Al HaNissim (for the Miracles)--for Yom HaAtzmaut (Siddur Sim Shalom)
We thank You for the heroism, for the triumphs, and for the miraculous deliverance of our ancestors, in other days and in our time.
In the days when Your children were returning to their borders, at the time of a people revived in its land as in days of old, the gates to the land of our ancestors were closed before those who were fleeing the sword. When enemies from within the land together with seven neighboring nations sought to annihilate Your people, You, in Your great mercy, stood by them in time of trouble. You defended them and vindicated them. You gave them the courage to meet their foes, to open the gates to those seeking refuge, and to free the land of its armed invaders. You delivered the many into the hands of the few, the guilty into the hands of the innocent. You have wrought great victories and miraculous deliverance for Your people Israel to this day, revealing Your glory and Your holiness to all the world.
11 Comments:
Though I don't personally say it, I always thought that this Al Hanissim made more sense for Yom Haatzmaut than the much more prevalent custom of Hallel. That's because Hallel is consistently said only for a "Nes Nigleh" - an open, supernatural miracle - and Al Hanissim for a "Nes Nistar" - a "hidden" miracle, one that occurs through natural means, as was the founding of Israel. See this post which quotes an old d'var torah of mine providing more detail.
Elie, I said both Al HaNissim and Hallel this morning. (Dummy me, it didn't occur to me that there wouldn't be an Al HaNissim for Yom HaAtzmaut in the ArtScroll Siddur until I was in the middle of the Amidah last night.)
I'd love to read your d'var torah, but your link leads to someone else's blog. Could you please try posting that link again?
It is the right link. If you read through the post, the blogger quotes something I wrote for the mail.jewish list back in 1994 to answer her daughter's question about Al Hanissim.
BTW, Artscroll would probably sooner have a text of Al Hanissim in their siddur for the Mets victory in 1969, than for Yom Haatzmaut.
Oops--that'll teach me to make assumptions and/or be so impatient. Interesting reading, indeed. Thanks.
So, nu, what's with the ArtScroll people, that they don't believe in present-day miracles? Doesn't their own siddur say, "Nodeh l'cha . . . al nisecha sheh-b'chol yom imanu, We thank You . . . for Your miracles that are *every day* with us"?
I posted about it myself today as well.
I will confess my sarcasm earlier was uncalled for. I will give the Artscroll authors the benefit of the doubt and say that they have halachik reasons for ignoring Yom Haatzmaut. In terms of Hallel, there are strong arguments on each side. Gil Student had a post listing most of the main ones.
Okay, okay, I know that the recitation of Hallel on Yom HaAtzmaut is controversial, but really, why don't *they* write an Al HaNissim, if they won't touch the Conservative one with a ten-foot pole? One of the many new terms that I've learned in the process of reading blogs is "chardal," Chareidi-Dati L'umi, rougly a very-right-wing-Orthodox Relgious Nationalist (Zionist). Not all ultra-Orthodox (UO) are anti-Zionist. Why can this not be acknowledged?
Hi, is there a link to the Hebrew text of the Conservative al-hanisim? it would be nice to tape to the inside of my siddur.
RivkaYael, I have no idea whether or not one can access Siddur Shalom, or any part thereof, online. I tried doing an Internet search without success. But maybe someone else is better at that than I am. If anyone else can find this information, kindly post it here (unless providing such a link would constitute a copyright violation.)
The hebrew text of the conservative movement version (along with a number of other versions from other movements) can be found here, towards the bottom of the page:
http://hitzeiyehonatan.blogspot.com/2006/04/yom-ha-atzmaut-liturgy.html
Also, a new version composed in 2009 is available at:
alhanisim.blogspot.com
Thanks, Avi!
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