More on Mount Herzl

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Come in.
Let's walk around and sit and absorb the peace and silence and sense of reverence that enfold the cemetery on a normal day.

(A strange choice for That's My World, you think?)
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The metal gates of Mt. Herzl military cemetery are like the gates at the Knesset and Yad Vashem.
The stones of the entrance were brought from all parts of Israel to express the idea that all remember and appreciate the soldiers buried here in Jerusalem.
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These are just some of the moving places on Mt. Herzl.
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Let's sit low on the stone bench and unite with those whose memory lives on here.

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The soldiers' graves are in small groupings to express the idea that in one way their sacrifice was individual.

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The cemetery has an east-west orientation to follow the practice of burying Jewish dead with their feet pointing in the direction of Jerusalem's ancient Temple.

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Jerusalem's military cemetery together with Yad Vashem and Mt. Herzl the national burial place for Israel's leaders make up Har HaZikaron, the Mount of Remembrance.

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The site encapsulates the last century of Jewish national history.
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The large number of casualties in the War of Independence, 6,000 (1% of the Jewish population at the time), made the need for a new cemetery obvious.

The first remains were transferred here in 1949 from temporary burial grounds.

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Just beyond, you can see the hills where battles were fought in the various wars.

So close . . .
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These clusters of shaded benches are near the exit.

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I imagine people who have just attended a funeral or a memorial service might like to linger and talk together before going out to the bustling world.

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Right next to the exit gate is this corner for the seudat avelim, the meal for the bereaved, that follows a funeral.

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If you'd like to see more, please click on the label "Mt. Herzl."