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Shabbat Parshat Acharei Mote-Kedoshim May 2, 2009 8 Iyar 5769
TorahArtscroll,636Hertz, 497HaftorahArtscroll,1173Hertz, 509
continued Anti-Semiticincidents in Europe had therenot been a state. We also wishto thank G-d for those who didsurvive the War of Independence.Hallel seems like an appropriateway to do so. The desire torecite Hallel on this specialoccasion is supported by manystatements of the Gemara andthe Achronim that werementioned in last week’s issueof the Tefilla Digest.One of the ways that laws get passed in any legal system isthrough citing precedent.Jewish law is no different.Rabbis have attempted to find precedent in early sources for establishing new holidays or for reciting Hallel in response tocontemporary miraculousevents. One of the primarymodels of a post-biblicalmiracle that occurred to theJewish people after which theywanted to establish a holidaythat we have to look towards isPurim.Purim occurred at some pointduring the period of exilefollowing the destruction of the1
st
Temple in 586 BCE and thereturn of the Jews to Israel withthe permission of King Cyrus(Koresh) of Persia and therebuilding of the 2
nd
Templewhich did not occur until 516BCE.Many of the discussionssurrounding the topic of YomHa’Atzmaut such as whether it isok to establish this new holiday,whether Hallel should be said as part of the prayers of the day, andwhether other festivities are permitted use Purim as a point of comparison. The reason isobvious: Both holidays are non- biblical and both holidays wereestablished by the Rabbis. Whilethere were still Neviim alive at thetime of Purim who could havereceived prophecy from G-d onthe matter, unlike the case withYom Ha’Atzmaut, it is still agood comparison because they are both holidays not mandated by G-d. Even if the Prophets did have ahand in establishing Purim, itseems like they did so as eldersand scholars alongside the rabbisand not as messengers of G-d.If we were to model YomHa’Atzmaut exactly on Purim wewould not recite Hallel since noHallel is recited on Purim.However, upon further 
This inspiring article about tefillah is sponsored by Diane and David Rein inmemory of Diane’s mother. Helene M. Fink. z”l.
Issue # 39 – Hallel on YomHa’Atzmaut (Part II)Part of the difficulty indefining the character of theday of Yom Ha’Atzmaut istrying to decide how toview the establishment of the State as we discussedlast week.For Jews with a belief in G-d and a religiousdisposition, part of the wayto view the day of May 14,1948 – 5 Iyar 5708 is as aday on which G-d bestoweda great gift upon the Jewish people. They may even saythat the establishment of theState occurred through
nisim bederech hateva
,natural miracles.Part of what we wish toaccomplish on YomHa’Atzmaut is to thank G-dfor this gift as well as tothank G-d for saving manyJewish lives that wouldhave been destroyed in
GNS TEFILLA DIGEST: A Weekly Discussion about the Fundamentals of Jewish Prayer 
By Rabbi Brahm Weinberg – Rabbinic Intern
 
TimesHashkamaMinyan8:00 amParsha Shiur 8:30 amYouth 8:30 amMain Minyan 9:00 amBeit Midrash 9:15 amGemorah Shiur 6:25 pmMincha 7:25 pmShabbat Ends 8:42 pmSunday,April 26,7:30 am8:30 amMon., & Thurs., 6:35 amTues., Wed., &Fri.,6:45 amSecond ShacharitMinyan (Daily) 7:45 amMincha (week of May 2)7:35 pmLatest times for Shema/Shmoneh EsreiMay 2 9:20/10:22 amMay 9 9:17/10:28 am Next Shabbat - Emor Candle lighting 7:40 pmMincha 7:00 pmMincha 7:00 pmCandle lighting 7:33 pm
Kiddushis sponsored by great neck synagogue
 
