The Israeli poet Nathan Alterman wrote a famous poem that describes the fallen soldiers of the Independence War as the silver platter on top of which the Jewish State was given to the nation.

To reflect this notion, the Israeli Memorial Day and the Independence celebration are attached.

The Israeli Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day begins in the evening with a one-minute siren (צְפִירָה). It ends on the following evening with the celebrations of Independence Day.

This year, I was driving with my son to Haifa. When the siren began, we and all the other drivers stopped at the margins of the highway and stood in silence, commemorating the fallen and showing respect. This national grief (אֵבֶל) has a very strong personal effect. The tears begin to flow and don’t stop for the next day.

The ceremony at the Reali School

In the morning we went to the Memorial Day ceremony(טֶכֶּס) in my old school, the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa. his school was founded before World War I and recently celebrated its 90^th anniversary. It has 17,500 alumni (בּוֹגְרִים) . Unfortunately, there are many alumni to remember – 292 fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism. The ceremony at my school hasn’t changed much since I was a first grader. It begins with all the higher-grades students marching into a big soccer field and lining up in a military style. Than the flag is lowered and the “Yizkor” (Remembrance, יִזְכֹּר)  prayer is read. The long list of all the fallen school alumni is read. It takes a very long time.

My experience at this traditional ceremony reflects my understanding of our national grief. I remember myself as a first grader, watching the ceremony, not really understanding its meaning and concentrating on waving the Israeli flags when the marching students left the field. When I was in third grade, the Remembrance Day became more significant, as it took place just after the Yom-Kippur War. A father of a classmate died during that war and the national grief became more personal.

As I grew older and actively participated in the ceremony, names and faces and childhood memories joined together, since some of my older brother’s friends and my scouts’ leaders were killed during the First Lebanon War . As a student, I stood at attention while their names were read. I met their parents and siblings, I met their friends who came to the ceremony wearing their military uniforms. My classmates and me were about to become soldiers. We began to understand how fragile our lives are. It made us appreciate even more the livelihood of our youth. When I left school and joined the Air-Force I continued to attend this ceremony every Memorial Day.

This year, after many years of absence I took my oldest son to the ceremony. I wanted him to experience it as well. The names of the fallen were read. Many names were added since I left school. Many young lives were cut. Many hearts won’t smell the spring flowers and won’t fall in love. Many young couples won’t have the privilege of creating new lives. Many families won’t be able to be fully happy.

The school principal talked about the fact that the grief of the families of the fallen soldiers is daily – the hole in their heart is constant. On Memorial Day, their personal grief becomes national – we all feel this hole inside our hearts. We all pray for peace.

Here is an excerpt from the Prayer for the Peace of the State of Israel

(תְּפִלָּה לִשְׁלוֹם הַמְּדִינָה):

“וְנָתַתָּ שָׁלוֹם בָּאָרֶץ וְשִׂמְחַת עוֹלָם לְיוֹשְׁבֶיהָ”

Establish peace in the land, and everlasting joy for its inhabitants.

Amen אָמֵן

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