The day a state was born
Yom HaAtzmaut (Hebrew יום העצמאות — “Independence Day”) is celebrated on the 5th of Iyar, the anniversary of the proclamation of the State of Israel in 1948. It is a national holiday — the youngest in the Jewish calendar.
The day before, the country lives through Yom HaZikaron — the day of remembrance for fallen soldiers and victims of terror. At sunset, grief turns to rejoicing: remembrance and joy stand side by side here, not even separated by a single day.
On this evening the squares fill with people, fireworks bloom in the sky, and there is singing and dancing into the night. The festival joins gratitude for the home regained with memory of the price at which it came.
Yom HaAtzmaut in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan is home to one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities and a long tradition of interfaith tolerance. On Yom HaAtzmaut the communities of Baku and Quba gather to mark Israel’s independence day — with songs, hospitality, and blue-and-white flags.
A special place belongs to Krasnaya Sloboda (Qırmızı Qəsəbə) near Quba — one of the few places in the world where Mountain Jews live as a compact community. Many families here are bound to Israel by ties of kinship, and they welcome the festival with warmth and pride.
Enter the festival
Three facets of Yom HaAtzmaut — the birth of the state and the road to independence, the Day of Remembrance the day before, and the celebration on the day itself.
Jerusalem
“To be a free people in our own land” — the words of the anthem, made real.
The festival in numbers
A few numbers that hold this day together.