These past months, I can’t count the number of times I’ve
either thought to myself or actually said out loud that I should get back to my
blog. I don’t know if it has been
laziness or lack of real inspiration that has stopped me….. but today I finally
felt it. I experienced something today
that has actually motivated me to sit down, organize my thoughts, and write
them down – wanting to share my inspiration.
Today is Israel’s Memorial Day. It is the day where all of Israel – and Jews
worldwide – take the time to commemorate the fallen soldiers of Israel whose
lost lives have facilitated the existence of our State.
I have to say that I have lived 25 Memorial Days in America,
and not once had I felt anything close to the connection that I felt today in
Israel. Granted that a portion of those
years I had been too young to comprehend what the meaning of Memorial Day was –
but that is far from the point. As
someone so shrewdly pointed out, Memorial Day in America means AMAZING sales
and a day off of work/school. (Here I
would like to interject – completely aside from the point as well, that I am actually coming back to the States for
6 days – falling over Memorial Day
weekend, arriving on May 22nd and flying out on the 29th ….
Prepare yourselves!) In truth, not once
had I ever thought about what was being memorialized. I don’t know if that is because I really had
very little (if anything) to ever do with the American Army or because the
nature of our culture that never made that an emphasis point. Memorial Day in America was always more of a
happy day, whereas here in Israel, it is truly a national mourning day.
At 8pm last night, and then again at 11am this morning, a 2
minute long siren sounded ACROSS THE COUNTRY where everyone stopped what they
were doing, stood in silence, and paid tribute to those who are no longer with
us. It is kind of an incredible concept
that something is taking place in every single area of an entire country. Granted we’re not talking about a place like
China that takes up a really sizable part of the world, but even for a small
country like Israel, it seems pretty amazing to me. People compare Israel’s size to New Jersey –
a comparison I can relate to since I’m from there – and yet I could never
imagine a siren going off in every single part of NJ and for all of its inhabitants
to understand the meaning and consequently act.
Whereas, today, in ALL of Israel, when that Siren went off, cars, buses,
bicycles, pedestrians, workers, students – EVERYONE – stopped what they were
doing, stood up in silence and communally paid tribute. No need for me to share a specific picture
since people post them all over Facebook, and a quick Google search can
properly come up with something good.
But it is incredibly inspirational and extremely moving.
Someone at work said to me yesterday that it is almost
expected that every male in the country of army-draft age or older knows
someone whose life was taken in service – and that you can be considered an
outcast if you don’t. It is such a
unifying factor in this country – unfortunately a really sad one – but it is
one of those few things that really bring people together. Political thoughts aside (which is hard to
say in Israel), Memorial Day is a day filled with meaning and gravity –
something that everyone can relate to.
What really adds to this special feeling is that as Memorial
Day comes to an end, Independence Day begins!
It’s a rare juxtaposition that enhances what each day represents. Being able to harness the sadness of the
lives lost, into the happiness of what they lost it for helps me, as a citizen
to be grateful and appreciative. What
hits me is how quickly I’ve been able to jump on board this emotional bandwagon
with my fellow Israelis. Today, I felt
Israeli. Tomorrow I will celebrate as an
Israeli. Despite the fact that I moved
to this country only just over a year ago, I’ve had a more meaningful
connection to my country than I ever did in America.
With that being said, I would like to publically wish Israel
a Happy 65th Birthday! May we
celebrate many more years together in happiness, health, safety, unity and good
memories!
