In Israel, it is common for religious Jews to celebrate Yom Yerushalayim with Hallel, the psalms of praise sung on Jewish holidays. In the US and Canada, different communities have different practices.
Rabbi Ezra Weinberg has curated a series of tunes for Hallel that are thematic to Jerusalem and set a more mournful mood. This captures the mixed feelings of the day: elation and praise for our access to Judaism’s holy sites and for the strength that has allowed Israel to survive and make peace with some of its neighbors; mourning for the deaths and human rights violations suffered by Palestinians during the occupation; hope for a better future all around.
We share Rabbi Weinberg’s recordings as a resource for prayer-leaders:
- B’tzeit Yisrael to the tune of “Im Eskachech Yerushalayim“
- Yisrael b’tach b’Hashem [enf of “Lo Lanu” paragraph] to the tune of “Acheinu kol beit Yisrael“
- Et’halech lifnei Hashem [end of “Ahavti ki yishma” paragraph] continuing “Acheinu kol beit Yisrael“
- Mah Ashiv l’Hashem to Rabbi Micha’el Rosenberg’s “Min Hametzar“
- Hallelu et Hashem to the tune of “Elecha Hashem ekra“
- Pit’chu Li to the tune of “Uva’u haOvdim“
- Baruch HaBa through the end of Hallel to the slow tune for “V’liYershalayim irchah berachamim tashuv”
