They

nations, as it is written:

And

they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations

(Isaiah 66:20)

And

that kingdom shall endure and never end.

(R. Ezra ben Shelomo, Commentary on

Song of Songs 8:13). Altona 5524, as quoted in HaRav Menachem Mendel Kasher's Haggadat Pesah Eretzyisraelit, Perek Athalta de'Geula)

He said: A scepter comes forth from

triumphant (Bamidbar 24:17-18).

Exegesis:

That one scepter shall rise up in Israel as such arise in the world – in a

natural fashion.

(R. Hayyim ben Atar, Or

ha'Hayyim on Bamidbar

29:15, as quoted in Haggadat Pesah Eretzyisraelit,

loc. cit.)

It is written: If he has not been redeemed

jubilee year (Vayikra 25:54). And

rather he and his children with him shall go free in the jubilee year.

By what merit are we redeemed without

shall have no other god (Shemot 20:3).

(The Ba'alei ha'Tosafot on the end of Parashat Behar, as quoted in Haggadat Pesah Eretzyisraelit,

loc. cit.)

Whenever someone sheds tears for an adam kasher

His treasure-house.

(Shabbat 105b)

Resh Lakish said: There are seven

firmaments, they are: vilon, rakiya, shehakim, zevul, ma'on, makhon, aravot…

Aravot – which contains justice,

and law, and charity, storehouses of life and storehouses of peace and

storehouses of blessing,

and the souls of the righteous…

For it is

said: Let my master's soul be bound up in the

bundle of life in the care of the Lord your God (I Samuel 25:29).

(Following Shabbat 12a)

The Passover

of Yom Ha'Atzma'ut

Asa Kasher

"The great Hebrew holiday." The first Yom Ha'Atzama'ut was received with those words in the address

delivered by the chairman of the "First Knesset of Israel, meeting on the

first anniversary of Israel's independence, greeting the dear Hebrew holiday."

Yosef Sprintzak described Yom Ha'Atzma'ut with phrases such as "the new Hebrew

holiday" because they seemed appropriate to people of his day. Two words

always reappear in those descriptions, and they are both deep and fascinating. However,

it seems that they have lost their significance with the passing years.

One

word, ha'ivri ["the Hebrew"] has

fallen out of common usage because its sense has split into several different

meanings: "the Jewish," "the Israeli," and so forth. This

reflects an interesting and important historical process, but this is not the

place to deal with it.

The

other word, hag ["holiday"], is still commonly used in

reference to Yom Ha'Atzma'ut, but it does not serve

as a living and accurate description, but rather as a "frozen"

expression. Usually, Yom Ha'Atzma'ut is celebrated as

a vacation, a time for relaxation or entertainment, rather than as a holiday

marked by joy or activities informed by some special spirit of the day. This

reflects an interesting an important cultural process, which I shall presently

address.

It

is self-evident that not every special day is a holiday. A memorial day is not

a holiday. It is less obvious that even a special day involving more joy than

sorrow can also fail to meet the definition of a holiday. Such, for instance,

is the 18^th of Iyyar, known as La'G Ba'Omer. One tradition

connects it with the outbreak of the Great Revolt, a second tradition claims

that it marks the end of a great plague, while a third associates it with R.

Shimon bar Yohai. Everyone who is loyal to these

traditions experiences the day as a point of transition from a period of

mourning to one of joy, but it is not considered to be a holiday.

(I

could not find the expression Hag Lag Ba'Omer

in any culturally significant text, with the exception of a few children's

songs: Levin Kipnis's Kashteinu

al K'teifeinu (written

in 1921), includes the line "It is the holiday of Lag Ba'omer for us [hag lag ba'omer

lanu], a joy for a girl and a boy." Ora Morag's Heitz va'Keshet (1979)

opens with the words, "On the holiday of Lag Ba'Omer,

I was told by Tomer.")

The

State of Israel established Yom Ha'Atzma'ut as a

holiday. Here is how the law from the year 5709 puts it: "The Knesset

hereby proclaims that the day of the 5^th of Iyyar

is Yom Ha'Atzma'ut which shall be celebrated every

year as a state holiday." It is not difficult to understand why the

members of the first Kenesset saw fit to celebrate

the day of the proclamation of the state's founding as a holiday. All of them

belonged to a world in which Yom Ha'Atzma'ut marked

the historical transition from being a people living under foreign rule – be it

in the Diaspora or in the Land of Israel – to being a nation "that exists

independently in its own sovereign state," to quote from Israel's

Declaration of Independence. The significance of this transition is so deep, so

pervasive, so jarring, that it is appropriate for it to be marked by a holiday.

Yom Ha'Atzma'ut is a natural holiday for a Jew who lived

through this transition, even more so for a Jew who participated in the

struggle to bring about the transition. Such people find the joy of national

independence inside themselves because they had "left Egypt" themselves.

