24 Hours of Remembering-Yom HaZikaron

---

I will spend the next 24 hours remembering....

the Lebanon War of last summer where friends were called up to reserve duty, and others died protecting their country

the stories of the Israeli heroes I was taught as a teenager in pursuit of a love for a country I where I was not raised

my friends Ben, Marla and Janis who were killed in a bombing at Hebrew University almost 5 years ago

the soldiers who were kidnapped last summer...and whose families are still awaiting word of their well-being or return home

the wars, right or wrong, left or right, in offense or defense, of a country I call my home

the songs and poems, written or sung, in rememberance of family members, lovers or friends lost to the atrocities of what defending one's country can mean

Tonight I sat in Kikar Rabin, alongside thousands of Israelis, as we listened to the stories and heard the songs, of loved ones who were taken from our world, as they fought in defense of a country that did not know of its own political right to exist 100 years ago. At 8 PM, as we walked through the quiet streets of Tel Aviv, a sirent went off for a minute. Time stood still. Cars stopped, and people got out and stood. Lights blinked. Even the breeze seemed to still. We remembered.

For the next 18 hours we will remember...as sad songs play on the radio, programmes on TV speak words of tears as we remember the soldiers lost. Soldiers who, for the most part, were only kids themselves. We will remember them as we eat, as we sleep, and as we work. There will be ceremonies all day, and many tears will be shed. This is not a day of right or wrong, good or bad...only memories.

And I will remember, with great love and admiration, those lives I knew and those lives I knew in spirit...who loved and lived...for the right that this country exists and will exist. Whether they were soldiers or civilians, we are blessed with their memories.

May we remember them in their honor...and may their memories be a blessing.

---