The Message of 5 Iyar

When is Yom Ha’atzmaut?

Like every other Jewish holiday, it has a date on the calendar: 5 Iyar.

As Rabbi Meshulam Roth (1875-1962), one of the prominent rabbinical supporters of celebrating Israel’s independence, noted:

“Indeed, there is no doubt that the 5th of Iyar, which was established by the government and the members of the Parliament, who are the elected representatives of the people, and the majority of the great Rabbis to celebrate through the land, to commemorate our salvation and our freedom – it is a mitzvah to make it a day of happiness and Yom Tov and to recite Hallel.” (Kol Mevaser 1:21)

This year, though, we will celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut on 6 Iyar.

The Knesset decided that the national commemoration and celebration of Yom Hashoah, Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut should never begin or end in proximity to Shabbat. This was to ensure no preparations or arrangements would ever take place in a way that would violate Shabbat. In the event that any of these days would fall on Friday or Sunday, then the holidays would be pushed off a day or moved earlier. While the dates are significant, in a Jewish State, Shabbat must come first.

The commemorations of Yom Hashoah and Yom Hazikaron don’t engender any significant discussion of Jewish Law. They’re “easy” to move. Celebrating Yom Ha’atzmaut, however, involves religious rituals like reciting Hallel as well as festively celebrating during the Omer period, when such celebrating does not take place. Doesn’t the day matter?

Some rabbis say the date matters.

If 5 Iyar is the date of Yom Ha’atzmaut, then that is the only day to celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut. This means there are some communities who will celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut this year on Monday, while Israel – and most other communities - celebrate on Tuesday. Sounds pretty Jewish, no?

Rabbi Shlomo Goren noted that Yom Ha’atzmaut is bigger than a date on the calendar. We have a religious responsibility to celebrate the miracle of Israel in our time. That’s not about a date. It is about the fact that we have a State of Israel.

What exactly happened on 5 Iyar in 1948?

That is when David Ben-Gurion and the Provisional Council declared a State of Israel. It was an exhilarating moment, but it was immediately followed by war. Why did the Rabbis declare this date the holiday? Why not celebrate the end of the War of Independence?

5 Iyar marks a miraculous moment in Jewish history.

The declaration of the State of Israel was a display of courage that transformed the Jewish people. It was the moment – just three years after the destruction of the Shoah – that facilitated an ingathering of the exiles and triggered the building of a country that boggles the mind to this day. It was also the unleashing of a spirit that we still use today that can never be extinguished.  

Celebrating the events of 5 Iyar - regardless of whether we celebrate on 4 or 6 Iyar – is an annual reminder that we need bravery, perseverance, and faith. Especially after October 7, in the midst of the fighting, pain, heartbreak, and despair, we need to recognize and, yes, celebrate, that the courage needed to declare a state is the courage that will ensure we prevail and always have a state.

Rabbi Yehuda Amital, founder of Yeshivat Har Etzion, would often speak about people’s impatience as reflected in various movements and slogans with the word “Now.” Peace Now. Moshiach Now. He advised some perspective from his own personal experience of surviving the Holocaust and then fighting in Israel’s War of Independence. Have some patience. During the Shoah, he would never even have dreamt he’d be fighting in the army of a Jewish State. That miraculous transformation, that powerful ability to transcend is only possible with 5 Iyar.

On Monday, President Biden gave a strong speech condemning antisemitism and supporting Israel. He decried people forgetting the Holocaust and already even forgetting the horrific events of October 7. Then, on Wednesday, he said he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if it launches a major invasion of Rafah. It’s outrageous and betrays the sentiments of the first speech. Thankfully, many members of Congress have pushed back against the President’s speech, and we must all encourage our leaders to support Israel having what it needs to defeat Hamas.

These days, it can feel like one step forward; two steps back. But nothing can undo what happened on 5 Iyar. Thank God, we have a State of Israel. There is no turning back. There is only going forward.

When we celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut on Tuesday, it will feel different. We feel weighed down by the current situation in Israel and by what seems like less support and stability for Israel and Jews here in America. Nevertheless, when we celebrate, we should think back to the incredible courage and strength unleashed on 5 Iyar in 1948. The genie is out of the bottle. We have that power, and, with God’s help, Israel and the Jewish people will keep moving forward to better times and even greater redemption.

Happy Jewish Heritage Month! (Did You Even Know?)

“For centuries, the perseverance, hope, and unshakeable faith of the Jewish people have inspired people around the world. During Jewish American Heritage Month, we celebrate the immeasurable impact of Jewish values, contributions, and culture on our Nation’s character and recommit to realizing the promise of America for all Jewish Americans… NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2024 as Jewish American Heritage Month. I call upon all Americans to learn more about the heritage and contributions of Jewish Americans and to observe this month with appropriate programs, activities, and ceremonies.”

