[Avodah] which is more problematic

[via Avodah]

From: saul newman via Avodah _avodah at lists.aishdas.org_ 
(mailto:avodah at lists.aishdas.org)  in  Avodah Digest, Vol 34, Issue 53


>>  i wonder if one can consider [for the communities that  do not sanction
these two days]  which of Yom Hashoah and Yom  Haatzmaut  would be more
objectionable,  from both a halachic and  hashkafic perspective. <<




>>>>
 
What is objectionable to me is the slyly provocative tone of this  
question.  But I will take the occasion to draw your attention to what I  have 
written in the past about Yom Hashoah.  This is from Cross-Currents,  2005.  (I 
don't recommend wading through all the comments there  though.)
 
 
http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2005/05/06/yom-hashoah/
 
 
And in 2006, in the comments section to a post by Shira Schmidt  
[http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2006/05/04/the-controversy-over-holocaust-falle
n-soldiers-terror-victims-memorials/],  I wrote this about Yom Atzmaut: 
--quoting myself-- 
My  mother has cousins — an elderly couple, not religious — who lost their 
only son  in the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Every year on Yom Hazikaron they 
cry anew, but  they find the abrupt transition to Yom Atzmaut too jarring and 
cannot find it in  themselves to celebrate. 
The  Israeli government tried to set up a neat historical lesson that would 
take a  few weeks each year and go in an orderly progression:
1. Galus Jews go like  sheep to the slaughter — Yom Hashoah
2. In Israel a new Jew is created, the  proud Israeli soldier, who is brave 
and strong. He doesn’t die a helpless  victim, he dies a hero, defending 
his homeland — Yom Hazikaron
3. All the  evil and sorrow of our past is now redeemed with the glorious 
new day, a proud  and strong new young country, the State of Israel — Yom  
haAtzmaut. 
Of  course this simple story line has become darkened and more complex with 
the  passage of time. Israel is no longer strong and new and young but 
weary and  battle-scarred. Nowadays Yom Hashoah is commemorated with far more 
respect for  the survivors than was the case in the early days, far more 
sorrow and far less  arrogance and false pride. The Israeli Army is still looked 
at with pride but  more young Israelis try to get out of serving — a 
favorite ploy is to feign  mental illness. The brave soldiers so lionized in the 
past are instead looked at  today simply as sons and brothers. There is less 
glory and pride and more sorrow  and grief, for all the young lives lost. 
Nevertheless, of all the institutions  of the modern Israeli state, the army is 
the one most deserving of our respect  and gratitude — in my opinion. 
Finally,  Yom Atzmaut is not looked at, either, the way it was in the past. 
If you read  Yoram Hazony’s book *The Jewish State* — or look at the 
soul-searching in the  Mizrachi camp after the Gaza withdrawal — you see that on 
both ends of the  political spectrum, a weariness and wariness have set in, 
as the State has not  lived up to expectations. The Left is in a 
post-Zionist phase where patriotism  and flag-waving are passe and the alleged 
mistreatment of the Arabs overshadows  all else. The Right has seen its messianic 
expectations dashed and realizes that  the State is not yet the Redemption. 
My  mother’s cousins who can’t find it in their hearts to celebrate Yom 
Atzmaut are  not the only ones. Israel needs to rewrite its storyline. 
-- end of quote --

--Toby Katz
t613k at aol.com
..
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