Rabbi Howard Morrison

Today, we celebrate Yom Ha'Atzmaut, the 77^th anniversary of Israel's independence, harkening back to 1948. Back in 2015, a number of us from Beth Emeth spent a week in Poland followed by a week in Israel. I remember that on the same day we left Auschwitz, with mud on our clothing, we went right to the airport and flew to Israel. We arrived in Jerusalem at roughly 6am to a warm, bright, and blue sky. I remember thinking - if only Eastern European Jews could have had an airport to run to and a sovereign State of Israel to which they could arrive.

We ought never take Israel for granted. Given the past seventy-seven years in general and given the last year and a half in particular, we the Jewish people must elevate Israel over everything else. While it would be inappropriate for a rabbi to advise for whom to vote in a political election, it is appropriate for a rabbi to advise putting Israel and the needs of the Jewish community above all else when preparing to vote. If not we Jews, who will look after our Jewish particularistic needs?

In the Al Ha'Nisim ("For the miracles") prayer composed by the Conservative Movement for Diaspora Jews on Yom Ha'Atzmaut, we recite:

"In the days when Your children were returning to their borders, at the time of a people revived in its land as in days of old, the gates of the land of our ancestors were closed before those who were fleeing the sword. When enemies from within the land together with seven neighboring nations sought to annihilate Your people, You, in your great mercy, stood by them in time of trouble. You defended them and vindicated them. You gave them courage to meet their foes, to open the gates to those seeking refuge, and to free the land of its armed invaders. . . . "

Now, it is for us to participate in maintaining and securing the miracle that is Medinat Yisrael - the State of Israel.

Chag Yom Ha'Atzmaut Sameach,
Rabbi Howard Morrison