Rabbi Howard Morrison

Dear Congregational Family,

Today is a special birthday. Some of us remember when the State of Israel was proclaimed and born. Others of us remember this day from the time we were young children. I am proud to have been raised in a Zionist family and will always remember my Bar Mitzvah in Israel mere days after her twenty-fifth birthday in 1973.

I believe that Yom Ha'Atzmaut is more than an act of history. While the Zionist effort began in the 1800's with Theodore Hertzl and many others, I believe that modern Jews should approach Yom Ha'Atzmaut in the same spirit as Chanukah and Purim. I favor the recitation of Al Ha'Nisim on Yom Ha'Atzmaut. I favor the recitation of a full unabbreviated Hallel on Yom Ha'Atzmaut. I favor the inclusion of a prescribed Torah and Haftarah reading on Yom Ha'Atzmaut. I favor the regular recitation of a prayer for Medinat Yisrael which refers to the modern State as "the first flowering of our redemption." 

While we should have fun and patriotic activity today, may we find appropriate ways to include Yom Ha'Atzmaut as an authentic religious observance. May we truly say Chag Sameach!

Sincerely,

Rabbi Howard Morrison