Draft:Day of Salvation and Liberation

The dates for Jewish Holidays are solely determined by the Hebrew Calendar. Thus, according to beliefs of the Maharal of Prague, regarded as one of the most influential figures in Halakha, the Jewish religious laws, every year, on the same day, the same spiritual act is revealed from the Heaven. Therefore, when someone commemorates events in accordance with the Hebrew Calendar, they commemorate it on "that exact day".{{cite web | url=https://imrey.org/yom-atzala-voshvobozhdenia/ | title=«День Спасения и Освобождения» - 26 ияра | date=2 June 2024 }} The 9th of May 1945 in the Gregorian calendar is equivalent to the 26 Iyar of the year 5705 in the Hebrew Calendar.

In 2013 German Zakharyayev, a vice-president of the Russian Jewish Congress presented the concept of celebration of the Victory Day as a religious Jewish holiday.{{Cite web|url=https://jewishbusinessnews.com/2015/12/24/german-zakharyaev-i-overcome-obstacles-and-sadness-in-life-over-praying-to-god/|title=German Zakharyaev: "I overcome obstacles and sadness in life over praying to God"|first=Kristina|last=Subbotina|date=24 December 2015}} The initiative was supported by leading Jewish organisations and rabbis. Consequently, the Chief Rabbinate of Russia determined a list of prayers to be for the 26 Iyar and, for the first time in history, the commemoration prayer services were held in synagogues across Russia, Europe and Israel.{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/celebrations-staged-for-day-of-liberation-and-rescue-from-nazi-germany-591542|title=Celebrations staged for Day of Liberation and Rescue from Nazi Germany|date=4 June 2019|website=The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com}}{{cite web | url=https://myfutureamerica.org/?p=5560 | title=«День Победы вошел в еврейский календарь», "Victory Day entered the Jewish calendar" | date=17 November 2014 }}

German Zakharyayev's initiative received a further support at the Conference of European Rabbis, and from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.{{cite web | url=https://www.makorrishon.co.il/nrg/online/11/ART2/580/903.html | title=חדש בלוח השנה שלכם: "יום ההצלה מהשואה" }} In Hebrew Calendar year 5774 (Gregorian calendar year 2014), the first commemoration events, dedicated to the Day of Salvation and Liberation took place in Knesset, at the Western Wall,{{Cite web|url=https://www.bhol.co.il/news/755914|title=הגרי"מ לאו: לזכור את יום השחרור וההצלה • גלריה - בחדרי חרדים|date=23 May 2014|website=www.bhol.co.il}} and in the Headquarters of the United Nations.{{Cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/red-army-vets-promote-rescue-day-of-european-jewry/|title=Red Army vets promote 'Rescue Day of European Jewry' | The Times of Israel|website=The Times of Israel }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.golosameriki.com/a/vk-new-isreali-v-day/1920710.html|title=Евреи хотят отмечать новый праздник|date=23 May 2014|website=ГОЛОС АМЕРИКИ}} As a gesture of further support, another related program was initiated that year – the project aimed to search and recover graves of approximately 250 000 Jewish people – members of both regularly and irregularly Allies military forces who gave their lives fighting against Nazi Germany.{{Cite news|url=https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4647272,00.html|title=העולם מתגייס: היכן קבורים החיילים היהודים שלחמו בנאצים?|first=קובי|last=נחשוני|newspaper=Ynet |date=15 April 2015|via=www.ynet.co.il}}

In May 2015, in Toulouse, France, the Conference of European Rabbis signed the Declaration proclaiming the 26th day of the month Iyyar, as a new religious commemorative date in Hebrew Calendar - the Day of Salvation and Liberation.{{Cite web|url=http://toldot.ru/DenPobedi.html|title=День Победы 9 мая|website=Toldot.com — Иудаизм и евреи}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/opinion/european-rabbinical-conference-holds-1st-day-of-salvation-and-liberation-667267|title=European Rabbinical Conference holds 1st 'Day of Salvation and Liberation'|date=5 May 2021|website=The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com}} Furthermore, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Nazi Germany capitulation, three Torah scrolls were written and present in Knesset, at the Western Wall, and in the rabbi Chaim Kanievsky's yeshiva.{{Cite web|url=https://jewish.ru/ru/news/articles/171510/|title=В синагоги Иерусалима внесут свитки Торы, посвященные погибшим в ВОВ|website=Jewish.Ru}} Additional ceremonies in honor of the Day of Salvation and Liberation were held in Toulouse{{Cite web|url=https://www.kikar.co.il/hazanut/170852|title=70 שנה לשחרור יהודי אירופה: ביצו..|first=יאיר|last=טוקר|date=13 May 2015|website=כיכר השבת}} and Moscow.{{cite web | url=https://www.inn.co.il/news/298663 | title="כשהרב הצבאי צעק 'אתם משוחררים' לא האמנו" }}

