Archive for March 2018

WUJS’s Thought Provoking Yom Ha’atzmaut Activities for Students

WUJS’s Thought Provoking Yom Ha’atzmaut Activities for Students

This link will take you to Yom Ha’atzmaut Activities, a site with several thought provoking activities that encourage students in the Diaspora to engage with Israel in a meaningful way. Written as full lesson plans, complete with

Learn to Recite the Prayer for the State of Israel

Learn to Recite the Prayer for the State of Israel

This minute-long video presents a Hebrew reading of the traditional Prayer for the State of Israel customarily recited in synagogues during Shabbat morning services. The reader, Richard Seiger, chants the prayer with a

How to Create a Meaningful Yom Ha’atzmaut Community Celebration

How to Create a Meaningful Yom Ha’atzmaut Community Celebration

This article is a guide for how to create a meaningful Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration for your community without significant resources. Ideas include an Israel trivia game, a play, singing and music, and of

The Impossible Transition Between Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut

The Impossible Transition Between Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut

In this 6:20 long video, Daniel Gordis describes the challenge and meaning behind the transition between the deep grief of Yom Hazikaron – Israel’s Memorial Day, and the joy and celebration of Yom Ha’atzmaut

The Masorti Movement’s Transitional Ceremony between Yom Ha’Zikaron & Yom Ha’Atzmaut

The Masorti Movement’s Transitional Ceremony between Yom Ha’Zikaron & Yom Ha’Atzmaut

This link opens up a PDF file of Twilight: Moving from Memorial to Independence, a ceremony written by the Masorti Foundation for Conservative Judaism in Israel to mark the transition between Yom Hazikaron and Yom

Beit Tefilah Israeli’s Transitional Ceremony between Yom Ha’Zikaron & Yom Ha’Atzmaut

Beit Tefilah Israeli’s Transitional Ceremony between Yom Ha’Zikaron & Yom Ha’Atzmaut

This link opens up a PDF file of Havdalah: A Transitional Ceremony between Yom Ha’Zikaron and Yom Ha’Atzmaut, a Hebrew and English ceremony written by Beit Tefilah Israeli that celebrates Israel’s national triumph, yet expresses

The Traditional Prayer for IDF Soldiers

The Traditional Prayer for IDF Soldiers

This post presents the English and Hebrew texts for the traditional prayer for the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces, which is often recited in Zionist synagogues on Shabbat and Jewish holidays. The prayer, composed by the

The Traditional Prayer for the Welfare of the State of Israel

The Traditional Prayer for the Welfare of the State of Israel

This post presents the English and Hebrew texts for the traditional Prayer for the Welfare of the State of Israel, which is often recited in Zionist synagogues on Shabbat and Jewish holidays. The prayer requests divine protection and

We Declare: An Educational Project to Strengthen Israeli Democracy

We Declare: An Educational Project to Strengthen Israeli Democracy

Click this link to learn more about We Declare, a project inspired by the Israeli Declaration of Independence that unites communities across Israel and the Jewish world in learning and discourse on Israeli

In Search of a Poetic Ritual for Yom HaZikaron/Ha’Atzmaut

In Search of a Poetic Ritual for Yom HaZikaron/Ha’Atzmaut

In this blog post, Rabbi Ela Merom asks complex questions about how we use communal memory as we move through the sorrow of Yom HaZikaron to the exuberance of Yom Ha’Atzmaut. She encourages others to embrace