Two opposite trajectories at once – halacha recognizes this reality well and addresses it. It calls on us not to ignore either side and bring both into reality. This is found primarily in the halachot of mourning: the halachic permit to marry (under certain conditions) even on the day of the groom’s father’s passing; mourning on holidays, which expresses both the fact that a beloved relative has passed on the holiday and therefore one must act a certain way in private, and the fact that it is a holiday and therefore we do not sit shiva or mourn publicly; the reality where a family member passes awat and therefore we bless “the True Judge”, but if he inherited a decent sum he also blesses “the One who constantly improves”, and there are understandably many more examples of this.
This phenomenon happens also on holidays. Rosh Hashanah is a day of “rejoice in trembling”, and therefore it is both a holiday of coronating the Master of the World over us, where the halachot of Yom Tov apply to the full extent of joy and delight, and a Day of Judgement, where every person in the world passes before Him like a flock of sheep; Yom Kippur is a day of atonement for the entirety of Israel and the sealing of our fates, and it is also one of the greatest days of the year; Sukkot is the source of the mitzvah of rejoicing on holidays, but it is also “the holiday where the rainfall is determined”, and we say both Hallel and Hoshanot, following this principle. Every holiday mussaf service expresses both the great joy and the merit to be chosen by the Master of the World to carry His name throughout the world, as well as “because of our sins we were exiled from our land” and the tremendous beseeching for the renewed construction of the Beit HaMikdash.
This guide should remain in our minds when we get ready for Yom Haatzmaut this year. The State of Israel merited to reach 76 years of existence, and when we assess where we were 80 years ago and where we are now – we are full of joy and thanks to the Master of the World for this and recognize the tremendous merit to live in this generation, to work with God, building the State’s great achievements. Cancelling Yom Haatzmaut this year would, thus, be a grave mistake. On the other hand, we are in deep sorrow –external and painful suffering, its most severe expression being the hostages, but not only – their family, those whose bodies and minds have been harmed during the war, the families which have lost a loved one, tens of thousands of families uprooted from their homes, etc. etc.
We are also in tremendously deep internal distress, where in certain situations our collective covenant is being contested, to the point of risk of anarchy, violence, and harm to our national resolve. Ignoring this is, thus, a grave mistake, and acting the same as we do every year on Yom Haatzmaut would be purposeful blindness and apathy.
Both of these aspects must be expressed. The joy over the State must be clarified, dealing truly with the powerful essence we are lucky to be a part of, act within, and rejoice about. Each community will decide if this year it is best to cancel or limit the amount of public entertainment; the events that we can do without, etc.; if there is something that can be done specifically this year in order to assemble the overwhelming majority of people who wish for the strengthening of our solidarity and our internal societal resilience.
The tremendous, incomprehensible pain must be present in full force – first and foremost on Yom Hazikaron, which will include many hundreds of new additions to the painful and grieving family this year, to tailor it in a manner that will enable everyone to be present, by abstaining from speeches about this or communion with sorrow and grief about that. Much work must be done in order to prepare for Yom Haatzmaut this year, through motions of joy and suffering as one, so that this will be a powerful and reinvigorating day.
May it be His will that we have the intellect and sensitivity, inclusivity and identity, to understand that there are many paths to do this, and each one has its own belief system. We are called upon to expand our heartstrings and our camaraderie, so that we all will be able to be together during these special days.
