6 (Not 61) Ways to Celebrate Yom Ha'Atzmaut

Halfway through Yom Ha'atzmaut in Los Angeles, nearing the end of the day in New York, and with the celebrations already behind them in the Birthday country, most people have already found a way to celebrate Israel's 61st birthday. For instance, I like to take this moment during the calendar year to look through my photos, and revisit the real promise of the Promised Land: "Almost-Free Pizza."

But just in case you haven't yet celebrated, or want to celebrate more, here are a few ways to connect with the land and people of Israel in the remaining moments of the day and throughout the year ahead, as we look forward to 62 and beyond.

Pray
Recite this special Israel Independence Day version of "Al Hanisim," a prayer traditionally said on Chanukah and Purim. This new version is composed by Avi Shmidman (an old friend of my brother's) and Bentzi Spitz, and here's some additional explanation from the authors:

To be sure, various other "al hanisim" texts have been composed over the last half-century (for a good survey, see http://hitzeiyehonatan.blogspot.com/2006/04/yom-ha-atzmaut-liturgy.html). However, what separates the enclosed text from most of the other versions is that ours does not attempt to imitate the already existing "al hanisim" paragraphs for chanuka/purim. Although most of the original "al hanisim" language can easily be reused (e.g. ולך עשית שם גדול וקדוש בעולמך), I feel that looking for these common-denominator phrases minimizes the singularity of the miracle and turns the entire paragraph into a generic expression of salvation. Instead, we strove to include ideas, images, and phraseology which are specific to yom haatzmaut 1948. Thus, for instance, the imagery of the dancing in the streets, and the phrases which pick up on the wording of the Megilat Atzamaut, such as לעמוד ברשות עצמו, and שאיפת דורותיך, and שומרי אמוניה.

Read
Here are two writers' takes on celebrating Israel: at Beliefnet, Rabbi Brad Hirschfeld takes on "Loving Israel As a Model for Loving Anything or Anyone"; while some oleh named Benji Lovitt, in a guest blog over at JPost, shares "61 More Things I Love About Israel."

Want to know how Jerusalemites celebrated - and continue to celebrate all week? Check out go-to source Jerusalem.com and sister site Jerusalemite.net to experience some of the diverse celebrations of Jerusalem residents.

Network
Living or looking to live in Tel Aviv? Check out Telalivit, a new social network designed for people in Tel Aviv. Telalivit's mission is to encourage greater social cohesion in Israel's multicultural society by facilitating the absorption of olim, all the while presenting a different face of Israel to a broader international audience. Telalivit values the principle of collective responsibility and will work together with the community in pursuing its objectives.

Tweet
Want to Tweet your support for Israel? Birthright Israel next (@BI_NEXT on Twitter) has launched the #israel61 hashtag for all related/celebratory tweets and created a special, embeddable widget following the Independence Day conversation. You can check out the widget at the NEXT homepage. Tag your Tweets with #israel61, and they'll be fed into the widget on the site. NEXT also has a list of local celebrations and parties.

Watch
"Hatikvah" like you've never heard it before...This “Hativkah” video is an expression of hope and optimism, with a new beat. In a time when the image of Israel is too often of war and conflict, “Hope Remixed” celebrates Israel’s diversity, beauty, history, and modernity. Sponsored by Hillel and created by Dewdrop Films.

Comments

[Maital Guttman]

thanks Esther for the shout out!!

[What War Zone???]

Sadly, that pizza place went up to 24.99. Yet somehow, it's still almost free.

Benji