Yom Haatzmaut

Why did we move yom Haatzmaut a day early this year?

Do the customs of mourning that we observe during the omer period apply to Yom Ha-atzma’ut? Responses to this question have varied greatly.

All the holy places in Judea and Samaria – most significantly the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount – were liberated, along with the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan.

When Yom Ha-atzma’ut falls out on a Friday or Shabbat, there is good reason for concern that the celebrations and ceremonies will cause public desecration of Shabbat.

Some maintain that the salvation of Yom Ha-atzma’ut is similar to that of the Exodus from Egypt, and thus we must recite Hallel at night.

Some say that even though we thank God on Yom Ha-atzma’ut, we should not recite Hallel with a berakha.

It is a mitzva to recite Hallel on special occasions, in order to thank and praise God for the miracles He performs on our behalf.

There is a mitzva to establish a holiday of rejoicing and praising God on a day when the Jewish people were saved. It was on this basis that the Sages established Purim and Ĥanuka as permanent holidays.

The verse states: “I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem, by gazelles or by hinds of the field: Do not wake or rouse love until it please!” ). The Sages explain that God administered three oaths: two to Israel – not to ascend to their land forcefully all together and not to rebel against the nations – and one to the gentiles – not to subjugate the Jews excessively.

On Yom Ha-atzma’ut (Israel’s Independence Day), the Jewish people were delivered from bondage to freedom, from subjugation by foreign powers, with all it entails, to political independence.