At 11:00 a.m. sharp the siren sounded and at Meitar's cemetery all of us stood in a collective remembering of our defense forces dead and of the victims of hostile actions [terrorism].
Speeches and Psalms and prayers, all very moving.
Wreaths were laid at the Yizkor memorial wall of the small military section of our cemetery.
The quotation from Jeremiah 31:19 says, "For as often as I speak of him, I do earnestly remember him still."
Two graves were added to the military section during last summer's fighting.
Just last July I shared with you Captain Liad Lavi's funeral.
May he now rest in peace.
Please give a thought to the thousands of bereaved families for whom every day is a Day of Remembrance.
And remember that about 600 fallen soldiers and terror victims are from the Druze, Bedouin, Circassian, and Arab (both Christian and Muslim) communities.
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At sunset tonight we will make the sudden transition from the agony of memorial day into the festivities and fireworks of Independence Day.
You can't have one day without the other.
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I would find the transition from pain, loss and Memorial Day visits to the cemetery ...into the festivities of Independence Day difficult to make. But we would become uncontrollably depressed if we spent all year in cemeteries. We need public celebrations in our lives.
ReplyDeleteMy heart goes out to the families that have lost loved ones.
ReplyDeleteAlice
Very solemn... and quite a transition.
ReplyDeleteAs I have already told you too many times, I was there and experienced the transition exactly as you said. It was really moving also for a stranger...
ReplyDelete