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Memorial & Independence Days

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Everyone's Connected

Israel is a small country, and almost everyone aged
eighteen and over serves in the army. If almost every
Israeli is or was at some point a soldier, then it figures that most Israelis have either a relative or friend who was killed fighting for the country. This is an unfortunate but very true reality of life in Israel. In such a small country - it is smaller than Wales, and could fit 20 times into France - almost everyone is affected in some way by a military tragedy, and all feel the pain of each soldier killed. When, for example, 73 young soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash in February 1997, the whole country mourned. Each 18 or 19 year old face on the cover of a newspaper called to mind a son, a neighbour, a brother or a friend. Everyone seemed to have a connection to at least one of the soldiers killed, both in Israel and abroad.

To Remember and Honour

For Jews, especially Israelis, Memorial Day is not just about a minute's silence. So how do we remember and honour the dead?

In Israel, Yom Ha'Zikaron is a very solemn day when the whole nation remembers its debt and expresses its gratitude to its sons and daughters who lost their lives for the achievement of the country's independence and continued existence. On the evening before, a siren wails for two minutes and the whole country stops. Everything grinds to a halt. Traffic stops, people get out of their cars and stand to attention by the side of their vehicles. Pedestrians freeze where they are on the pavement. The eerie silence is broken only by the deep sound of the siren. This two minutes silence is repeated the next morning. Most employers offer it as a day off.

In military cemeteries all over the country, special services are held in honour of the fallen soldiers. Generally, memorial torches and candles are lit, speeches are made, prayers are said, and then families and friends are left alone with their dead. The graveyards are overflowing with weeping parents, friends, siblings and spouses. Adults attempt to describe to young children, the sister, father, or uncle that they never had the chance to know properly. The minority of people that are fortunate enough not to have close relatives or friends buried, come to the cemeteries anyway just to be a part of the national mourning. These people visit the graves of those soldiers who do not have any surviving relatives or friends to visit them.

By mid-afternoon most of the visitors have gone home, to be with their loved ones and their memories of those they have lost.

Out of Sight, NOT Out of Mind

All of this makes sense for those who live in Israel, but what about those of us who do not? Why should anyone living outside of Israel mark Israel's Memorial Day? There are two answers to this. The first, is that for those of us that believe that the destiny of the Jewish people is bound with the destiny of the Jewish State, we appreciate that the sacrifice of a soldier killed whilst defending Israel, is a sacrifice for us too. The second reason is that the Talmud tells us that "Kol Yisrael arevim zeh le zeh.", which translates as "All Jews are responsible for each other." Therefore, it is clear that Israel's loss is our loss, and so we remember Israel's fallen brothers and sisters with an awareness that they are our brothers and sisters as well.

If we accept either (or both) of these explanations, then we need to think about how we can mark Yom Ha'Zikaron in this country. An important custom for those who have not lost anyone in Israel's wars, is to read the story of a soldier who has. There are many memorial books in Jewish resource libraries that tell the stories of Israel's lost sons and daughters, and all that you need to do is learn about one of them. One of the most effective ways to express your connection to Israel's fallen soldiers is by holding a Memorial Day ceremony/service, which normally includes lighting memorial candles, reading some relevant prayers and poems, singing Hatikvah (the Israeli national anthem) and reading out the story of one or more soldiers that died defending Israel. Our programming section includes suggestions for holding your own Yom Ha'Zikaron ceremony at school, but in addition, on the next page is the story of one young Israeli who died trying to secure Israel's future:

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