[Avodah] HaRav Yosef Ber Soloveitchik on Saying Hallel on Yom Ha’Atzma’ut

[Yitzchok Levine]

At 01:57 PM 4/20/2010, Ben Waxman wrote:
>Like many stories of the Rav, there are different versions from 
>different years and different sources. At Maimonides they said 
>Hallel. In Nefesh HaRav, Rav Schechter writes that the Rav felt that 
>saying half Hallel was OK.

Someone else questioned the validity of this also. At his suggestion
I contacted Rabbi Shalom Carmy of YU who was a very close talmid of
Rav Soloveitchik. He referred me to his article Teacher Not a Spokesman
that was published in Mentor of Generations: Reflections of Rabbi Joseph
B. Soloveitchik by Zev Eleff. In it Rabbi Carmy wrote


Hallel on Yom haAtzmaut


As Chairman of the RCA Halakha Commission, the Rav, in 1953 penned a
responsum regarding the reading of Hallel on Yom haAtzmaut. He endorsed
reading the mizmorei Tehillim that comprise Hallel if the community wanted
to on the morning of Yom haAtzmaut. He strictly prohibited reciting a
berakha on the Hallel. He also expressed reservations about reading these
chapters at night, but did not advocate risking controversy over this
practice. Subsequently, in several shiurim, he reiterated his objection
to the berakha. At YU he was observed participating in minyanim that
recited Hallel.

It has recently been alleged that on these occasions the Rav did not
recite Hallel, but only pretended so as not to give offense. Offhand this
contradicts the written record. There is no evidence that the Rav changed
his mind on the subject. The argument that he had second thoughts about
the religious significance of the State of Israel does not hold water,
since the Rav's Zionism was not rooted in messianic speculation or in
illusory expectations for the religious transformation of the governing
elites, but rather in the success of Israel in defending Jewish lives
and facilitating vibrant religious institutions.

It is possible to resolve this contradiction. Perhaps the Rav held a
siddur in front of his face and pretended to go along with the Hallel at
night. Perhaps he was even present where the berakha was recited and chose
not to protest. In 1978 he was asked his opinion during morning minyan
in the dormitory, and when the hazzan prefaced Hallel with the berakha,
he walked out. However, this open show of displeasure may have resulted
from the fact that his ruling had been solicited and then flouted. (The
person responsible later insisted there had been a misunderstanding.)

You can check this for yourself by going to http://books.google.com/books
and then putting in Mentor of Generations and searching for Carmy. Then
go to page 243 in the list that comes up. Almost all of Rabbi Carmy's
article is there.

Yitzchok Levine