Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Yom Yerushalayim/Jerusalem Reunification Day

After careful consideration, I finally decided to say Hallel with brachot (blessings) on Yom Yerushalayim (which is today), for the same reason that I say it on Yom HaAtzmaut/Israeli Independence Day--both are days on which the many were defeated at the hands of the few (rabim b'yad m'atim), as the Al HaNassim (For the Miracles) section added to the Amidah prayer on Chanukah and Purim says. Whether the liberation of Jerusalem was a divine miracle and/or a human one, I'll happily give thanks to HaShem for it.

Er, does one remove one's tefillin before Hallel on Chanukah (for which I'm trying to parallel the customs), or did I goof, for a change?

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Shira,
No. One does not take there tefilin of for Hallel on on Chanukah. They are left on for the whole service except for Chanukah/Rosh Chodesh for which they are taken off for musaf but.
There is no reason to take off one's tefilin for Hallel on YY if one's custom is to say Hallel on that day, because that day has no aspects of a yontif.
Also, I'm really surprised that you have previously only said Hallel on YH but not YY. I've never heard of anyone who said it on the former but not the later. I'm Ortho it is MUCH more common to find people who say it on YY but NOT YH. (I say it on YY without a bracha but if I'm in a shul that makes the bracha, I make the bracha, but I don't say it on YH no matter what.)

Wed May 12, 09:50:00 AM 2010  
Blogger Shira Salamone said...

Anon., my confusion derives from the fact that, since my father has never laid tefillin (to the best of my knowledge), I've borrowed my minhagim/customs from various other individuals, mostly my husband. Until I started saying kaddish with a minyan that did not lay tefillin on Chol HaMoed (intermediate days of Pilgrimage Festivals), I followed my husband's minhag, putting on tefillin on Chol HaMoed but removing them before Hallel. (He doesn't recite the brachah/blessing, since there's a question as to whether one is supposed to lay tefillin on Chol HaMoed.) Naturally, I realized in the middle of davvening that I couldn't remember whether one removed tefillin before Hallel on Chanukah. I asked the hubster afterward, and his answer was "no."

My decision to begin saying Hallel on Yom Yerushalayim reflects a change in my political opinion. There was a time, before the war following the withdrawal from Gaza, when I was much more optimistic about the prospect of peace than I am now, and thought that it might be possible to share Jerusalem with a Palestinian state. Since that war, I've lost a considerable amount of faith in the peace process. I now look at the prospect of a re-divided Jerusalem with dread. Jordan controlled the Old City for, I believe, 19 years, and didn't allow Jews access to our holy places. I see no reason to assume that we Jews would fare any better with a Palestinine state. If we wish to continue to have access to the Temple Mount, then the phrase "Har HaBayit b'yadeinu, The Temple Mount is in our hands," must remain true.

Wed May 12, 11:38:00 AM 2010  

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