YOM HAATZMAUT: From Tikvatenu to Hatikva

A young man from Galicia, named Naphtali Herz Imber , inspired by the founding of Petah Tikvah in 1878, wrote a poem about his feelings of hope for the Jewish people to come back to their land.

  

The song, originally called "Tikvatenu" (Our Hope), later became "Hatikvah," the national anthem of the State of Israel.

Imber was born in 1856 into a Hasidic family. He received a traditional education, and left home at an early age to wander around the world. He came to Palestine in 1882 and stayed for six years writing essays, poetry and articles for Hebrew periodicals.

  

Tikvatenu, was first published in 1886, although it had initially been read in public as early as 1882 to a group of farmers in Rishon LeZion who received it enthusiastically.

  

Among them was Samuel Cohen, who heard the poem and enjoyed it so much that he promptly set it to music.

  

"Hatikvah" was sung at the conclusion of the Sixth Zionist Congress in Basle in 1903, the last congress presided over by Theodor Herzl, who died tragically the following year. The anthem was sung at all subsequent Zionist Congresses, and at the 18th Congress, held in Prague in 1933, it was officially confirmed as the Zionist anthem.

"Tikvatenu" became the unofficial anthem of Jewish Palestine under the British mandate. At the Declaration of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, "Hatikvah" was sung by the assembly at its opening ceremony.

  

(Adapted from Hatikvah - The Hope by Dulcy Leibler)

  

  

A VERY SPECIAL HATIKVA, by THE SURVIVORS OF BERGEN-BELSEN (April 1945)  

  

As you can see, the original text of haTikva, pre Medinat Israel, was different from the one we have today. It was five times longer and it included the Jewish aspiration of "coming back to the land of our forefathers, and to the city founded by King David (=Jerusalem)"  od lo abda tikvatenu, hatikva hanoshana, lashub leEretz Abotenu, leir bah David chana." 

Once the State of Israel was established and the People of Israel were settled in the land of our forefathers the last eight words were changed and a adapted to the new reality.

  

SHABBAT SHALOM!

CANDLE LIGHTING IN NYC:     7:30 PM

SHABBAT ENDS IN NYC:            8:39 PM

   

THIS SHABABT WE WILL CELEBRATE YOM HA'ATZMAUT, ALL OUR CONGREGATION TOGETHER, IN SHAARE SHALOM. 

WE WILL HONOR THOSE OF OUR COMMUNITY WHO SERVED, MORE THAN 100 IDF VETERANS, OR ARE PRESENTLY SERVING IN THE IDF.  

OUR TALMUD TORAH CHILDREN WILL ALSO PARTICIPATE SHOWING US THE DIFFERENT BLESSINGS OF MEDINAT ISRAEL.  

YOM HA'ATZMAUT: Clouds and pigeons

We celebrate today Israel's Independence Day, Yom ha'Atzmaut. During Yom ha'Atzmaut we say Hallel, to thank HaShem for the miracles He performed for us in our own days. A miracle, that unlike other miracles, is part of our visual memory. The establishment of Medinat Israel in 1948 and its survival against all odds throughout threats, attacks and wars. 

We also celebrate the gathering of exiles, and the fact that today we have the possibility to visit and to establish ourselves in the homeland of Abraham, Yitzhaq and Ya'aqob.

The Tora predicted the exile of the Jewish people to the four corners of the planet. But it also predicted that they will come back home (Debarim 30:5-6). The prophet Yesha'ayahu explained with a prophecy/poetry how this prophecy will be carried out. Addressing the Land of Israel he said: (60:4) "Your sons will come back from afar..." and at that time, there will be those who will come (60:8) "flying along like clouds, and those who will come flying like pigeons to their nests".

Rabbi Simcha Kook, chief Rabbi of Rehovot, once explained to me why the Prophet used the motif of clouds and pigeons. Clouds and pigeons represent two opposites in terms of their motion. Clouds do not control their movement. They are moved by winds. To one side or the other.  On the other hand, pigeons, out of all birds, have an extraordinary (and still scientifically inexplicable! See this) orientation sense which enables them to return to their nest from any location in the world, even thousands of miles away. They would not rest until they arrive home, defying winds and storms. 

The Prophet Yesha'ayahu said that in the time of our return to Eretz Israel, there will be Jews who, like clouds, will return to the land of Israel moved by "winds." Political winds, financial winds, winds of persecution, all of them divine winds, which will force these Jews to come back to their homeland. And there will be other Jews who, like pigeons, will come from far away, struggling against opposite winds, and driven by a passionate desire to come back home, to their nest.

At the end, either if they came back as clouds or as pigeons, all Jews B'H will be reunited back in the land of Israel. To fulfill the greatest prophecy and to rebuild the most beautiful home for the Jewish people, Medinat Israel.

Yom ha'Atzmaut Sameach!

WATCH THIS NEW AMAZING SERIES:"MIRACLE OF ISRAEL"  

from Aish, by Rabbi Berel Wein and Destiny film. 

