The Creation of Israel Is a Miracle Even If It Isn’t the “First Flowering of Redemption”

As yesterday was Yom Ha-Atsma’ut, some religious Jews recited special liturgies in their daily prayers, while others treated it, liturgically, like any other day—while still others took an intermediate position. The differences reflect varying opinions about how to understand the rebirth of Israel religiously—not so much a question of whether it is good or bad, but of where it fits into Judaism’s theology of history. During the rest of the year, the same controversy focuses on whether to say a special prayer for the state of Israel and, if so, whether to include a particularly controversial clause that describes the state as “the first flowering of our redemption.”