Dear Ariel, Please Join Me In Saying Hallel On 5 b'Iyyar

4 of the Second Month 5771

The following is a response to my friend Ariel Ben Yochanan's "Don't Celebrate 'Independence Day!'" posted at The Torah Revolution.

I plan to say Hallel on 5th of the Second Month (Iyyar), and not on the 6th.

I will be saying Hallel, not for the establishment of the State, per se, but for the miracles HaQadosh Barukh Hu (The holy One, Blessed Be He) did to save us from annihilation, and for the freedom from foreign rule He granted to us, in particular, freedom from the oppressive, British Mandate. This was the first time in over 2,000 years, that Eretz Yisra'el (Land of Israel) was not ruled by a foreign power.

Do we have oppressive forces ruling over us now? Yes, certainly.

Do they act like a foreign power? Yes, in many ways. They often do not operate as a truly Jewish government. They often take orders from abroad. Perhaps, we could call them Hellenists or Romanists, Americanists, or any other number of names. Nonetheless, Israel is not currently ruled by a foreign power.

And, as the Hungarian, Rabbi Teichtel ztz"l says in his monumental work Em HaBanim Sm'echa,...

1) The non-religious Jews will receive some reward for building up the Land.
2) Do not fear, for their rule over the Land will only be temporary.
3) The level of their pride will fall, and they, too, will cry out to HaShem.

The list goes on. I highly recommend this book. It reconciles many of the halakhic (Jewish legal) questions posed by anti-Zionist, Haredim. rabbis. I believe that he will satisfactorily answer yours, too.

The 5th of the Second Month, 5708 was when the Yishma'elim (Arabs) started to attack, and thus the beginning of HaShem's miracles. Albeit, the attacks began on this day, in response to David Ben-Gurion's declaration of a State

Just because the State has screwed up, time and time again, and is not a legitimate, Torah government, this has nothing to do with the miracles done for us. On Hanukkah we say Hallel for the miracles HaShem did to save us from annihilation during the military actions between the kosher Jews (Mattithiyahu Ben Yochanan, the Hashmonaim/Maccabees and their followers) and the non-kosher ones (Helenists) with the ones who did not know any better. Even though the Hashmonaim fell spiritually a couple of generations later, HaShem's miracles did not get retroactively canceled, and we did not stop saying Hallel for them.

You do not have to call it Yom Ha'Atzma'uth (Independence Day). Call it whatever you want. But, do not let the State and the regime be confused with Jewish sovereignty over Eretz Yisra'el, even if you only call it potential, Jewish sovereignty.

Do not let evil people prevent you from praising HaShem and the miracles He has done for us. That is exactly what they want to do.

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For more information on when and why we say Hallel and Al HaNissim for the 5th of the Second Month and the 28th of the Second Month, visit this link at Machon Shilo.