I found myself thinking and writing while listening to the radio.
This is the only day a year I listen to the radio, because the music is so beautiful. Tragic, certainly, but beautiful.
Tonight is the beginning of Israel's Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Terror Victims.
I am always amazed how Memorial Day in the United States is overlooked at best and celebrated at worst.
In a country that doesn't feel a constant, immediate threat, though, I suppose that's only natural. As of 2009, 22,570 soldiers and 1,723 civilian terror victims have been killed in Israel. In such a small country, it's only natural that you knew someone, a friend, a teacher, a relative. There's this amazing, sorrowful connectedness, the kind that causes complete strangers to comfort each other, hug, offer tissues.
So for all those of you who have never been in Israel on our Memorial Day, I'll enlighten you.
Memorial Day officially begins at 20:00 with a siren. The sirens are coordinated from city to city, and last for one minute. The entire country is stock-still, all citizens standing still, remembering. Another siren of two minutes follows at 11:00 the following morning.
Flags are held at half-mast. School children wear white shirts, and many people have stickers over their hearts saying "Remember". Candles are lit in most households, and all places of entertainment are closed.
The radio plays only songs on the topic. I don't think there's any other country that has as many songs about war and loss than we do.
Ceremony after ceremony take place all over the country, in every school, city, monument, military base. Every website has a banner commemorating the day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSfvInbDjmkI guess the most amazing thing is the switch we make, how the saddest and happiest days of the year are separated by a mere sixty seconds. Tomorrow night, we will celebrate our 61st Independence Day, but only after remembering that we didn't receive it on a silver platter. That's the only way it works.
I really don't want this to become a political debate. I have no intention of that happen, please respect that. I simply felt like I had to get this out.