I recall myself as a wee ear-witness, listening to the broadcast of the

ceremony proclaiming the establishment of the state. I remember the strains of Hatikva rising up from our radio for the first time

in the State of Israel. Even today, every time I sing the anthem or hear it

sung at a ceremony, I am flushed with emotion as I recall the first time it was

sung in an independent Israel.

So

it is for a Jew who witnessed the establishment of the political independence

of the Jewish People. So it is for someone like myself,

who experienced it as a small child. But what of those who were born here at

that time? And what of those who were born here a decade later, or twenty years

later, or on the state's fiftieth anniversary? It would seem that the stirring

voice of the establishment of our independence cannot echo naturally or

automatically in their hearts, for they were born into independence, they grew

up as children of independence, they came into their

own as the sons and daughters of "a free people in our land, the land of

Zion and Jerusalem." (In the original version of Imbar's

Hatikva, the "ancient hope" is "return

to the land of our fathers, to the city where David encamped." It is not

hard to notice the crucial difference between dwelling in our father's land and

being a free nation in our land.) Independence is the landscape of their

birthplace. The establishment of independence is a story passed down in the

family or read from the pages of history books. That is why, in their world,

Yom Ha'Atzama'ut can be a day of celebrations, but it

cannot be a genuine holiday.

Nonetheless,

one whose cultural world has roots in the Jewish tradition will be greatly

surprised by how rapidly the perception of Yom Ha'Atzma'ut

as "the State's holiday" has degenerated. From the standpoint of that

tradition, the exodus from Egypt was a single ancient event, but we still find "a

commemoration of the exodus from Egypt" in the formulation of the Kiddush

every Sabbath eve. Every Seder night we learn that, in the Haggadah's

words, "in each and every generation, one is required to see himself as if

he had left Egypt."

Two

thousand years after the event, the Passover Haggadah

invites us to reenact the exodus for ourselves. It would seem that one may

fulfill this obligation by trying to identify with our fathers and mothers, the

original people who left Egypt as they were in themselves. However, it seems

preferable to bring the exodus to us rather than to bring ourselves to the

exodus. In order to "see himself as if he had left Egypt," one must

identify his own present "Egypt" and commit himself to leave it in

the future. To my mind, this "Egypt" is idolatry, understood in its

broadest and deepest sense, but I shall not dwell upon that here. (I have written on it at length in my Yahadut ve'Elilut, Misrad ha'Bitchon – Hotza'a la'Or, Tel-Aviv 2004.)

Yom Ha'atzma'ut could have remained a genuine holiday for the

generations if it had developed a similar tradition in a parallel spirit: "In

each and every year, one is required to see himself as if he had been in Israel

on the day of its establishment." If such a

tradition had developed naturally it would have created the means by which one

could fulfill the obligation to see himself as if he had been present in Israel

at the moment of its founding. An idea known to us from alternative version of

the Haggadah's text could have offered a starting

point: "In each and every generation, one is required to show himself as

if he had left Egypt." (This is the formulation

found in Yemenite Haggadahs and in several of the

older printed editions. See my grandfather HaRav Menachem Mendel Kasher's Haggadah Sheleima,

Jerusalem 5721, pg. 64.) How does one fulfill his obligation "to

show himself"? The basic answer offered to us by the Jewish tradition is

to do so by means of ceremonies and texts. There is no holiday without its own

particular ceremonies and there is no holiday lacking its own particular texts

to be read. Take note: this is not a matter of a ceremony carried out by the

High Priest, but rather, of a ceremony in which every individual person takes

part. We are not referring to texts sung by the Levites in the Temple, but of

texts that every individual is to recite together with the other participants. Such

is the holiday of Passover and such is the holiday of Sukkot

in the Jewish tradition. Such can be the holiday of Atzma'ut.

This

is the place to recall the question asked by the son, while the section

beginning "The Torah spoke of four sons" stands in the background. It

is one of the foundational elements that shaped the entire Haggadah:

When your son asks you tomorrow, saying: "What are the testaments and

the laws and the ordinances?" (Devarim 6:20). On Passover, the answer is already

prepared, waiting for us in the Haggadah. If Yom Ha'Atzma'ut were

a real holiday, a prepared answer would also have to be waiting for us: the

significance of the ceremony is such and such, and everyone should say it

aloud.

Part

of the possible answer is obvious. The Seder night expresses the importance and

significance of the exodus from Egypt, so that one will honor that which

possesses such importance and organize his life by the light of that which

bears such importance. Similarly, Hag Ha'Atzma'ut

can express the importance and significance of the political independence of

the Jewish People in its historical homeland, in order to honor that which

bears such importance and in order that one shape one's life by the light of

that which bears such significance.

Another

part of the answer, which is especially appropriate for our generations, is not

immediately obvious.

