Diaspora-Israel Day
7th of Mar-Cheshvan - A new holiday is born
For thousands of years Jews have lived around the world, scattered across five continents. The nation’s heritage begins its story outside the Land of Israel, and its formative history is one of an ongoing series of migrations to and from the Land.
Throughout the Jewish history, a complex and rich dialogue has been maintained among the different Jewish Diasporas and between these communities and the Land of Israel. The result is a delicate and unique thread that binds together Jews living in different parts of the world.
The Domim-aLike project aims to express this unique, ongoing relationship through a new festival that will cherish thousands of years of united and full Jewish life in different locations around the world.
As of October 2015 (Mar-Cheshvan 5776), a new festival was added to the Jewish calendar: Diaspora-Israel Day.
The festival was celebrated on the 7th day of the Hebrew month of Mar-Cheshvan.
We invite congregations and families around the world to use the attached Haggada in celebration of this day.
Why 7th of Mar-Cheshvan?
On the third of Mar-Cheshvan, prayers for the rain are to be said, but according to Rabban Gamliel – on the seventh of the same month, namely, fifteen days after the feast of tabernacles, in order that the last Israelites might have reached the River Euphrates.
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- Mishna, Ta’anit, 1:3
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The Sages of the Mishna set two separate days for beginning to recite prayers for rain in the drought-prone Land of Israel. The “mentioning of rain” begins on Shemini Atseret (the Eighth Day of Assembly at the end of Sukkot), while the “plea for rain” is said from the 7th of Mar-Cheshvan.
As the passage from Ta’anit explains, the purpose of this two-stage process was to ensure that Jewish pilgrims from Babylon who had been visiting the Land of Israel would be able to return home without having rain fall on them during their journey.
This ancient custom of postponing the prayer for rain is an early model for the strong spiritual and practical bond between Israel and the Diaspora. Accordingly, the 7th of Cheshvan has been chosen to mark Diaspora-Israel Day.
How can I participate?
Download our Festival Tractate
Our Festive Tractate was collected and especially designed for the new holiday.
The Tractate provides a detailed explanation of the concept of the new holiday, as well as a collection of texts, poems, songs, prayers, and ideas for activities.
The text is avalilable in Hebrew, English, Russian, French, Spanish and German.
Download here :
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