Independence Day is a national day of remembrance for the founding of the state.
He does not come to point to a perfect and reformed state and certainly not to a unified society - we will celebrate that with the coming of the Messiah, and even then, not necessarily all of us will celebrate...
As an ultra-Orthodox Jew, my scale of values is different. The state and the nation are of secondary importance to Jewish and religious identity.
There is no doubt that in many issues, the mere ability to live as a community within a country creates great improvement, but these are minor improvements.
As long as the persecution of Jews by their enemies continues, the work is not complete. As long as the persecution of religion by reformists and world reformers of one kind or another continues, the work is not yet complete.
But it must be remembered that the establishment of the state came to enable Jewish life, which is based on the "Declaration of Independence", to be a Jewish home for the people of Israel, as long as the values of Judaism are preserved while preserving human dignity and freedom, as long as the winds that blow recognize our right to educate our children to observe Torah and mitzvot, as long as it is recognized that the Torah and its values are the fundamental values of the state, then this is a holiday as a kind of memorial for the laying of the cornerstone in which the "Declaration of Independence" lies.
But without these values and agreement on them, this is a salute to yet another government responsible for cleaning and collecting taxes, operating traffic lights, and other technical matters.
Sort of like a round of applause for the airline crew who landed the plane safely, and cleaned it up for the next flight.
This is a reason to thank those involved in the work – the employees of the authorities. This is an excellent opportunity to recognize and honor all the security forces and those working on their behalf.
But this is not a state - this is our country with or without a regime!
The land was not promised to us by the United Nations, nor was it ours when we were in exile. It was promised to us by the Creator of the world in a written agreement:
""And ye shall keep all my statutes and all my judgments, and do them; that the land whither I bring you to dwell therein vomit you not out: and ye shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I cast out before you: for they have done all these things, and I will consume them: and I said unto you, Ye shall inherit your land, and I will give it you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from the peoples..." [Leviticus 20:22-27].
This is the promise, and these are the explicit conditions. And if we have made a little progress since last year, then we have the opportunity to stay here longer, with the goal of preserving and improving the Jewish home established in the Land of Israel.
Join the Haredim 10 Facebook page >>
Join the X page of Haredim 10 >>
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
