Yom Ha'zikaron and Yom Ha'atzmaut

In preparation for Yom Ha'zikaron (Remembrance Day for Israel's Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror) we went to Mount Herzel this past Sunday, which is Israel's famous military cemetery located adjacent to Yad Vashem. The cemetery is absolutely beautiful. All the graves are identical like most military cemeteries but unlike Arlington Cemetery, for instance, which is rather stark, Mount Herzel is full of trees and flowers. The most emotional part for me is when we arrived at the graves of the soldiers who have died most recently (including those in the recent Gaza war). They are almost all my age, or younger,and many of the graves have pictures of the men placed there. The wars and conflicts sometimes seems so far away, but seeing their graves and their pictures really hits home. Yom Ha'zikaron started Monday evening at sundown with a 1 minute siren that sounded throughout the country. Everyone stands up..people driving stop and get out of their car. It is actually quite eerie, as well as incredible, when you realize that for that one minute the entire country is silent, and at a complete standstill. No other nation in the world sounds a siren and holds it collective breath for a few minutes to honor the memory of its fallen as Israel does. I went to an absolutely beautiful, and very heartrending, memorial ceremony that night on Ammunition Hill, where the battle of Jerusalem was fought in the Six Day War in 1967. There was beautiful music, prayers, lighting of Yizkor candles, and the stories of 7 brave men. Their families spoke of the loved ones they lost, and there were video clips showing their stories. One story in particular really hit home with me, because this young man was from the states (made aliyah) and was exactly my age when he died:
Michael Levin was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. From a very early age Michael sensed that his fate was bound up with that of the State of Israel. He first visited in 2001, when he attended the Alexander Muss high school semester program for American students. After returning to America to finish school Michael wanted to make aliyah and join the army, but for his parents sake he spent a year in Nativ, the Conservative Movement's program for high school graduates. He made aliyah in 2004, attended ulpan on Kibbutz Yavne to learn Hebrew, and enlisted in the IDF as a paratrooper. The Second Lebanon War broke out while he was in the army. Michael, who was visiting his family in the USA at the time, returned to Israel to take part in the battle. He fought in Lebanon and was killed in combat, fighting Hizbullah in the village of Aita a-Shaab on August 1, 2006.
His best friend spoke, and there were video clips of his parents speaking about him. His parents also attended the ceremony. I also found out the next day that my ex-boyfriend's brother was very good friends with him. It is very tough stuff. The flags were at half staff the entire day. The siren also sounded for two minutes the next morning.
Tuesday at sundown, Yom Ha'atzmaut started, which is Israel Independence Day (Israel's 61st birthday!). It is quite odd how instantaneously Israel goes from a day of somber remembrance to joyful celebration. But it is no mistake they place those two days right next to each other. We went to Ben Yehuda Street in the center of Jerusalem last night, where they closed off a large section of the area to cars. There were tons of people, DJs, shaving cream, and silly string fights, etc. Today we went to a BBQ at a huge park. The park was full of people BBQing, playing soccer, frisbee, etc. It was very "all-American!!"
Tomorrow morning I'm going to Eilat, with a few girlfriends, which should be great fun. I will blog about Eilat when I get back, as well as blog about my internship in the next couple weeks.