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🖖︎ Prayers & Praxes // 📅︎ Prayers for Civic Days on Civil Calendars // State of Israel Civil Calendar // Yom ha-Atsma'ut (5 Iyyar)
Yom ha-Atsma’ut (5 Iyyar)
Prayer on the 75th Anniversary of the Founding of the State of Israel for North American Jews, by Rabbi Ayelet Cohen (T’ruah 2023)![]() ![]() The “Prayer for North American Jews on the 75th Anniversary of Israel’s Founding” was first published and disseminated from the website of T’ruah, via PDF here. . . . מָעוֹז צוּר | Maoz Tsur for Yom ha-Atsma’ut, a complete poetic translation with an added stanza for the State of Israel’s Independence Day by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer![]() ![]() ![]() This is a complete poetic rhyming translation of Maoz Tsur with all six of its stanzas including a seventh, final stanza written by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer specifically for Yom ha-Atsmau’ut. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() An al hanissim prayer for the State of Israel’s Day of Independence. . . . עַל הַנִּסִּים בִּימֵי הוֹדָיָה לְאֻמִּיִּים | Al haNissim prayer on Civic Days of Patriotic Gratitude, by Aharon Varady![]() ![]() ![]() colonization, conquest, settlement, acquisition, refugees, 21st century C.E., immigration, 58th century A.M., sanctuary, eco-conscious, Indigenous Peoples, subjugation, Gratitude, נודה לך Nodeh L'kha, hegemony, primordial scream, על הנסים al hanissim, stewardship, shomrah ul'ovdah, Needing Translation (into Hebrew), מודים Modim Opportunities to express gratitude on civic days of patriotic thanksgiving demand acknowledgement of an almost unfathomably deep history of trauma — not only the suffering and striving of my immigrant ancestors, but the sacrifice of all those who endured suffering dealt by their struggle to survive, and often failure to survive, the oppressions dealt by colonization, conquest, hegemony, natural disaster. Only the Earth (from which we, earthlings were born, Bnei Adam from Adamah) has witnessed the constancy of the violent deprivations we inflict upon each other. The privilege I’ve inherited from these sacrifices has come at a cost, and it must be honestly acknowledged, especially on civic days of thanksgiving, independence, and freedom. I insert this prayer after Al Hanissim in the Amidah and in the Birkat Hamazon on national days of independence and thanksgiving. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() An al haNissim prayer for Yom ha-Atsma’ut. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() An al hanissim formulation for Yom Ha-Atsma’ut by the scholar Amos Hakham. . . . על הניסים ליום העצמאות | Al haNissim for Yom ha-Atsma’ut, by Dr. Avi Shmidman and Rabbi Ben-Tzion Spitz (2009)![]() ![]() ![]() An al-hanissim prayer for Yom ha-Atsma’ut. . . . על הניסים ליום העצמאות | Al Hanissim for Yom ha-Atsma’ut: Theological & Liturgical Reflections, by Yehonatan Chipman (2003)![]() ![]() Every year on Yom ha-Atzmaut I feel a certain sense of frustration about its liturgy, and the failure of Religious Zionism to shape the holiday into one that would make a clear and definite religious statement. The “festive” prayer for Yom ha-Atzmaut is a hotchpotch of Yom Kippur, Kabbalat Shabbat, Shabbat Mevarkhim, and Pesaḥ. One gets a sense that there is an avoidance of hard issues. Even such a simple thing as saying Hallel with a blessing is not yet self-evident, but a subject of constant debate. Every year, there seem to be more leading rabbis, who adopt crypto-Ḥaredi stances, issuing pronunciamentos as to why one must not enter into the doubt of saying a brakha levatala, an unnecessary blessing, in this case. (As I was typing these words, I was interrupted by a phone call from a friend with this very question!) Bimhila mikvodam (no affront to the honor due them intended), but what on earth do they think the Talmud is talking about when it says that “On every occasion that Israel are in distress and then delivered, they are to recite the Hallel” (Pesaḥim 116a), if not the likes of Yom ha-Atzmaut? . . . Prayer for the Success of the Conference on Palestine Convened by His Majesty’s Government (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, 19 February 1939)![]() ![]() A prayer for the success of the London Conference of 1939 which ultimately resulted in the publication of the 1939 White Paper. . . . ![]() ![]() ![]() A religious Zionist national anthem composed by Rav Kook in response to the secular Zionist Hatikvah. . . . בִּרְכַּת עָם (תֶחֱזַקְנָה) | The People’s Blessing (a/k/a Teḥezaqnah), by Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik (1894)![]() ![]() ![]() Before HaTikvah was chosen, Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik’s “People’s Blessing” (בִּרְכַּת עָם, also known by its incipit תֶחֱזַֽקְנָה Teḥezaqnah) was once considered for the State of Israel’s national anthem. Bialik was 21 years old when he composed the work in 1894. It later was chosen as the anthem of the Labor Zionist movement. We hereby present the first ever complete English translation of this poem. . . . ![]() ![]() The poem, Hatikvah, in its original composition by Naphtali Herz Imber, later chosen and adapted to become the national anthem of the State of Israel. . . . |