Rav Shlomo Aviner
Rosh Yeshiva, Ateret Cohanim, Yerushalayim

Hallel on Yom Ha'atzmaut

Question: Should Hallel be said with a beracha on Yom Ha'atzmaut and on Yom Yerushalayim?

Answer: Chazal say that Hallel is not said on Purim for three reasons:

A. it was a miracle which occurred outside Israel. Hallel is said on Pesach, although this was also outside Israel, but this was before we had even arrived in Israel at all.

B. We were still enslaved to Achashverosh and we cannot say "Praise, servants of Hashem". 

C. Reading the Megillah is in place of Hallel.

Yom Ha'atzmaut is a miracle in Eretz Yisrael in which we are Hashem's servants and not enslaved to non-Jews and there is no Megillah in place of Hallel. Rabeinu Tam, however, of the authors of Tosfot, stated that Hallel is said only over a miracle that involves the whole of Am Yisrael, and if the miracle did not involve Klal Yisrael then Hallel   should be said without a beracha.

The Meiri and the Chid"a are of the same opinion. The Rogotchover explains that this is the reason why Chizkiyahu, King of Yehuda, did not say praise after Sancheriv's fall, since the miracle did not involve Klal Yisrael, as a number of tribes had already been exiled. If so, it is apparently not possible to say Hallel with a beracha except for a miracle which occurred for the entire nation and not only for the inhabitants of Zion.

The truth is, however, that Klal Yisrael is the nation which dwells in Eretz Yisrael and the Jews who are in the Diaspora are like lost limbs for whose return we pray. Rav Shlomo Goren proves this (in the articles on reading Hallel on Yom Ha'atzmaut, in the book of halachot for Yom Ha'atzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim, page 146) from "A matter which is overlooked by a community": if the Sanhedrin gave a mistaken instruction and the community follows them, they must bring a sacrifice. Which community is this? Those who live in Eretz Yisrael, "In his instruction he follows the majority of those who dwell in Eretz Yisrael, as it says, 'And Shlomo made a feast at that time, and the whole of Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entrance of Hamat to the Valley of Egypt, before Hashem our G-d'".

Rambam emphasizes that all of the festivals exist only in merit of the fact that there are Jews in Eretz Yisrael, and if there would be a situation in which there were no Jews there at all, the whole of the order of the festivals would collapse, something which could never happen, chas ve'shalom, because of the divine promise. Chatam Sofer adds, "Even simple people such as vine-growers and farmers". Rambam also explains that theoretically, an agreement to renew "Semicha" and the Sanhedrin would be effective, "As long as it happened in Eretz Yisrael".

We also have a proof from Chanukah. At the time of the Hasmonean victory, most of the Jews were not in Israel, yet they still said Hallel. There are those who reject this, claiming that Chanukah saved the entire nation because of the victory against the Hellenists and the dedication of the Temple, and both of these concern Klal Yisrael. The reply to this is that the establishment of an Israeli state also concerns Klal Yisrael and not only those who live in Israel!

Chazal define, "There is no difference between this worldand the days of Mashiach except for the servitude to the nations". In this world, the nations of the world tell us what to do, and in the days of Mashiach, we decide for ourselves. If so, does the establishment of the  state has something to do with the days of Mashiach or not? Does it  concern Klal Yisrael or not? It most certainly does!

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