Did YOU know May is Jewish American Heritage Month in the US?

Most Jews pay little attention to this annual occurrence. It was initiated by President George W. Bush in 2006 following Congressional resolutions for such an annual commemoration to be created following the successful celebration of the 350^th anniversary of American Jewish History in 2004.The rich Jewish American experience deserved such recognition, and each May, hundreds of organizations and Americans of all backgrounds join together to discover, explore, and celebrate the vibrant and varied American Jewish experience from the dawn of our nation to the present day.

That is everyone except Jews, who mostly ignore the month.

We’re busy! May is always filled with Yom HaShoah and Yom HaZikaron commemorations and Yom Ha’atzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim celebrations. There’s Shavuot, graduations, and summer preparations. I’m not complaining that the powers that be chose May. It’s just that they can’t expect the Jewish community to add more to our busy calendars.

With everything going on in America right now, a Jewish American Heritage Month is helpful in raising the profile for what Judaism is and how Jews have contributed – and continue to contribute – to America. Just because we Jews will be busy with our Jewish events in May doesn’t mean we shouldn’t welcome events that draw attention to the positive role Judaism plays in America. Thankfully, there are numerous programs all around the country – from Congress to museums to local towns – that will allow Americans to encounter Jews and Judaism.

Anyone who has watched or listened to some of the campus protestors knows how much ignorance exists. Students don’t know which river or sea they are chanting about, and, beyond the protests, it is scary how little people (especially millennials) know about Judaism or the Holocaust. We can try to educate America, but a little boost from a national effort supported by our government can do more.

Are we Jewish Americans or American Jews? I have always felt that our Judaism should play the primary role in shaping who we are. Accordingly, my Judaism shapes my being American. My Judaism isn’t modified by my being an American. Whether you agree or not, too many Jews do not take their Judaism seriously enough. I cringe each time I see the Jewish names of the anti-Israel protestors and those Jews who support enemies of the Jewish community in Congress.

Jewish Americans can use more Jewish Heritage.

This month – and particularly during the next two weeks, we will have an intense encounter with Jewish heritage and Jewish history. We will recall the darkest, deepest depths of the Shoah and speed directly into marking the establishment – three short years later – of the State of Israel by remembering the sacrifices of those who allow us to celebrate an independent Jewish homeland today.

How are this year’s “Yom’s” different from other years? The answer is, of course, October 7.

The horrors of that day, and the subsequent 200+ days of war, uncertainty, hostages, pain, and suffering have been historic, life-altering events. I remember during the worst of COVID thinking of the verse (Shemot 12:30): “For there was no house where there was not someone dead.” There were so many families affected that there was, at most, one degree of separation from the disease. In the aftermath of 10/7 and during the first months of the war, I thought the same thing. We all knew someone or were one degree removed from someone impacted by October 7. Each of our lives has changed.

Yet, as is the story of our people, we move forward. We double down as best as possible on tradition, on family, on community, on each other, on faith, and on life.

Rabbi Moshe Isserlis, known the Rema and the source for much of Ashkenazi practice, teaches a little-known piece of shiva visit etiquette. One is not allowed to tell the mourner “What can you do? You couldn’t have changed anything” since this is akin to blasphemy.

What’s wrong with such a sentiment? Many of us have found ourselves at a shiva wondering what to say next. “Nu, what can you do? God is in charge” has come to mind. It’s actually true! What CAN we do?

Rabbi Isserlis is teaching that it is wrong to despair of being able to do something. There is always something to do. To say, “Oy! What can you do?” is to say that, in reality, our lives don’t really make any difference to what goes on in this world and that there is nothing we can do to change it. Judaism rejects this kind of thinking.

There is always a way forward. Jews believe that even death is not the ultimate end. In our daily prayers, we invoke techiyat ha-meitim, resurrection of the dead. It is one the Rambam’s thirteen fundamentals of Jewish faith. How do we understand such a complex principle? Keeping the memory and legacy of the Jewish past alive is techiyat hameitim. We are the resurrection. I can think of no clearer expression of this than the week between Yom HaShoah and Yom Ha’atzmaut. We, the generation after the Holocaust, are witnessing the Jewish people moving forward despite any difficulties and setbacks.

This month is Jewish American Heritage Month, and we should recognize and celebrate what Jews have contributed to America. This month, Americans and the Jewish community will focus on commemorating and celebrating the Jewish Heritage of Jewish survival and accomplishment. As a colleague likes to note, “The response to antisemitism is semitism.” Living Judaism is the response to those who hate us.

Here’s to a month of Jewish heritage, solidarity, pride, accomplishment, progress, healing, relief, redemption, and resurrection!