By: Brandon Chiat, Digital Media Manager

Shortly after Passover, the Jewish people observe a run of modern holidays, created by the State of Israel, and placed at the core of Jewish identity: Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), Yom HaZikaron (Israel's Memorial Day) and Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel's Independence Day).

These three days of observance are not only temporally linked, occurring within the same calendar week, but also thematically connected. If Passover, as a holiday, crystallizes Jewish identity, the transition to Yom HaShoah, then Yom HaZikaron, and Yom HaAtzmaut marks how that identity has been threatened, defended, and championed.

"Every Jewish person, no matter where in the world they were born, shares the same roots," explained Dr. Eyal Bor, Director of Education at Beth El Congregation.

Dr. Bor, a native-Israeli, based his assertion on several lines of scientific evidence that suggest that genes of Diaspora Jews from Europe, Northwest Africa, and the Near East resemble each other more closely than they resemble their non-Jewish neighbors. Israel, then, is not just the symbol of Jewish unity, but provides genetic proof for a Jewish homeland, and thus, a shared Jewish identity.

"The Land of Israel is where the Torah was written, and thus the land where our identity was born," Dr. Bor continued. "Despite our differences in Jewish affiliation or political beliefs, every Jew, when reciting the Shema, turns to face Jerusalem. That sends a powerful message that we are all from the same tribe."

In that light, Yom HaShoah is not merely an opportunity to mourn the incomprehensible loss of Jewish life, but a reaffirmation of the urgent and perpetual need for a defensible Jewish homeland.

"History teaches us that no one is coming to the defense of the Jewish people," said Mr. Randy Lutz, Chairperson of Beth El Congregation's Israeli Affairs Committee. "We can only rely on ourselves, which is why the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is essential for the continued existence of the State of Israel."

Yom HaShoah is followed by Yom HaZikaron, Israel's Memorial Day, which directly precedes Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel's Independence Day. The message of linking these three days is clear: the preservation of Jewish life is contingent on a Jewish homeland, and Israel owes its independence to the soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of that idea.

"Every Israeli knows someone who died while serving in the military," said Ms. Esti Showell, Beth El Congregation's Graphic Designer, and Marketing Specialist.

As a native Israeli who served in the IDF, Ms. Showell explained that Yom HaZikaron is less about honoring the sacrifice of Israel's fallen soldiers, and more about mourning their loss, as well as the loss of civilian life in acts of terror. In that sense, Israel's Memorial Day is a reminder of Israel's indisputable need to protect herself.

"It's commonly said that if the armies of the Arab nations surrounding Israel laid down their weapons, there would be peace in the Middle East, but if the IDF were to lay down their arms, Israel would cease to exist," Mr. Lutz said. "I don't think of those young people serving in the IDF as soldiers, as much as I do the daughters and sons of our Israeli brethren who unfortunately need to protect Israel in the rough neighborhood of the Middle East."

Importantly, the existential dangers facing Israel transcend geographic boundaries.

THE JEWISH SOUL SINGS

On Yom HaAtzmaut

3April 2020 | Nisan-Iyyar 5780

"Global antisemitism is a genuine threat," said Mr. Harry Rifkin. "As Jews, we're taught to say 'never again,' and we believe [the Holocaust] couldn't happen here in America, but European Jews said the same thing before the Nazis came to power."

For Mr. Rifkin and his family, Jewish identity is akin to support for Israel. Mr. Rifkin and his wife, a native Israeli, belong to the Chabad Israeli Center of Pikesville and are known throughout the Baltimore Jewish community for their passionate support of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF), an organization dedicated to the men and women serving in the Israel Defense Forces, wounded veterans, and the families of fallen soldiers.

Two of Mr. Rifkin's three American-born children - daughter, Channa, 26, and son, Gil, 23 - made aliyah and served, or are currently serving, in the IDF. His youngest daughter Emma, 19, is currently enrolled in a gap year program at Israel's Bar Ilan University, after which she hopes to make aliyah and serve in the IDF like her siblings. Mr. Rifkin attributes his children's strong Jewish identities and unshakable support for Israel to an upbringing in Jewish communal life.

In Dr. Bor's estimation, those American Jews who unaffiliate with institutional Jewish life, do not feel an emotional attachment to Israel, nor an obligation to protect the Jewish homeland.

"Israel receives less and less support from young American Jews, who have very little connection to our homeland, let alone their Jewish identities," Dr. Bor said. "American Jews can not abandon Israel."

"Israel's enemies spread so much false information about the Jewish homeland," Mr. Rifkin said. "The only way a Jew can refute these overwhelming falsehoods in the public arena is with a thorough Jewish education and a strong Jewish identity."

In the age of "Fake News," when factual information is routinely manipulated and weaponized, the messages of Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikaron, and Yom HaAtzmaut can have life-or-death consequences.

"If American Jews become divided over Israel, it will be easier for Israel's enemies to destroy us," Ms. Showell said.

It is that somber charge that serves as the foundation for Yom HaAtzmaut.

"We celebrate Israeli independence with a deep sense of responsibility," Dr. Bor asserted. "We had to fight to earn independence, and we must continue to fight to keep it."

Taken together, Passover, Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikaron, and Yom HaAtzmaut are an assertion and celebration of Jewish identity, but also a yearly reminder of the price Jews have paid to express their identity freely. These days of observance place Israel at the very core of Jewish identity by challenging world Jewry to be worthy heirs to their people's legacy.

"American Jews must understand that the future of the Jewish people - a people that have existed for 3,000 years - lies with Israel," Mr. Rifkin said. "Support for Israel transcends religious affiliations. We must recognize that where we come from, as a people, determines where we will go in the future."

As the lyrics of Israel's national anthem, Hatikvah, remind the Jewish people: "hope is not yet lost."

"The Jewish soul sings because we are a free people in our land," Ms. Showell recited. "When we sing Hatikvah on Yom HaAtzmaut, all Jewish people are reminded of the responsibility we have to build Israel into a great country. Israel gives meaning to our Jewish identity."

4 The Voice of Beth El Congregation