Page 48 - HaMizrachi Yom HaAtzmaut AUS 2021

THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND MIZRACHI IN THE NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Gael Grunewald

Days of Redemption

n recent years, there has been an one hand, and daily stories of heroism, Jews, who passed the embers of the
initiative to call the 10 days between communal areivut, respect for elders Jewish people on through the survivors,
IYom HaShoah and Yom HaAtzmaut and devotion on the other – a culture through telling the stories to future
Aseret Yemei Toda, 10 days of thanks- that withstood the ultimate tests and generations.
giving, similar to the Aseret Yemei yet retained its humanity. ה ָ רּוב ְּג ַ ה ְ ו ה ָ אֹו ׁ ּ ש ַ ה םֹוי bursts forth in spring
Teshuva.
Freedom to be G-d’s people on earth. and seeks to express the spontaneous,
In these 10 days, we tread the path our momentary acts of resistance. It
forefathers trod from exile to redemp- The State of Israel chose to mark Yom shines a spotlight on one ghetto, one
tion. And just as the Aseret Yemei HaShoah in Nissan, when the Warsaw act of resistance, one simple kindness,
Teshuva precede the month of mercy Ghetto uprising began. In contrast, through which many years of war
and forgiveness, so the Aseret Yemei the Chief Rabbinate instituted Yom become bathed in eternal light.
Todah begin in the month of freedom. HaShoah on the 10th of Tevet, the Yom
HaKaddish HaKlali, the day for saying It is this same heroism – ה ָ רּוב ְ ג ִּ ב ֶ ׁש ה ָ רּוב ְּג
The Jews have always known how to Kaddish for those whose date of death – we encounter in the Counting of the
be attentive to time: the days of the is unknown. Omer. ֹור ְ צִי ת ֶ א ׁש ֵ בֹו ּ כ ַ ה ?רֹו ּ בִּ ג ּוהֶזי ֵ א. The hero
week, the months of the year and the is the one who fights every morning to
seasons of nature. As Rav Kook says, “” The State of Israel be a better person. Jewish heroism is
“The Exodus from Egypt will remain chose to mark Yom not necessarily an outburst of courage.
forever the spring of the whole world.” HaShoah in Nissan, It is quiet, strong, human (and often
Until the Jews left Egypt, the world did superhuman). The more we learn about
not recognize the concept of the liber- when the Warsaw the ghettos and extermination camps,
ation of slaves. In the month of Nissan, Ghetto uprising the more we are exposed to the depth
freedom descended into the world. That of that heroism.
is why I see a direct connection between began. In contrast,
Seder Night and Yom HaAtzmaut. the Chief Rabbinate The days between Yom HaShoah and
Yom HaAtzmaut – Aseret Yemei Toda
I would like to share with you an idea instituted Yom – remind us that between Pesach and
I heard from Rabbi Avraham Krieger, HaShoah on the Yom HaAtzmaut and what they repre-
Director of the Shem Olam Institute 10th of Tevet, the sent, Am Yisrael have been forged and
in Kfar Haroeh. The same freedom that shaped through every exile into the
flowed in Jewish blood on the day we left Yom HaKaddish strong and proud nation we are today.
Egypt is the same freedom flowing in HaKlali, the day for
Jewish veins today. This is the freedom saying Kaddish for !הָיּונ ְּ ב ַ ה םִי ָ ל ָ שּורי ִּ ב ה ָ א ָּ ב ַ ה הָנ ׁ ָ ש ְ ל
that gave our ancestors strength when
our enemies tried to destroy us. During those whose date of
the Holocaust, we experienced a clash death is unknown
between the Nazi-German civilization
and our Jewish civilization. On the
one hand enlightened, technological, When we speak about the sanctity of
philosophical, cultural. On the other, time, behind these two dates stand two
ancient wisdom, longstanding tradition, worldviews. The 10th of Tevet, in the Gael Grunewald is Deputy Chairman of the
World Zionist Organization and head of its
and a scattered and separated people. middle of the dark and cold winter, Education Department. He is one of World
And then the war exposed an inhumane gives expression to the daily heroism Mizrachi’s representatives in the National
monstrousness and barbarism on the of the six million murdered for being Institutions.

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