To the Charedi boys who interrupted our Yom Ha’atzmaut Tefillah tonight, yelling “Tziyonim

 

To the Haredi boys who interrupted our Yom Ha’atzmaut Tefillah tonight, yelling “Tziyonim - Zionists” while we recited the Shema…

Once upon a time, things were much simpler. In the early days of statehood, Yom Ha’atzmaut was celebrated by the broader religious community. Hallel was sung in Bnei Brak’s Great Synagogue and Hasidim, dressed in festive frocks and fur hats, danced in her streets, celebrating the miraculous birth of the State of Israel. Israeli flags flew proudly in fervently religious neighborhoods — the Agudath Israel even encouraged placing them in the window!

The day was marked in yeshivot, like Hebron and Ponevezh. To this day, the flag is flown over the Ponevezh Yeshiva out of deference to its founder, Rav Yosef Kahaneman, who began the practice. Rav Kahaneman’s positive feelings towards Yom Ha’atzmaut and the State of Israel also led him to omit Tachanun, traditionally omitted on festive occasions.

An editorial which appeared in the Haredi newspaper Hamodia, celebrated Israel’s third birthday and encouraged its readers to do the same. The piece, published on the 4th of Iyyar, 1951, begins:

“All over the country and throughout the Diaspora, we will celebrate the State of Israel’s third Independence Day with military demonstrations, stately ceremonies, and gatherings across the country and the Diaspora, together with tens and hundreds of displays and expressions of joy, where the masses will express their excitement for this major historical event.

This holiday is for all citizens of the State of Israel, and any Jew wherever he is who sees himself as part of the Jewish Nation. On this day, we forget our differences of views and stances. Conflicts and disputes that divide us are closed and buried, and the people will celebrate, united and undivided.

For together as one we went through the War of Independence, with all it entailed. We have all paid a heavy price, with our young sons. And together we share the burden, till today, of the realization of the in-gathering of the scattered of Israel, for whose sake the State was established…”

The State of Israel was born by religious and non-religious alike, as Jews of every stripe and political or religious affiliation fought for her independence. They did not have the luxury to sit back and be sectarian.

At a time when tensions are high in the State of Israel, the truths of history remind us that we have more in common than that which sets us apart. Would we only be able to get back to that simpler place in time, set aside our differences, and celebrate again, “united and undivided.”

The State of Israel was born by religious and non-religious alike, as Jews of every stripe and political or religious affiliation fought for her independence. They did not have the luxury to sit back and be sectarian.

At a time when tensions are high in the State of Israel, the truths of history remind us that we have more in common than that which sets us apart. Would we only be able to get back to that simpler place in time, set aside our differences, and celebrate again, “united and undivided”