In conjunction with my previous post, I would like to discuss one of probably the many significances of Yom Hazikaron. Today is the day we commemorate and remember the soldiers who gave their lives for the State of Israel, but we must also remember to think about and appreciate those who were willing to give their lives, even if, baruch Hashem, they were not required to actually give them up. It is important to keep in mind that 'giving their lives' does not only mean being killed. It could mean losing an arm, a leg, becoming emotionally unstable, losing a best friend. Anything that effects them in such a way that they will not be able to live their lives the way they had previously planned. This is the meaning of true sacrifice.
When I was in Israel for the year, we spoke about the fact that in a mere twenty-four hours, Israel goes from being in a state of utter mourning to being in a state of utter celebration. This is what has defined the Jewish people through our history. We are constantly going from highs to lows and then back up to highs. From Golden Age, to persecution and expulsion, to Golden Age. It is our quality that we are able to seize the day, to grab the moment. Carpe Diem. When tragedy strikes, we mourn. When, moments later, we are victorious, we celebrate.
We see this dualism in the Pesach seder, not so far behind us yet. We eat matzah, poor man's bread, as a symbol of our freedom! We dip our vegetables in salt water, symbolizing tears, and yet dipping food is a sign of wealth! Of kingship! Throughout the entire seder, we are constantly struggling between commemorating and remembering our enslavement and celebrating our freedom and victory. So, too, are the forty-eight hours of Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha'atzmaut.
But I think Yom Hazikaron commemorates more than the lives of soldiers. It commemorates the lives of Jewish soldiers. Every single one of the soldiers who fought for our country was a Jew. He could have been secular, religious, modern, yeshivish, right-wing politically, left-wing politically, a kibbutznik, a city dweller, from the shtachim, anything. And yet we are all brought together in this common goal: keeping Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael alive. We are one Am, one nation, one people. We have one land. On Yom Hazikaron, it doesn't matter what sort of Jew you are, what your religious practices are, where your political standings are. We all mourn together as one family with one, shared history. The chayalim in the Israeli army defend us all, no matter who we are as individuals or what our opinions are. And we support them all, no matter who they are or what their opinions are. Because they are Jews, we are Jews. We may fight, we may argue, we may disagree, but so do all brothers and sisters.
We are family.
We are one.
When I was in Israel for the year, we spoke about the fact that in a mere twenty-four hours, Israel goes from being in a state of utter mourning to being in a state of utter celebration. This is what has defined the Jewish people through our history. We are constantly going from highs to lows and then back up to highs. From Golden Age, to persecution and expulsion, to Golden Age. It is our quality that we are able to seize the day, to grab the moment. Carpe Diem. When tragedy strikes, we mourn. When, moments later, we are victorious, we celebrate.
We see this dualism in the Pesach seder, not so far behind us yet. We eat matzah, poor man's bread, as a symbol of our freedom! We dip our vegetables in salt water, symbolizing tears, and yet dipping food is a sign of wealth! Of kingship! Throughout the entire seder, we are constantly struggling between commemorating and remembering our enslavement and celebrating our freedom and victory. So, too, are the forty-eight hours of Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha'atzmaut.
But I think Yom Hazikaron commemorates more than the lives of soldiers. It commemorates the lives of Jewish soldiers. Every single one of the soldiers who fought for our country was a Jew. He could have been secular, religious, modern, yeshivish, right-wing politically, left-wing politically, a kibbutznik, a city dweller, from the shtachim, anything. And yet we are all brought together in this common goal: keeping Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael alive. We are one Am, one nation, one people. We have one land. On Yom Hazikaron, it doesn't matter what sort of Jew you are, what your religious practices are, where your political standings are. We all mourn together as one family with one, shared history. The chayalim in the Israeli army defend us all, no matter who we are as individuals or what our opinions are. And we support them all, no matter who they are or what their opinions are. Because they are Jews, we are Jews. We may fight, we may argue, we may disagree, but so do all brothers and sisters.
We are family.
We are one.
1 comment:
Beautiful.
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