Eleven years ago, Rabbi Ovadya Yosef ztz"l was asked whether to recite the Tachanun prayer, which is omitted on festivals, on Independence Day, and he replied in the negative, Kikar Hashabbat reports.
"To the esteemed rabbi, we would like to hear his honor's opinion on how to conduct oneself on Independence Day and Yom Yerushalayim," the question was posed by the staff of the Maayan Hahaim Vehashalom yeshiva in Ashkelon.
"Should we recite Tachanun and pray as on every other day, as other yeshivas do, or conduct ourselves differently? We would be very grateful to have a clear response."
Rabbi Yosef replied: "Tachanun should not be recited on these two days. [Other than that,] pray as on every other day and learn Torah with dedication."
Last year, Kikar Hashabbat published a video clip showing Rabbi Yosef on the morning of Independence Day, speaking of how one should not deny the miracles G-d performed in the establishment of the State of Israel.
"If a miracle is performed for you, you must thank G-d and then He will send you an even greater miracle," Rabbi Yosef said. "For example, if a child comes up to me and asks for a candy, I give him one, and if he says thank you very much and recites a blessing and thanks me again, I say to myself: If he thanks me so much for just one candy, tomorrow I'll give him a whole box of chocolate and who knows how he'll respond? Maybe he'll dance with joy.
"The same applies to G-d: When He performs miracles for us and we recite [words of praise], He performs even greater miracles. We must always thank G-d. People sometimes say: What's all this about the 'Festival of Independence'? But we have to focus on its essence, the fact that we have a Jewish government. What did we have here before that? The Mandate under the British, y"sh, those anti-Semites, and anyone who wanted to come and live here had to obtain a Certificate via someone with 'pull.'
"During the Mandate period, there were 650 thousand people in the whole country, and today, we have over five million," Rabbi Yosef continued. "Of course, we continue to pray that the government should become one of G-d fearing people who love the Torah. But we must not deny the miracles that G-d performed. When Jews from abroad want to come, the doors are open to him. No one tells him that he needs a Certificate."
Rabbi Yosef added, "During the Mandate period, there were no Talmudei Torah [haredi religious schools for boys]. There was no Chinuch Atzmai [the network of haredi schools set up several decades ago]. Now we have tens of thousands of boys learning in Chinuch Atzmai, tens of thousands learning in Talmudei Torah. There they only learn Torah, and it wasn't always like that. We must thank G-d for this."