Happy Israeli Independence Day

Today is Iyar 5, 5772. HaChodesh L'Iyar was sighted on April 22 at 7:24, according to Nehemiah Gordon. So, the P'rushim were, once again, a little off in celebrating Yom Ha'Atzma'ut-- they celebrated Yom Ha'Atzma'ut early. But to be fair, they at least celebrated the Day of Independence for Israel. 

I Don't Know or Remember Too Much About Havel & Dubcek, But...

I know that the Velvet Revolution gave my Jewish and other Czechoslovakia-born cousins and other relatives hachofesh that they hadn't experienced since 1929, or even their whole lifetimes. Not all of them could or did make aliyah if they were Jewish and/or survived the Shoah and/or Communism. Some of them were born into comparatively-free Czechoslovakia, some born in Slovakian-Hungarian Austria and tasting at least some chofesh for the first time in their lives. Others were born into not-so (if at all)-free Czechoslovakia in either HaYamim-HaShoah or the days of the Iron Curtain.

For the ones that are still alive and couldn't or didn't make aliyah (or didn't emigrate otherwise, as some did), they have what chofesh they have b'HaGalut thanks to Vaclav Havel and Alexander Dubcek. And they have a fragile chofesh that's quickly fading b'Ha'Acharit-HaYamim. And with few or no Havels and Dubceks in these toldot, the freedom is fading even more quickly and all the more fragile-- especially given that Slovakia is threatened by Rosh, Meshech, v'Tubal again.