Yom Ha’atzmaut Tefillah service
"The spirit in the shule was palpable, with the pews full of people from young to old – all to share in the joy and celebrations of the eternal Jewish connection to Israel our homeland."
“The spirit in the shule was palpable, with the pews full of people from young to old – all to share in the joy and celebrations of the eternal Jewish connection to Israel our homeland.”
That is how Rabbinical Council of Victoria (RCV) co-vice president Rabbi Yaakov Glasman described the annual Yom Ha’atzmaut Tefillah service at Mizrachi Shule.
The major annual event in the Modern Orthodox community was co-hosted by the RCV, the Council of Orthodox Synagogues of Victoria (COSV) and the Bnei Akiva youth movement.
It was extremely well attended, with standing room only.
Mizrachi Shule president David Brykman opened the ceremony with a special welcome to keynote speaker Rabbi Shay Schachter from New York and thanked the partner organisations for their involvement in the special evening.
Rabbi Schachter said, “In that pivotal moment in history 74 years ago, God gave us the greatest gift – the land of Eretz Yisrael – and it’s something that has been endowed to our generation, a gift that so many before us could have only dreamt of and who could never imagine would be a reality, yet here we are living that dream! And we thank God for that gift every single day.”
Songs were led by Blake Street Hebrew Congregation’s Rabbi Noam Sendor and the special prayers for Yom Ha’atzmaut were led by RCV president Rabbi Philip Heilbrunn.
Mount Scopus Memorial College principal Rabbi James Kennard led the congregation with the counting of the Omer, while Rabbi Glasman blew the shofar.
“The prayers and song were deeply inspiring as was the main address,” Rabbi Glasman said.
“I felt honoured and privileged to have represented the Rabbinical Council of Victoria by sounding the special St Kilda Shule shofar before the congregation sang in unison Next Year in Jerusalem.”
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