Israel's News & Views Blog
by Liza Farachdel
To live in Israel is to be constantly subjected to powerful, collective experiences, whether it be the unbridled joy of taking first place in an international sporting competition, the searing pain of a terror attack, the utter disbelief when a powerful leader becomes incapacitated. Despite the outer layer of toughness for which Israelis are generally known, we rely upon one another and cling to each other in times of need, both in good times and bad, coming together as a nation as we celebrate, mourn and remember.
Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel, a day when we join together to remember. To remember those who perished in the Holocaust, to support those who lost their lives, lost their loved ones, lost their innocence. It is a day of reflection, a day to remember what we must never forget. Daily life is altered accordingly in order to mark the solemnity of the day, which manifests itself through the closing of restaurants and other places of entertainment, Holocaust-related television programming on all channels, radio playlists containing only quiet songs, and schoolchildren being taught about different aspects of the Holocaust. Names of those who perished are read out from the Knesset plenum, commemoration ceremonies are held, and a two minute-long siren is heard throughout the country.
The siren. It is this siren (sounded both on Holocaust Remembrance Day and on Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror, which falls next Monday night) that makes me feel more a part of Israeli society than anything else. The entire nation comes to a standstill. People stop whatever they are doing, whether it be walking down the street, talking on the phone, smoking a cigarette, driving a car. It stops. All of it. Together, as a nation, we stop and stand in silence. Together, we pay tribute and we remember.
For me, there is no Israeli experience more powerful than this one. Whenever it happens, I try to position myself either outside or facing a window, just so that I can watch the world stop with me. There is something so incredible, so awe-inspiring in this act of unity, knowing that nearly every Israeli is doing exactly what I am doing, that for those fleeting moments we have put aside our differences as a sign of respect for our collective loss. Even the siren itself sounds mournful, as if it knows that its role is to elicit the proper degree of melancholy.
There is something about the atmosphere of these memorial days that affects me deeply, almost spiritually. Days that beg for self-reflection, days that make one temporarily set aside the usual thoughts and activities, days that unify us as one people. It’s good to have days like these, I think. They remind us of who we are; they remind us that we are not only a group of individuals who happen to live in the same place, but that we are people who are connected to one another through joy and sorrow. Memorial days remind us to think of the past and enable us to shape the future.
Growing up in the United States, Memorial Day didn’t hold a lot of meaning for me. It was seen as a vacation day, a shopping day, a day that signified the unofficial beginning of the summer season. Nobody I knew commemorated the day for what it truly was – a day to remember fallen soldiers, those who had died defending the country. Perhaps it was this lack of observance that has caused me to feel so strongly about it here in Israel, or perhaps it is the personal connection that I feel as a Jew and as an Israeli, or maybe it has to do with the leap I made from being American to becoming an Israeli, with all that this endeavor implies.
I have been living in Israel for nearly 15 years, and every year on both Holocaust Remembrance Day and Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers I am hit by the power of these simple gestures of respect and unity. To feel with absolute certainty that this is where I belong, to observe moments of silence together with my fellow Israelis. To laugh together, to cry together, to remember together.
10 Comments
This is so, so powerful. A Beautiful lesson in embracing the mourning. I pray we learn. Thank you Liza, Lisa and OneJerusalem. And thank you Israel.
Excellently encapsulated, Liza. Kol hakavod.
This was really very beautiful. An excellent expression of a powerfully emotional experience and attachment.
I would love for that siren to ring worldwide, for every man, woman and child to stop and stand in silence and remember our loved ones, mourn our losses and take pride in our collective humanity.
Too much to ask for, I know, but it’s a nice dream.
Thank you for sharing, Liza.
The holocaust should be remembered by all
the civilized world,and the most important
lesson should be not to ignore all the crazy
lunatic leaders in the world such as the Iranian
and North-korean, they remind me of Hitler.
That was lovely, Liza.
Thanks Lisa for a beautiful, moving piece. It sums up what Holocaust Remembrance means.
For another beautiful piece about the re-union after more then 60 years of three Auschwitz survivors, see http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3243866,00.html
I agree with everyone’s comments Liza, that was very well put. I hope people read it and truly think about the meaning.
PS: Credit Jonathan at the Head Heeb for doing a post & linking to the ynet story about the three Auschwitz survivors.
Beautifully written, Liza. As somone who is relatively far removed from the day-to-day reality of such things (except for what we see on news reports), this article really evoked a sense of the power and significance of the day. Thanks for writing it.
Hi Everybody,
Thank you for all the touching, thoughtful comments. It’s always nice to receive such positive feedback.
Now if only I could get that in my day job…
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