In 2018, the Day of Salvation and Liberation was made into the law by Knesset.{{cite web | url=https://www.inn.co.il/news/372603 | title=ישראל תקבע יום לציון השחרור מהנאצים }}{{Cite web|url=https://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%97%D7%95%D7%A7_%D7%99%D7%95%D7%9D_%D7%94%D7%A9%D7%97%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A8_%D7%95%D7%94%D7%94%D7%A6%D7%9C%D7%94_%D7%9E%D7%92%D7%A8%D7%9E%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%94_%D7%94%D7%A0%D7%90%D7%A6%D7%99%D7%AA|title=חוק יום השחרור וההצלה מגרמניה הנאצית – ויקיטקסט|website=he.wikisource.org}} In 2020, about 150 Chief Rabbis and presidents of rabbinical courts from twenty countries, including Russia, Italy, Germany, Austria, Poland, France, United Kingdom, USA, Switzerland, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria, Belgium, Tunisia, and Turkey, joined a prayer at the Western Wall. They were also joined by the representatives from the White House, U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad, Presidential Administration of Russia, Israel ambassadors to the U.N. and Russia, and the heads of Jewish organizations around the world. The official presidential greetings from the President of the United States and Russian President have been shared with the gathering.{{Cite web|url=https://hamodia.com/2020/05/21/75th-anniversary-day-salvation-liberation-marked-amid-coronavirus-pandemic/|title=75th Anniversary of Day of Salvation and Liberation Marked Amid COVID-19 - Hamodia.com|first=Yossi|last=Goldschmiedt|date=21 May 2020|website=Hamodia}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/150-rabbis-commemorate-75th-anniversary-of-jewish-liberation-from-nazis-628846|title=150 rabbis commemorate 75th anniversary of Jewish liberation from Nazis|date=21 May 2020|website=The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com}}

In 2022, the Day of Salvation and Liberation commemoration events took place in the Headquarter of Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France.{{cite web | url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/355493 | title=Marking 'Liberation and Rescue Day' in Strasbourg }}

German Zakharyayev originally proclaimed the sacred meaning of the Day of Salvation and Liberation, that this is not a secular holiday, nor is it politically motivated; it is, instead, a sacred occasion. When the concept of the Day of Salvation and Liberation first came to his mind, he recognized that support should be sought from Jewish communities worldwide, rather than from governmental bodies. This day is dedicated to expressing gratitude — a solemn and significant gesture by the Jewish people to honor the soldiers of the Red Army and the Allied coalition and to offer thanks to God for the miraculous deliverance of the Jewish people from the threat of complete annihilation.{{cite web | url=https://ria.ru/20220526/zakharyaev-1790745951.html | title=Герман Захарьяев: 26 ияра — день благодарности евреев Красной Армии | date=26 May 2022 }}

It was not without controversy amongst jewish religious leaders initially on the Day of Salvation and Liberation status. Berel Lazar – a Chief Rabbi of Russia:

{{blockquote|text=

{{lang|ru|Мы позитивно относимся к предложению увековечить 9 мая как День памяти и благодарности, но это не праздник.}}

We welcome the initiative to proclaim the 9th of May Victory Day as a Day of Commemoration and Gratitude, but not as a (religious) holiday.

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|author=Berel Lazar

|source={{Cite web|url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2479433|title=День Победы станет еврейским праздником|date=25 May 2014|website=www.kommersant.ru}}

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At the same time, rabbi Zinovy Kogan, a vice-president of the Congress of the Jewish Religious Organizations and Associations in Russia, supported the initiative:

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{{lang|ru|В победе над фашизмом есть сакральность: Всевышний через Советскую армию спас евреев и помог обрести государство.}}

There was a sacred meaning in the victory over the fascism: the God saved the Jewish people through the Soviet Army and helped to found the Jewish people's state.

|multiline=yes

|author={{ill|Zinovy Kogan|ru|Коган,_Зиновий_Львович}}

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There were also rabbis who initially rejected the sacred, religious meaning of the Victory, because 6 million, a half of all Jewish people at the time, were still killed. However, with time, the view of importance and role of the Victory over nacism as a key historical moment of the Jewish people salvation and revival, eventually revealed.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forumdaily.com/en/den-pobedy-vnesen-v-evrejskij-kalendar/|title=Victory Day entered in the Jewish calendar|first=Ольга|last=Михно|date=16 April 2015|website=ForumDaily}}

According to views of Pinchas Goldschmidt, President of Conference of European Rabbis and Chief Rabbi of Moscow, the Day of Salvation and Liberation should be celebrated similarly to Pesach – as a sacred day of freeing Jewish people from slavery, as said in Pesach Haggadah: ″who has brought us out from slavery to freedom, from sorrow to joy, from grief to celebration; from darkness to great light and from enslavement to redemption″. Many jews died in the Holocaust however for those who survived that historical moment truly was a day of liberation and rescue from extermination camps.

Yisrael Meir Lau, the former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel (1993–2003), the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv and chairman of Yad Vashem, in his statement from the 8th of the month Nisan year 5774 (8th of April 2014), highlighted that the 26th day of the month Iyyar, as the Day of Salvation and Liberation, is the day to pray and thank the God who saved Jewish people, but also the day to commemorate the Holocaust and pay tribute to Righteous Among the Nations and all brave men who fought against and defeated the ″Nazi monster″{{Cite web|url=https://26iyar.com/en/letters_of_the_rabbis/|title=Letters of the rabbis title - 26 Iyar|website=26iyar}}{{cite web | url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/305651 | title=European Council to mark 'Day of Salvation and Liberation' }}

Once the Day of Salvation and Liberation was established as a religious holiday, a devoted set of prayers called ″Thank and Glory to Your Great Name″ was introduced as well as the candle lighting ritual:

• First candle – to the glory of our God's will that rescued us.
• Second candle – to memory of ones who sacrificed their lives.
• Third candle – to honour worriers who fought for our rescue.
  

{{Reflist}}

• [https://26iyar.com/en/ The 26th of Iyar is a new Jewish holiday] — official site.
• [https://stmegi.com/upload/iblock/a32/a32f68cbf3bd53366dff88a8ba1ed829.pdf ″Thank and Glory to Your Great Name″] — set of prayers.

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