Clip # 2: Survivors and Sephardic Jews.  

YOM HAZIKARON, Israel's Memorial Day

Israel Independence Day--YOM HAATZMAUT--which will begin tonight, celebrates the anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel. 

Today, YOM HAZIKARON, the day preceding this celebration, is devoted to honor the memory of those who sacrificed their lives for the achievement of Israel Independence and its continued existence.

The total number of soldiers and security personnel who fell since the War of Independence in 1948 until today is 22,993 souls. Most of them young men in their early twenties. 

This number includes disabled IDF (Israel Defense Force) veterans who later died from their wounds and non-IDF personnel who fell in the line of duty.

In Israel tens of thousands of people attend cemeteries to mourn their children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, and friends who fell on the wars. 

Har Hertzl, in Yerushalaim, the most important military cemetery. Most of the official memorial ceremonies take place there.

In the morning, at 11.00 AM, a siren is sound. Everyone and everything stops for two minutes: people, cars, businesses, public transportation, etc. honoring the memory of the fallen heroes (see here and  here). Many Israelis would spend the rest of the day at home watching on the Israeli TV the short movies prepared especially for the occasion in which they show the lives, the bravery and the  heroism of the fallen soldiers, especially those who were killed this year.

Please, light a candle in their memory. 

  

May the Almighty treasure their souls in the Gan Eden.

May HaShem protect our soldiers and shield them from the hands of our enemies.   

May HaShem bring peace, everlasting peace, to Medinat Israel. AMEN.

  

WATCH

In honor of our brave soldiers, who gave  their lives for all of us. 

En route to Yom haAtzmaut.   

YOM HAATZMAUT: Israel Independence Day

The 5th of Iyar, or May 14th 1948, was one of the greatest days in the history of the people of Israel. That day, Israel's Independence Day or Yom ha'Atzmaut, we regained our political independence and sovereignty (ribbonut)  over the land of Israel, after almost 1900 years of exile.

Many contemporary rabbis saw the establishment of the State of Israel as the atchalata de-gueula, the beginning, a first step toward our final divine redemption. From being at the mercy of uncountable tyrants, and our fate being determined by the whims of other nations, we finally are able to determine our own destiny.  

The land of Israel, its ground, after being abandoned and barren for centuries, is now giving its fruits to its children, in fulfillment of many prophecies that indicated that the land will welcome back the Jewish people flourishing and giving again its fruits. As Rabbi Abba said in Masekhet Sanhedrin 98a: "There is no sign of redemption more obvious than this one (Yechezqel 36:8) "'But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruits for my people Israel, when they will be close to come (back)". Rashi explained there: 'When the land of Israel will produce its fruits generously, then you will know that our redemption (geula) is near. There is no sign of redemption more clear that this' "  

Our return to the land of Israel as the fulfillment of uncountable prophecies from Israel's Prophets. As Yechezqel the prophet who witness our first exile, prophesied to the Jewish people 2500 year ago (36:24)"  "For I [HaShem] will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land". 

YOM HAZIKARON, THE DAY OF REMEMBRANCE FOR THE FALLEN SOLDIERS OF ISRAEL, THOSE YOUNG FIGHTERS THAT OFFERED THEIR LIVES FOR THESE PROPHECIES TO BECOME TRUE.

 

Click HERE to watch:  Major Roi Klein z"l , "Loving Hashem with all your life"... in the battlefield.

  

Click HERE to read about Michael Levin, z'l. 

  

Click  HERE to watch HEROES OF ISRAEL

ROSH CHODESH: We and the moon

 The Jewish month follows the moon's cycle of 29 days and a half. That is why sometimes we have one day of Rosh Chodesh and sometimes (roughly: every other month) two days.

In those 29 days and a half the moon grows from virtually nothing until its plenitude, and then decreases and disappears, to be visible again. Our Rabbis talked about the resemblance between the cycle of the moon and the permanent renewal of the Jewish people.

"Whereas the sun is the symbol of unchanging nature, rising in the east, setting in the west, day in and day out every day of the year, the moon changes and it seems to be telling us something: You can be small and you can diminish until you almost disappear, but then, when things look their darkest, hope springs eternal. You can start looking up again. You can change a situation and yourself for the better, no matter how bad it seems. Nothing is static or set in stone. Human beings have free will and therein is their power of renewal -- an ever-present struggle against the steady, cyclical, repetitive and predictable march of time and nature."

The solar system determines the year, in Hebrew "shana," which comes from the same root as to repeat, to go over, whereas the moon sets the months, "Chodesh", from the Hebrew root "chadash," -- new, change, different.

The Jewish people are compared to the moon. Though they are small, and suffering has been an integral part of our history among the nations, we Jews know never to give up. As an individual and as a nation, we will rise up again and light up the night.

Adapted from "Rosh Chodesh", an article by Dina Coopersmith
To read the complete article click here