We

are used to saying that the State of Israel was founded on the 5^th

of Iyyar, 5708. Thus, the precise title of the "Declaration

of Independence" is the "Declaration of the Founding of the State of

Israel." On that day, the State of Israel was founded as a political and

legal entity, but the process of founding the State of Israel in the broadest

sense of that historical expression began on that day but has yet to be

completed. We have not finished founding our state. We have not finished

removing the Jewish People from exile, and we have yet to remove the exile from

within the Jewish people. We have not finished establishing the inner relationships

of the state, including its identity and constitution, and we have yet to

finish establishing the state's external relations, particularly those

involving the neighboring nation. As a result, each of us can still play a part

in the historical process of state building. Each of us can still shoulder

responsibility for a part of this stirring process. Hag Ha'Atzma'ut

can also express that idea through ceremonies and texts.

A

little before the State of Israel's first birthday, the Knesset discussed a

proposal by Israel's first government concerning "the Sovereignty Day Law."

The first minister of education and culture, M.K. Zalman

Shazar (who was later to become the third president)

suggested that the day of Yom Ha'Atzma'ut should be

determined by the Hebrew calendar. M.K. Prof. Ben-Zion Dinur

(who would later serve as minister of education and culture in four

governments), presented four elements that appear in each of Israel's holidays:

historical memory, the "idea," the symbol, and the "organicness" – which refers to the natural connection

between the holiday and its particular historical memory and idea.

Dinur suggested that the historical memory be that of the

victory in the War of Independence, that the idea be sovereignty, and that the

symbol be the flag. One can question the details of these proposals, but here

we shall only consider the fourth element, the "organicness,"

in the broad sense of the day's connection to history as the idea of political

independence is expressed within the course of history, "to be like every

other nation, existing autonomously in its own sovereign state" – both in

periods in which that goal was an object of longing and struggle as well as in

times of further development after sovereignty was already established.

I

believe that there is only one way to make Yom Ha'Atzma'ut

into a genuine holiday, a holiday that will merge naturally into the history of

the Jewish People as a nation which is "autonomous" in every

important aspect of is existence. That is the way of ceremonies and texts that

bear a clear relationship to the Passover Haggadah

which is known to us from the Seder night. The notion of creating an "Independence

Haggadah" along the lines of the Passover Haggadah offers three advantages. First; although that by

its very nature, any such Haggadah for Yom Ha'Atzma'ut is bound to contain significantly novel

material in central sections of its content, its strong connections to the

Passover Haggadah will immediately invest it with

deep historical roots. The Haggadah for Yom Ha'Atzma'ut will be a new text possessing ancient roots. Far

from involving paradox, this will represent a unique cultural achievement. Second,

the employment of texts will constitute a natural element of similarity between

the Passover Haggadah and a reasonable Yom Ha'Atzma'ut Haggadah. Just as the

Passover Haggadah is the foundational text of a

ceremony, so too the Yom Ha'Atzma'ut Haggadah can be a text designated for a ceremony, be it in

the format of the Seder night or in some other format – on the night following

Yom Ha'Atzma'ut, for instance. Third, the main

characteristics of the texts will constitute a natural element of difference

between the Passover Haggadah and a reasonable Yom Ha'Atzma'ut Haggadah: while the

traditional Passover Haggadah does invite new ideas,

they must take the shape of textual commentary or marginal discourses. In

contrast, a successful Yom Ha'Atzma'ut Haggadah will be able to include new material, even on a

yearly basis, just as long as the permanent textual selections are repeated

every year, as befits a text that is meant to live within a tradition.

Starting

from the first years of the state's existence, several attempts have been made

to shape the character of Yom Ha'Atzma'ut. Some of

these succeeded, including the ceremony at Har Herzl, which opens the day, and the Israel Awards ceremony,

which closes it. Others did not last. The attempts to compose a Yom Ha'Atzma'ut Haggadah are the most

interesting. The number of such Haggadahs is not

small, but it is not large, either. I own tens of such Haggadahs,

and it is reasonable to assume that my collection is not comprehensive. Personally,

I find each and every one of them interesting. I have edited a selection of

passages from them in the past (Ben Haggadah le'Atzma'ut, Perakim be'Toldat Ha'Ra'ayon shel "Haggadah le'Yom Ha'Atzma'ut", privately published, Ramat Gan 2000), and I

shall take a later opportunity to write about them at length, both

descriptively as well as evaluatively. For the

present I would like to mention two especially unusual Haggadahs.

One was composed in Hebrew, but was never published. The other presents itself

as based upon the former, but it only appeared in the English language and was

published in the USA. I find both of them fascinating, and their comparison is

instructive.

