier questions there, most of the time. I tried out for it once, but... well... I failed, pretty early on. Doesn't make me like the event less, though!

Thank you for reading this far, have a good day/afternoon/evening/night/morning/whatever other part of the day you're at while reading this!