investigation it seems like even though Hallel is
not 
recitedon Purim, it still might be appropriate for YomHa’Atzmaut.The Gemara Megilla 14aexplains that Hallel is not recitedon Purim for a number of possible reasons:
1) Land of Israel:
The miracle of Purim occurred outsidethe Land of Israel and Hallel can only be recited onmiracles that occurred in the Land of Israel [You mightwonder, therefore, how we recite Hallel during Pesachwhose miracles occurred outside the Land of Israel! TheGemara discusses this and says that before the entry of theJews to Israel one could say Hallel on a miracle thatoccurred even outside the Land. However, once theyentered, only miracles occurring in the Land warranted therecitation of Hallel. What happened after the exile of theJews after the destruction of the 2
nd
Temple is aninteresting question that the Gemara deals with but is beyond the scope of this article.]
2) Independence:
Even after the miracle of Purim onwhich the Jews were saved from the death sentence placedupon them by Haman, the Jews were still “enslaved” to aforeign ruler – “
akati avdei d’achashverosh anan
.” Theyachieved no independence, they achieved no greater astatus than they had before, they still lived in exile under King Achashverosh who ruled the entire area “
mehodu v’ad kush
.”
3) Megilla:
No Hallel is necessary because the celebrationof Purim includes the reading of the Megilla which takesthe place of Hallel. (It is unclear exactly how the readingof Megillat Esther takes the place of Hallel because Hallel praises G-d and His many qualities including themiraculous saving of the Jewish people and yet the Megilladoesn’t even mention G-d’s name! It could be that part of the purpose of Hallel is not only to thank and praise G-d, but also to publicize the miracles that G-d performed for us.The Megilla accomplishes this very well because it tells thestory of what occurred to the Jews and how they weresaved even if it doesn’t mention G-d by name. In fact, thereading of the Megilla takes precedence over other mitzvot,even Biblically ordained ones, because according to theGemara it is a form of 
 pirsumey nisa
– publicization of G-d’s miracles).Unlike Purim, the celebration of the holiday of Channuka
does
include the recitation of Hallel because it doesn’t fit
2
 
6 Old Mill Road, Great Neck, NY 11023 (516) 487-6100 Shabbat Announcements Parshat Acharei Mote-Kedoshim, 5769
any of these criteria. The miracles of Channuka (both themilitary victory as well as the miracle of the oil) all occurred inthe Land of Israel. Furthermore, the miraculous success of thewar of “
meatim neged rabim
” of “the few versus the many” ledto a period of Jewish independence in the Land of Israel. TheJews were no longer ruled by the Syrian Greek’s but by their very own Chashmonaim. Lastly, Channuka has no megilla or no book of Tanach that tells its story and so
Chazal 
mandatedthe recitation of Hallel.Channuka is not used as a comparison to Yom Ha’Atzmaut inthe same way as Purim because it had a revealed miracle of theoil which gives the holiday an entirely different status (as youwill see in next week’s article).Yom Ha’Atzmaut seems to have all the qualities that theGemara says are necessary for the recitation of Hallel. It is,again, a miracle that certainly occurred in the Land of Israeland it has no official story or document that could be read in place of Hallel like Purim does. Finally, it led to theindependent Jewish rule of the Land of Israel as the BritishMandate had ended and the Arabs lost the war.From this week and last week’s issues, one would concludethat Hallel is certainly appropriate for Yom Ha’Atzmaut. Nextweek we will discuss some potential reasons
not 
to reciteHallel and whether to recite it with a
bracha
.Question to Ponder How free from the rule of foreigners are we even after theindependence of the State of Israel?
 
Great Neck SynagogueShabbat Activities Program
 
Dale Polakoff, RabbiShalom Axelrod, Assistant RabbiBrahm Weinberg, Rabbinic InternDr. Ephraim Wolf ,z”l, Rabbi EmeritusZeev Kron, CantorEleazer Schulman, z”l, Cantor EmeritusMark Twersky, Executive DirectorHoward Silberstein, PresidentHarold Domnitch, Chairman of the Board
GREEN TIP OF THE WEEK 
 Americans spend more than 38 billion dollars a year on herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides togrow and protect their lawn. There is a much morecost effective way to both fertilize your lawngood for the environment as well.Home composting is one of the most environmentally  beneficial activities of modern society. Yard and food wastes make up approximately 30% of the waste streamin the US. If every household participated incomposting, it would divert a significant portion of the waste stream from our landfills.Instead of throwing out your kitchen food scraps, you can put it into the composter along with eggshells,coffee grounds and tea leaves along withgrass clippings, and fallen leaves.Keep the composter in your backyard for year round useand within no time, you will have your very owncompost to sprinkle on your shrubs and grass for agreener lawn. You can purchase a composter at:http://www.composters.com/compost-bins.php 
 
 
Great Neck SynagogueAnnual Family LuncheonIn Memory of Sharon Sokol Heisler z’lSaturday, June 20, 2009
Guest Speaker:Gary Rosenblatt
editor and publisher of The Jewish Week of New York 
Beautiful Catered Lunch by Prestige Caterers
$50 per person$20 per child(No charge for children under 4)
Youth Program Luncheontaking place same timeFor first through eighth grade
For reservations please call or e-mailMark Twersky487-6100email to: mtwersky@gns.org NAME_________________________________ Amount of People_________ Amount enclosed____________ Seating Requests:1-__________________________ 2-___________________________ 3-___________________________ 4-___________________________ For more information please call:Debbie Hollander 829-2013
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