Is it permitted to listen to music on Independence Day?

Why not?

Because it’s the middle of the Omer count!!!

Right now a little pilpul occurs to me: after all, Rabbi Akiva’s students died only on days when Tachanun is recited, as is discussed. (And there’s also room to say that the mourning is because of the “judgment” that prevails during those days and caused their death, as the Rabbi pointed out here:
https://mikyab.net/%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%94%D7%90%D7%9D-%D7%AA%D7%99%D7%90%D7%95%D7%A8-%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%AA%D7%AA-%D7%AA%D7%9C%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%93%D7%99-%D7%A8%D7%91%D7%99-%D7%A2%D7%A7%D7%99%D7%91%D7%90-%D7%91%D7%94%D7%9C%D7%9B%D7%94/)

So nowadays, when Tachanun is not recited on this day, it’s a day that can no longer bring such a disaster, and therefore there is no reason to mourn on it.

Aharon, no. That only means that one mourns only until the 32nd day of the Omer 🙂

I really couldn’t understand what you meant, A.H. (“Eshet Chaver”?).

And according to my pilpul, it would seem that it is forbidden to listen to music from 7:45 PM (when the Independence Day events officially begin), and one must wait until the time when the day begins on which Tachanun is not recited. Therefore, one who is stringent like Rabbeinu Tam and waits until 8:20, may he be blessed.

It is brought in the medieval authorities (Rishonim) in the name of Tosafot that Rabbi Akiva’s students died only on the sad days (as you wrote), and if we check we’ll see that there are 32 such days between Passover and Atzeret, so for some reason they cram them all into the beginning of the count. Not saying Tachanun on Independence Day hints that they also did not die on that day. So you can subtract a day.

49 days minus the 7 days of Passover, 6 Sabbaths, and 3 New Moons = 33 days.
See here https://www.yeshiva.org.il/midrash/301#2b note 2 section d

The reason to split hairs about this is because apparently we do not say Hallel by virtue of some contemporary authority (community custom or the Chief Rabbinate, Heaven forbid, may the Merciful One save us), but because that is what was established in the Talmud (based on the Talmudic passage in Pesachim 117 and elsewhere; see Yabia Omer vol. 6, Orach Chayim 41).
And if so, it ought to be done on the day on which the miracle happened, regardless of what the community decided—or at least one should be concerned for the doubt and not recite a blessing on the 4th of Iyar?

What you wrote is not correct. (That is, the interruption on Lag BaOmer because 32 days have ended is correct only according to the view of the Pri Megadim in the opinion of the Rema, but not according to the other interpreters of his view, and not according to the Shulchan Arukh.) In any case, if you subtract another day, you no longer have 32 days but only 31, and therefore from that standpoint one cannot be lenient on the 5th of Iyar.

Here is a clear summary of the views from an article I edited:

Mourning during the days of the Omer: In Yevamot 62b it says: “Rabbi Akiva had twelve thousand pairs of students, from Gevat to Antipatris, and all of them died in one period because they did not treat one another with respect, and the world was desolate. Until Rabbi Akiva came to our rabbis in the south and taught it to them—Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Yosei, Rabbi Shimon, and Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua—and they were the ones who reestablished the Torah at that time. It was taught: all of them died between Passover and Atzeret,” end of the Talmudic passage. From the plain wording it sounds as though they died throughout all the days of the Omer, and for that reason the custom of mourning was adopted in those days (see Tur, Orach Chayim sec. 493. Additional reasons were brought for the mourning: 1. From Passover until Atzeret is the period of judgment of the wicked in Gehenna; 2. Because these are days of judgment regarding the grain; 3. Because of the cruel decrees carried out by the gentiles against the Jews of Ashkenaz and France in the year 4856 [1096]. (See Mateh Moshe part 5 sec. 686, Taz and Chok Yaakov on sec. 493)). Even so, people were lenient during part of the Omer days:

A. Mourning until the 34th day of the Omer: Some say that Rabbi Akiva’s students stopped dying on the 34th day of the Omer, based on a midrash brought in several medieval authorities (Rishonim), that Rabbi Akiva’s students died from Passover only until “halfway to Atzeret” (and see the responsa Tov Ayin sec. 18, by the Chida). Several of them wrote that this means the 34th day of the Omer. Therefore mourning practices are observed on Lag BaOmer, and only on the 34th day may one be lenient, since mourning for part of the day counts as the whole day (Derashot of Rabbi Yehoshua Ibn Shuib for Rosh Hashanah, Rabbeinu Yerucham, and the Tashbetz). And this is how Maran the Shulchan Arukh ruled (there).

B. Mourning until Lag BaOmer: According to other views, Rabbi Akiva’s students stopped dying on the 33rd day, and therefore mourning practices are not observed on Lag BaOmer (HaManhig p. 538, and the Meiri on Yevamot, who wrote, “it is a tradition in the hands of the Geonim”). And this is one custom brought by the Rema (there in subsection 2 according to the interpretation of the Vilna Gaon, and so too in Biur Halakhah. However, see Pri Megadim, Mishbetzot Zahav, in the second view, first custom, and Shulchan Arukh HaRav subsection 5).

C. Mourning from the New Moon of Iyar until close to the holiday of Shavuot: According to other views, Rabbi Akiva’s students continued to die after Lag BaOmer, but they died only on days on which Tachanun is recited, and after calculation it turns out that they died for 33 complete days (Maharil, “the days between Passover and Shavuot.” One who examines carefully will see that only he wrote these things, and the medieval authorities (Rishonim) did not write this in the name of Tosafot as is cited in several places). In light of this, some had the custom to mourn for 33 days, and count them from the New Moon of Iyar until near the holiday of Shavuot (Rema in subsection 3 there). But since it is enough to fast 32 days and a bit more, because “part of the day counts as the whole day,” “perhaps there is some reason that they chose specifically Lag BaOmer,” to mourn only at its beginning, and that completes the count of 33 days (Pri Megadim there in Mishbetzot Zahav).

D. Mourning throughout all the days of the Omer except Lag BaOmer: Rabbi Akiva’s students died on all the days on which Tachanun is recited, and in order to hint that they died only 32 days, one does not mourn on Lag BaOmer (the Maharil himself, consistent with his view). Or they died on all the days except the 33rd day of the Omer (Levush there), or they stopped dying on Lag BaOmer, and the mourning afterward is because of the decrees of 4856 [1096] (Taz).

E. Mourning on all the days including Lag BaOmer: Rabbi Akiva’s students died on all the days on which Tachanun is recited, and therefore one mourns on all the days, including Lag BaOmer, except for the days on which Tachanun is not recited, namely Sabbaths and New Moon days (brought in Magen Avraham, and this is the third view in Pri Megadim there).

The calculation of 33 days is absurd. There is no claim here that this is what the Sages meant, or what whoever established this custom meant (that according to them the 5th of Iyar is part of the count of 33 days). Clearly, on this day the mourning laws of the Omer count apply and it is included in the 33 days, except that the new events override the mourning. These pilpulim seem unnecessary to me.

The continuation of my question about reciting Hallel is hidden among the last comments of A.H. and Aharon.
Please don’t shortchange it ☺️

A

You don’t have to say it specifically on that day, only Hallel for the miracle. If you move it by a day, nothing will happen. Certainly if you don’t recite a blessing, but even if you do.

My pilpul was of course in a humorous vein in honor of the holiday, and all of it is built, of course, on the belief that Rabbi Akiva’s students died only on days when Tachanun is recited—which itself was said humorously, of course.

And I’ll quickly stop with the witty remarks before sunset arrives and our festival, the day of our rejoicing, ends, and it becomes forbidden to joke. Then, at nightfall, I will recover my solemnity and my brokenhearted expression because of the rest of the Omer days, and I will weep bitterly over the ruin of my people, until Lag BaOmer that comes upon us and upon all Israel for good.