Shimshon HaKohen Nadel
The birth of the State of Israel is perhaps the most important event in modern Jewish history – perhaps the most important event in the last two thousand years of Jewish history – but it is also the most divisive. Divisive, in that the religious community is divided on how it views the very establishment of the State and if its birth should be celebrated.
Can we celebrate this modern State, by singing Hallel on Yom Ha’atzmaut? Or, is it too premature? Should we instead wait for the Moshiah to arrive before we can sing Shirah? Must we wait for the Final Redemption before we can truly celebrate?
In a lengthy responsum, Rav Ovadiah Yosef examines the recitation of Hallel on Yom Ha’atzmaut. Among his considerations, Rav Ovadiah considers the spiritual state of the State of Israel, as well as the political and security situation, and concludes that one should recite Hallel without a blessing (Yabia Omer, Orah Haim 6:41).
In his responsum, he draws on a passage from the Talmud Yerushalmi, which relates how the Jewish people waited until they reached Yam Suf to sing, as it would have been too premature to sing while still leaving Egypt, before the redemption was complete (Pesahim 10:6 and Korban ha-Edah, ad Loc.).
For Rav Ovadiah, today, too, it is premature to sing out to Hashem and recite Hallel with a blessing, as the miracle of the State of Israel is not yet complete; the Final Redemption has not yet arrived.
And in the years since he penned his teshuvah, one may argue that the spiritual, political, and security situation has not improved dramatically, especially in light of the current war and the rifts today in Israel between the right and left and religious and secular.
While Rav Yosef Dov HaLevi Soloveitchik, like Rav Ovadiah, famously ruled that Hallel on Yom Ha’atzmaut should be recited without a blessing, he offered a different reason as to why the Jewish People waited until they reached Yam Suf to sing out to Hashem. In an address before Yom Ha’atzmaut 1958, Rav Soloveitchik noted, “Strangely, at the time that the Jews left Egypt, neither Moses nor the people sang hymns of praise for the amazing miracle that they had experienced. Only seven days later, after the splitting of the Red Sea, did Moses and the people sing Az Yashir.” He asked, “Why did Israel wait a week to give thanks?”
The Rav explained: “The reason lies in a fundamental difference between the Exodus from Egypt and the splitting of the Red Sea. The Exodus was pure yeshuah [salvation]. God did not have, nor did He seek, man’s assistance… .
In contrast, at the splitting of the Red Sea, the Creator offered the Israelites a role in their own redemption. He required a leap of faith: a jump into the water prior to the parting of the sea (Sotah 36b-37a). The shock of cold water, the fear of drowning thus became Israel’s minute ‘contribution’ to the miracle. At that moment they became partners with God, and as a result Moses and the people full-throatedly sang the majestic Az Yashir in gratitude” (Arnold Lustiger, Derashot Harav, p. 171).
He continued, and asked, “Why is the suffering that has accompanied the entire history of the State of Israel necessary? Because the State of Israel involves holiness, and holiness only exists if man, through sacrifice, becomes a partner with God” (Ibid., p. 177).
For Rav Soloveitchik, both the splitting of the Sea and the modern State of Israel represent man in partnership with God. The miracles which led to the creation of the State, and sustained it in the years since, were brought about through our sacrifice; our struggle. In the language of the Rav, today we are playing a ‘role in our own redemption,’ taking a ‘leap of faith,’ and ‘contributing to the miracle.’
The very timing of the Song at the Sea also requires closer examination. When did the nascent Jewish nation sing out to Hashem?
According to Rashi and Ibn Ezra, the Jewish people had already crossed Yam Suf. They were standing on the far bank, and the proverbial coast was clear. They were singing from a place of safety and security. Rashi and Ibn Ezra understand the verse, “When the horses of Pharaoh, with his chariots and horsemen, went into the sea; Hashem turned back on them the waters of the sea, but the Israelites marched on dry ground in the midst of the sea” (Shemot 15:19), as part of the song itself. The verse describes how Pharoah and his chariots had already drowned. It summarizes in song the events which had already taken place.
But for Ramban and Seforno (ad Loc.), verse 19 is not part of Shirat ha-Yam. It interrupts the song and describes in ‘real-time’ how Pharoah and his chariots and horsemen entered the sea. In their reading of the text, the Jewish people had begun singing out to Hashem while crossing the sea, when suddenly, they witnessed – in the midst of their revelry – the waves crashing down upon Pharoah and his chariots.
According to this reading, the Jewish people were still very much in danger when they began to sing, and yet they lifted their voice in harmony to sing out to Hashem and thank Him. Before the coast was clear, before the salvation was complete, and before the redemption was final.
Perhaps this reading of the text should inform our approach to the modern state of Israel. Today, too, we can sing out and give thanks to Hashem for the state of Israel, even before the salvation is complete and before the Redemption is final. Even when things are far from perfect.
The modern miracle that is the state of Israel was not handed to us on a silver platter. It is a miracle that came at great cost. We paid a heavy price. We made tremendous sacrifices and continue to sacrifice, as we have seen over the months since October 7th.
We are living through difficult times. Challenging times. Confusing times. But we are also fortunate to be living during miraculous times. We live at a unique moment in history. One that requires us to sing out and give thanks for the great gift – the modern miracle – of the state of Israel.
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