Haaretz has an article about a change in the Yizkor prayer in Israel for fallen soldiers. The prayer at military memorial ceremonies for Israel’s fallen soldiers – Yizkor (Remember) – will open with the traditional “May God remember his sons and daughters,” Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz ruled this week. The statement followed [...]
With the word Nakba being in the news during the past few days, I thought that some might find the following interview with Arieh Lova Eliav interesting. Eliav was someone who could truly say that he helped build the modern state of Israel. He was also one of the first Israelis to call for the [...]
If anybody was looking for some good Israel-related reading, here are two books that I highly recommend. The first book is Allis and Ronald Radosh’s A Safe Haven: Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel . This book describes the incredible drama that preceded America’s recognition of the State of Israel. If there was [...]
One part of the official celebrations of Yom ha-Atzmaut is the Israel Prize. The prize is the highest recognition of contribution to Israeli society and culture. It has often been a lightning rod for criticism-it is elitist, left-wing, etc. This year there is even a list of alternative Israel Prize winners published by Makor Rishon. [...]
I have previously written about new liturgies for Yom ha-Atzmaut, and I wanted to add one to the list. Beit Tefila Israeli is an important part of the Jewish Renaissance in Israel. Here is their vision: Beit Tefilah Israeli aspires to establish an active Jewish community which speaks to the breadth of the secular public [...]
I once heard a statement attributed to Yossi Klein Halevi that if American Jews want to understand Israelis better they should listen to their music. The gulf between Israeli and Diaspora Jews is probably never larger than the two weeks that include Yom ha-Shoah, Yom ha-Zikaron, and Yom ha-Atzmaut. If diaspora Jews want to understand [...]
iCast is a great web site that includes podcasts from Israeli radio stations and numerous other sources in Israel. MaTar, Maagar Torani Ra’anana, has posted lectures in Hebrew that they have sponsored. One of them is a multi-part series by Rabbi Benny Lau on Sugiyot Ḥevratiyot be-Mekorot Yisrael. These lectures can also be found here [...]
Ynet has an article (Hebrew) about a new custom from the Movement for Progressive Judaism (Reform) in Israel, chanting selections from Israel’s Declaration of Independence (English, Hebrew) on Yom ha-Atzmaut with cantillation. You can hear a few selections here. It’s too bad that the section of their web site about Yom ha-Atzmaut there doesn’t seem [...]
The actions of the Yishuv in Palestine during the Shoah has been a controversial subject. Some have blamed the Yishuv leaders for not doing enough to help the Jews of Europe, others have criticized the the way in which the survivors were treated when the arrived in Israel. See here for a review of some [...]
In a comment to a previous post, my good friend Harry wrote, I have been arguing the main points of both authors as you describe them. But I cannot read these articles because they are in Hebrew. Is there anyway for them to be translated- lets say to English? The question of language aside, I [...]
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