Soldiers Memorial Day
Memorial Day in Israel (Yom HaZikaron)
An emotional day during which Israel's Fallen Soldiers are remembered and mourned. This solemn day is observed on the 4th day of Iyar, the day before Independence Day. It begins at sunset and concludes as the stars appear the next day to usher in Independence Day Eve. Memorial candles are lit in army camps, schools, synagogues, public places and in private homes. Originally and essentially designated to commemorate the loss of those men and women who fought and were killed in the IDF, Israel's armed forces, the day has now also been accepted as the appropriate moment to bring together families and friends and official recognition of all those who lost their lives under any form of attack, including acts of terror.
A siren sounds at 11 o'clock in the morning for two minutes, and ceremonies are held at 42 military cemeteries, with government ministers and Knesset (Parliament) members speaking at various locations. The Israeli rabbinate prescribe special prayers for the Sabbath before Memorial Day and for Yom HaZikaron itself.
Back on the kibbutz the ceremony opens with a minute long silent devotion, an air siren is sounded simultaneously throughout the country and a memorial torch is lit. The siren calls me into focus and to a haunting lingering feeling of mourning and grief. The energy of this night is even heavier than of holocaust Memorial Day. Everyone arrives wearing white - the color used throughout many of Israeli and Jewish ceremonies to commemorate life. This memorial touches the homes of everyone in Israel. I asked one Israeli friend (24 yr), as we were walking to the memorial ceremony, if she had any family or friends who had died and she matter-of-factly responded "both".
As I looked around at my kibbutz friends and family, I contemplated what might be going on for them. I was told that due to the history of kibbutz and that kibbutzime having to regularly defend themselves, it is common to place kibbutnics on frontline or in high activity areas.
Due to the geographical location of Ein Gev, it has a long history of being attacked by Syria and because of Ein Gev's fortitude, it held its ground and Israel claims the Eastern coastline of the Kinneret (Israel's main water source). (Until 1967, Lake Kinneret and a small strip on the eastern shore of the lake served as the border between Israel and Syria. However, Syria's aggression and its attempts to set up military positions on Israel territory near Ein Gev became increasing sources of friction and tension. This was one of the causes of the Six-Day War which resulted in Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights (east of Lake Kinneret). Thus as of 1967, Lake Kinneret was no longer the border between Israel and Syria, and it is presently an inland lake of Israel.) One of the fighters/kibbutznic's who survived that battle still lives on Ein Gev.
It is by this memorial the ceremony is held. It is a sculpture of a kibbutnic woman who died fighting against the Syrians in their attempt to overtake Ein Gev in 1948, Ein Gev won. It was requested for women and children to flee the kibbutz in times of attack, she chose to stay and fight. Unbeknownst to the kibbutznics, she was pregnant. A friend of hers designed and erected the sculpture in her memory.
The kibbutz ceremony then continues with memorial songs and then of a slide show memorializing those kibbutznics and relatives of the kibbutz who have been lost. Kaddish (the mourners prayer) is read and the ceremony then concludes with the singing of the Israeli national anthem, "Hatikva", The Hope.
As with all the ceremonies on Ein Gev they are all in Hebrew. I saddled myself next to a volunteer who speaks Hebrew and in true kibbutz volunteer form - Spanish is her mother tongue who was translating Hebrew into English for me.
Memorial Day has a concluding ceremony the following day at 8pm, (much lighter - kids performances) which then immediately following is the Independence Day celebration. Israel's Independence Day (Yom HaAtzmaut) begins the minute Israel's Memorial Day ends, and the switch from sorrow to joy is quite sudden and dramatic. Israel's Independence Day is celebrated each year on 5 Iyar, which corresponds to May 14, 1948, the day that the State of Israel was proclaimed. The night turned into a big party.
posted by Pamela's Israeli blog @ 3:37 PM
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