Draft:Day of Salvation and Liberation

Day of Salvation and Liberation is a Jewish holiday celebrated on the 26th day of the month Iyar, which commemorates the victory of Allies against Nazi Germany and the saving of the Jewish people from annihilation at the hands of Nazi Germany.

Whilst commemorating the same historical events, the sacred religious meaning of the Day of Salvation and Liberation makes it distinct from other established non-religious (secular) holidays which commemorate the surrender of Nazi Germany. Those are traditionally celebrated on the 8th of May across European nations as Victory in Europe Day, on the 9th of May across Russia, a number of ex-USSR and Eastern Europe states as Victory Day and on the 9th of May across Israel as a Victory in Europe Day.

The Date
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”. The 9th of May 1945 in the Gregorian calendar is equivalent to the 26 Iyar of the year 5705 in the Hebrew Calendar.

The Holiday foundation
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. 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. German Zakharyayev’s initiative received a further support at the Conference of European Rabbis, and from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. 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, and in the Headquarters of the United Nations. 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. 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. 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. Additional ceremonies in honor of the Day of Salvation and Liberation were held in Toulouse and Moscow. In 2018, the Day of Salvation and Liberation was made into the law by Knesset. 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. In 2022, the Day of Salvation and Liberation commemoration events took place in the Headquarter of Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France.

Religious significance and meaning
German Zakharyayev about the sacred meaning and importance of the Day of Salvation and Liberation: "Это не светский праздник, это религиозная дата. Она никак не связана с политикой. Когда у меня только возникла идея учреждения Дня Спасения и Освобождения, я понимал, что его стоит продвигать не на уровне правительств, а в еврейских общинах по всему миру. Это наш день благодарности, это самое малое, что еврейский народ может сделать, чтобы почтить память воинов Красной армии, поблагодарив Бога за чудесное спасение от угрозы полного уничтожения. It is not a secular holiday. It is politically unrelated. It is a sacred date. From the moment when the idea of the Day of Salvation and Liberation came into my mind, I realised that the support must be seek from the Jewish communities across the globe, not from the governments. This is our day to thank, the least what Jewish people could do to commemorate the Red Army worriers, to thank God for the miracle of saving of the Jewish people from complete annihilation." 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: "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."

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: "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." 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. 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″.

Religious services
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.