Make no mistake. Israel is The Jewish State. Lest the governmental strife between religious and secular; the bravado of the stereotypical Israeli male; or all the amazing technological, medical and scientific advancements throw you off, there is no disassociating the Land of Israel from its legacy. And there is no better reminder of this than Yom HaShoah.
Holocaust Memorial Day is dedicated to honoring the memory of the 6 million European Jews that perished under the Nazis. The sense of sadness and loss has not diminished with the 68 years that have transpired since World War II ended; the country all these years later is still heavy with it.
I remember people wondering if September 11th would always be such a solemn day for Americans after the 10th Anniversary came and went in 2011 - how people would experience the day long after the monuments were erected and the collective national memory began to fade. That doesn't seem to have been a question here. Or if it ever was the answer speaks for itself.
Much of this has to do with the great ceremony and ritual surrounding Yom HaShoah. The Holocaust movies on TV the night before. The annual recitation by members of Knesset of their relatives who died. And the annual March of the Living from Auschwitz to Birkenau. Though not all Israelis are in the mood for such sobriety. It is a regular work day for most and life does go on. The teacher at yoga class today told her usual jokes. My mother never was one for Holocaust movies and my fiance similarly channel-surfed his way past them in search of more appropriate "entertainment" to accompany our dinner last night.
But most Israelis did stop what they were doing when the siren went off at 10 am this morning to mark the moment of silence. Even though I live here now, this wasn't the first time I happened to be in Israel on Yom HaShoah but it still caught me off-gaurd, standing at a busy crosswalk, waiting for the light to change. Ibn Gvirol traffic stopped and drivers opened their doors to stand alongside their cars. For 2 minutes the sound of the siren was the only sound there was. Everything else grew quiet. And in that quiet we were not just strangers waiting at an intersection but Jews settling into a shared moment based on history and identity.
In well-paced timing, a week from now Israel will mark the memory of all those who died during military service. This will culminate with Independence Day directly after, which this year commemorates Israel's 65 birthday. Already the blue and white flags are everywhere. It will be a day of celebration, full of bar-b-ques and parties. Israeli-style.
Photo credit: The Times of Israel
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| The Yom HaShoah siren stops traffic. |
Holocaust Memorial Day is dedicated to honoring the memory of the 6 million European Jews that perished under the Nazis. The sense of sadness and loss has not diminished with the 68 years that have transpired since World War II ended; the country all these years later is still heavy with it.
I remember people wondering if September 11th would always be such a solemn day for Americans after the 10th Anniversary came and went in 2011 - how people would experience the day long after the monuments were erected and the collective national memory began to fade. That doesn't seem to have been a question here. Or if it ever was the answer speaks for itself.
Much of this has to do with the great ceremony and ritual surrounding Yom HaShoah. The Holocaust movies on TV the night before. The annual recitation by members of Knesset of their relatives who died. And the annual March of the Living from Auschwitz to Birkenau. Though not all Israelis are in the mood for such sobriety. It is a regular work day for most and life does go on. The teacher at yoga class today told her usual jokes. My mother never was one for Holocaust movies and my fiance similarly channel-surfed his way past them in search of more appropriate "entertainment" to accompany our dinner last night.
But most Israelis did stop what they were doing when the siren went off at 10 am this morning to mark the moment of silence. Even though I live here now, this wasn't the first time I happened to be in Israel on Yom HaShoah but it still caught me off-gaurd, standing at a busy crosswalk, waiting for the light to change. Ibn Gvirol traffic stopped and drivers opened their doors to stand alongside their cars. For 2 minutes the sound of the siren was the only sound there was. Everything else grew quiet. And in that quiet we were not just strangers waiting at an intersection but Jews settling into a shared moment based on history and identity.
In well-paced timing, a week from now Israel will mark the memory of all those who died during military service. This will culminate with Independence Day directly after, which this year commemorates Israel's 65 birthday. Already the blue and white flags are everywhere. It will be a day of celebration, full of bar-b-ques and parties. Israeli-style.
Photo credit: The Times of Israel
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