By the Hebrew reckoning, a day begins at night.Last night all Israel entered into the saddest day of the year, Remembrance Day for Israel's Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Enemy Actions.
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In between the national memorial ceremonies at the Western Wall, Mt. Herzl, the Knesset, and Ammunition Hill, Israel TV has been showing filmed stories of heroism, of battles, of terrorist actions, and of families struggling with bereavement.
They are riveting; I have to watch. They make up our history.
But oh so many times in the last 21 hours have I dried my tears or cried "Oh God" or sighed a big Jewish sigh of "Oi . . . ."
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At sunset tonight we will make the sudden transition into the happiness of Independence Day, all the time remembering that our independent state did not--and does not--come easy.
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That's My World and it is a great privilege to live here.
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More posts about Memorial Day in Jerusalem can be found here.
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Shalom, peace to you, my country!
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Shalom, Israel.
ReplyDeleteAnd shalom to you.
ReplyDeleteI felt the transition between the days during a public concert in Jerusalem. The first part was quite sad but the second half, after sundown, was joyous and almost wild...
ReplyDeleteFreedom doesn't come easy. I wish it weren't so. It shouldn't be so. Shalom, my friend.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that the unbearable pain of Remembrance Day was put immediately next to the great happiness of Independence Day for a specific reason? They seem incompatible, but perhaps the young state wanted to link together tragic history and thankfulness for a wonderful future!
ReplyDeleteShalom my dear. If iI have one wish, it is that all peoples would live in harmony . . . but how to achieve that? It is much more than a Herculean task.
ReplyDeleteSome days MY day begins at night too.
ReplyDeleteShalom, Dina. I can almost hear you say, "Oi." In fact, it became part of my vocabulary after spending time with you.
ReplyDeletePeace in your country and in the whole world!
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