Entering Iyar - Celebrating Our Evolving History
“The only constant in life is change” – Heraclitus
You’ve probably heard a common definition of Judaism according Mordecai Kaplan: Judaism is the evolving religious civilization of the Jewish people. It’s notable that the qualifier “evolving” is first. This choice suggests an emphasis on continuous, organic change. Even a religious system whose roots are 3000 years old, preferences evolution as a core quality. Some say this ability to constantly change and adapt is the very key to Judaism’s survival and long-term vitality.
We will soon enter the Hebrew month of Iyar (Rosh Chodesh Iyar this year is April 25). With the last echoes of our sedarim receding in our collective rear view mirror, we enter a new month, characterized by its own set of holidays. But these holidays are different from the rest of the Jewish year, because they were all established in “our” time, not in biblical time as with all the other Jewish holidays.*
We have a long-established tradition of fixing our religious calendar to our historical experiences. The calendar, so practical and emotionally indifferent, is a way for us to tell our story, again and again, to ourselves and to the world. Perhaps this could be said of any of the great spiritual traditions of the world, but the link between history and the Jewish calendar is essential in a unique way. We seek to relive our history, whether more factual (e.g. Chanukah) or more mythic (e.g. Pesach), through our religious calendar, thereby instilling in us the sense of a living history, a collective memory, whether we were personally there or not. In this way, the commandment at the seder table to “see ourselves as if we personally came out of Egypt” is infused across the Jewish year. Some even teach this theologically, recognizing the ‘G-d of Israel’ as a G-d of history. More than our beliefs about G-d, or our ability to read or interpret Torah, this shared, evolving history is a most basic element of Jewish peoplehood.
These modern holidays begin with Yom HaShoah (in Israel, Yom HaShoah v’Ha’G’vurah, Holocaust and Heroes remembrance day), celebrated at the very end of Nisan, just before Iyar begins. This year, Yom HaShoah begins Monday night, April 20, continuing until sundown on Tuesday, April 21. Following Yom HaShoah is Yom HaZikaron (Israeli Memorial Day) and Yom HaAtzama’ut (Israeli Independence Day), the “yom-yom-yom’s” as our Idan Sharon has taught us to say, three holidays in close succession which cue us to the deep pain of the Holocaust and miraculous redemption of the declaration of Israel’s independence as a modern state. Each of these dates on the Jewish calendar relates to real events in Jewish history. (Otherwise, who in their right mind would schedule another major holiday right after Pesach!?)
While many around the world observe International Holocaust Remembrance Day in January, based on the liberation date of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, the Jewish world follows the Israeli calendar. The timing for Yom HaShoah v’Ha’G’vurah was ultimately chosen to emphasize the famous Warsaw Ghetto
uprising, in spring of 1943. The very timing of the holiday frames the way we teach the story, especially important to Israelis in earlier generations: this is a history of heroism, of strength, of fighting back against evil powers, of claiming our own agency and summoning enormous bravery, even until death. The truth of deplorable racism, violence and truly psychotic evil run amok is about the Nazis and we will not let them have a posthumous victory by robbing us of our ability to tell our story our way. (This Shoah narrative has not been an uncomplicated one for Israelis and that is a subject for another time.)
At the other end of the week is Yom Ha’Atzama’ut, Israeli Independence Day, originally declared on the 5th of Iyar 5708 (1948), before Yom HaShoah was even established on the calendar. Obviously, this date came about as a result of geopolitical events between Jewish, Arab and colonial powers which led up to the Israeli War of Independence (and what many Palestinians today refer to as ‘The Disaster’.) The joy of this redemptive moment in Jewish history is even more intensified by placing it just a week beyond Yom HaShoah. With the losses of war so present in the lives of many Israeli families, the decision to place Israel’s Memorial Day just before the celebration of Independence Day is clear. Imagine the impact on 19th or even early 20th century Americans if we’d had a memorial day just before July 4 or just before April 9, corresponding to the end of the American Civil War in 1865. We’d likely have fewer bar-b-que’s and more appreciation for the sacrifices of our own American service-people and their families, a worthy goal.
As we move through these upcoming days and the modern Jewish history they invoke, we can also appreciate the strength of a tradition that is flexible enough to continue adapting and absorbing new histories into its ancient one. We can’t exactly claim Heraclitus as one of our own, but his statement about the constancy of change is wisdom for the ages. May our calendar continue to evolve along with our history, since the other option - no further history, no future - is unacceptable. May there yet be a new date added to the Jewish calendar to celebrate the arrival of a historic moment of untold compassion, well-being and peace for all of Israel and all who dwell in our world. Bimhera v’yamenu, soon and in our day.
Bivracha,
*Its true that Iyar has two minor biblical holidays: 1) Pesach Sheni, the optional latter Pesach celebration to accommodate those making the pilgrimage to the Jerusalem Temple and didn’t make it in time and 2) Lag BaOmer, the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer (the daily count of 49 days from the 2nd night of Pesach until the festival Shavuot), and, no offense to these holidays, but, honestly, have you ever heard of Pesach sheni? And, okay, Lag Ba’Omer is better known, with its own special history, but not in the same league with the major festivals.