Remembering. Again.
Tonight begins Yom HaZikaron leHalelei Tzahal - Memorial Day for Israel's Fallen Soldiers.
Last year when I was at Har Herzl, Israel's military cemetery in Jerusalem, I snapped a photo of a large group of Americans gathered around the grave of a young man from Philadelphia who had been killed in the second Lebanon War. It was in an area of the (sadly) sprawling cemetery that was crowded with graves. Each one had a flower and a candle on it, even those that were not surrounded by visiting family and friends.
Then I turned around and looked at a completely empty section. My heart nearly broke thinking that it would, too, eventually be filled with graves. Filled with the fallen soldiers yet to come. Filled with the bodies of young men and women who are just children now. I wish for peace, and I pray for a day when Israel can exist and be proud and wonderful without having to live in fear. My heart breaks in its yearning for an Israel where Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer, sales, and family trips to the beach, and not family trips to a graveside. May this empty field never be filled with graves.
Last year I described why I wanted to wear the Israeli army uniform for Purim. I am proud of those who wear that uniform. I worked with someone on a "peace project" in 1998 who said he would kill someone in that uniform because of what it stood for. I count myself among those who would give my life for what that uniform stands for.
"A State is not handed to a people on a silver platter."
- Chaim Weizmann, first president of Israel
Last year when I was at Har Herzl, Israel's military cemetery in Jerusalem, I snapped a photo of a large group of Americans gathered around the grave of a young man from Philadelphia who had been killed in the second Lebanon War. It was in an area of the (sadly) sprawling cemetery that was crowded with graves. Each one had a flower and a candle on it, even those that were not surrounded by visiting family and friends.
Then I turned around and looked at a completely empty section. My heart nearly broke thinking that it would, too, eventually be filled with graves. Filled with the fallen soldiers yet to come. Filled with the bodies of young men and women who are just children now. I wish for peace, and I pray for a day when Israel can exist and be proud and wonderful without having to live in fear. My heart breaks in its yearning for an Israel where Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer, sales, and family trips to the beach, and not family trips to a graveside. May this empty field never be filled with graves.
Last year I described why I wanted to wear the Israeli army uniform for Purim. I am proud of those who wear that uniform. I worked with someone on a "peace project" in 1998 who said he would kill someone in that uniform because of what it stood for. I count myself among those who would give my life for what that uniform stands for.
"A State is not handed to a people on a silver platter."
- Chaim Weizmann, first president of Israel