I am

referring to two Yom Ha'Atzma'ut Haggadahs

that were written in a strictly religious context. That is their rare

characteristic in the world of Yom Ha'Atzma'ut Haggadahs. Every Yom Ha'atzma'ut Haggadah reveals a clear connection to the Passover Haggadah, if it be through the use of four cups of wine,

four questions of Ma Nishtana, the four sons,

and so forth. It is rare for a Yom Ha'Atzma'ut Haggadah to be written by a real rabbinic personality for a

religious audience, marking Yom Ha'Atzma'ut as a

holiday possessing religious content – not just a religious flavor or style,

but genuine religious significance.

First,

I came across the Haggadah for Yom Ha'Atzma'ut published by the "Rabbinical Advisory

Committee" of the United Jewish Appeal in the USA in 1978. It is intended

for a "family, synagogue, or communal Seder in honor of Israel's

Independence Day." Its first introduction is written by Rabbi Joseph Lookstein, chairman of the committee, a leading Orthodox

rabbi in the USA who later became chancellor of Bar Ilan

University. According to the introduction, it was Rabbi Lookstein

who first thought of writing the Haggadah. He then

brought up the idea before Rabbi Shelomo Goren, who was then serving as the Chief Rabbi of Israel. A

surprise awaited me at this point of the story. The idea "won immediate

interest" from Rabbi Goren, who was even willing

to offer his active cooperation. The resulting Haggadah

is "based upon a text composed by Rabbi Shelomo Goren. In addition, the Haggadah

includes an introduction (in English) written by Rabbi Goren

himself.

The

formulation of the Haggadah is fascinating. For

instance, it includes a new practice based upon the old custom of "the fifth

cup" which I knew from the house of my father, Shimon Kasher

and from the house of my grandfather, Rabbi Menachem Mendle Kasher (see his Haggadah Sheleima, pp. 161-178). It also includes, for

example, a renewel of "an ancient custom, the

hanging of a meggilat mizrah"

on the wall facing Jerusalem. The Haggadah comes

equipped with its own colorful meggilah upon

which the verse from Isaiah (62:1) is

written in decorative script: For Zion's sake I shall not be silent and for

emerge resplendent and her salvation burn like a torch. I shall

describe this Haggadah more fully elsewhere.

From

the moment I saw from the title page of the Haggadah

that it was based on a Hebrew version written by Rabbi Goren,

I sought to find the Hebrew original. Rabbi Goren's

family members and students were unaware that he had composed a Yom Ha'Atzma'ut Haggadah. Even after

they allowed me to search for it in his archives, I found nothing. Finally,

after much toil, his family members found the lost document, the "Haggadah for the Night of Yom Ha'Atzma'ut

for the Thirtieth Year of the State of Israel" written by Rabbi Goren. According to its short introduction, "Its

purpose" was "to lend the Atzma'ut holiday

a spiritual-national dimension, and to incorporate it into the stages of the

vision of redemption of the Jewish People, and into the course of its history. Its

practical aim is to establish a uniform family framework for the Atzma'ut holiday, which had heretofore failed to

consolidate a character, form, and content bearing religious, historical, and

spiritual significance." The text of the "Haggadah

for the Night of Yom Ha'Atzma'ut" is fascinating

and even surprising when compared with the English Yom Ha'atzma'ut

Haggadah. A detailed analysis is in preparation and

will be published in the future. (I offer my thanks to Rabbi Goren's daughter and son for their efforts and for

permitting me to publish the Haggadah. I am indebted

to my friend Eli Har-Tov for his great help in this

matter).

Rabbi

Shelomo Goren, the Chief

Rabbi of Israel, and Rabbi Prof. Joseph Lookstein,

paved sections of the road to the fashioning of Yom Ha'Atzma'ut

in the spirit of the Jewish tradition. They imagined the desired destination of

that road as "a uniform family framework for the Atzma'ut

holiday." Today, it seems inescapable that we must change our picture of

the final form of the holiday. There can be no uniform framework for all

families; rather each family must preserve its own tradition. There can be no

single text for all families; rather, there should be family texts preserved by

family tradition; texts bearing clear resemblance to the Passover Haggadah on the one hand, while on the other hand they must

also include much novelty and not a little flexibility, allowing renewal to

take place in the body of the text itself, and not merely in its margins. The

spectacle of hundreds and thousands of different Yom Ha'Atzma'ut

Haggadahs will not only be breathtaking; it will also

offer an opening for constant ideological and practical reinvigoration.

Prof. Asa Kasher holds the Laura

Schwarz-Kipp Chair in Professional Ethics and

Philosophy of Practice at Tel Aviv University. Vered

Levi-Brazili's (Hebrew) book, 17 Conversations

with Asa Kasher, was

recently published by Hotza'at Kinneret,

Zemorah-Beitan, Or Yehudah 2005.

יהי לבי תמים

העבר עיני מראות שוא

ואשא כפי

ראה כי פקודיך אהבתי

ז את היתה לי

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