Hallel On Yom Yerushalayim (I)
Rabbi Eliyahu Safran posits that the victories we experienced in the liberation of Yerushalayim in June 1967 demand the public recitation of Hallel and compares the failure do so with the sin of the meraglim (“With Eyes to See,” op-ed, June 16).
Chazal are in accord that the meraglim were motzi shem ra on Eretz Yisrael and displayed a serious and unforgivable lack of emunah in Hashem. This is surely not the case with the decision not to recite Hallel in shul.
Furthermore – and this is of supreme significance – neither Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l ( whom Rabbi Safran quotes), nor any of the other Torah leaders recognized by the yeshiva world and the various chassidic communities in America and Eretz Yisrael who lived through these events, concluded that anyone in our times has the authority to add days of public recitation of Hallel.
A Jew always has the option to thank Hashem through tefillah and Tehillim whenever and wherever he desires.
It is our mesorah and our obligation to follow the opinion of the overwhelming majority of our gedolim, our “einei ha’eda” – the eyes and visionaries of our people. In that zechus Hashem has watched over us through the ages and granted us victories and survival. Rabbi Safran is wrong to castigate and criticize us for doing so.
Chaim Buxbaum
(Via E-Mail)
Hallel On Yom Yerushalayim (II)
Haredim may not agree with those, like Rabbi Safran, who consider it a religious imperative to recite Hallel on occasions such as Yom Yerushalayim. But this does not mean that most are unmindful of the working of Hashem in history or fail to appreciate the accomplishments of the state of Israel.
Students in haredi yeshivas regularly pray for the safety of Israel. Does anyone in his right mind think that haredi parents of children studying in Israel would not support the state and the army of Israel? These parents are well aware that the Israeli military is the only thing standing between their children and the hordes of Arab cutthroats who lust after Jewish blood. How long would these children last without the IDF? Not very. And believe me, their parents know this and are deeply grateful for a strong Jewish army.
It is also time to once and for all put to rest the canard that Torah leaders were virulently opposed to the establishment of a Jewish state in the 1940s. What they opposed was the unambiguous plan put forth in the late 1800s by devoutly irreligious Jews for the creation of a militantly secular state built on the principles of socialist-tinged nationalism.
Is it so difficult to understand the principled opposition of Torah leaders to a secular state that over time could not help but erode its citizens’ devotion to Hashem and their fealty to the Torah vision of a Jewish state? Such a principled stance, premised on the determination to secure a Torah-true Jewish future, is hardly beyond the pale of acceptable discourse and is a far cry from opposing the creation of a Jewish state per se.
As for those who make much of the refusal of haredim to recite Hallel on Yom Ha’Atzmaut or Yom Yerushalayim, they need to remember that there was once great controversy over whether to accord Purim the status of an official Jewish holiday. The decision was reached only after a long period of time and animated discussion. Yet was there ever any doubt of the miraculous essence of that event in Jewish history?
Reuven Lesher
(Via E-Mail)
El Al And Male-Female Seating Proximity
Re the news item about the “precedent-setting verdict” in Israel making it illegal for El Al to ask female passengers to move their seats at the request of haredi men (Week in Review, June 30):
While I agree that nobody should be forced to move, I see no problem, on the other hand, with a polite request to do so. However, the way the ruling is likely to be interpreted is that haredi men should be forced to sit next to women as part of the social engineering intended to create a gender-blind society.
Perhaps this whole sad affair could have been avoided had El Al provided the option at check-in to request not to be seated next to someone of the opposite sex. The airline must have some idea of the likely numbers involved on its various routes and could assign a bloc of all-male (and also all-female) seats on those planes.
This should be no more difficult than allowing passengers to select seats with extra legroom. This way those who wish to be so seated could be accommodated without anyone being the wiser.
Unfortunately, I suspect that doing so would not satisfy the feminist and civil
rights groups whose objective is more to make life uncomfortable for haredim than it is to protect women from harassment.
Martin D. Stern
Salford, England
Nobel Prize For Israel
Israel can be very proud of what it has done for Syrians who have been wounded in Syria’s horrific civil war. Israel has been a beacon of hope to more than 3,000 Syrians who have obtained much-needed care here in Israeli hospitals .
In my humble opinion, Israel should be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize this year because it has done so much for the people of Syria. Can there be a more deserving recipient than a country that has taken in the wounded of an enemy nation and helped them with tender concern and great medical care?
Israel, and Israel alone, has done this.
Toby Willig
Jerusalem