Nate's blog

Last Thursday was יום העצמאות‎(Israel’s independence day). It was a lot of fun, at night I went to a concert the the park and heard lots of bands play (the park was really crowded, I didn’t know that Hod Ha’Sharon was that big), the next day I went to the beach and went swimming and had a sand fight with a few other students. Later that day I went to a barbeque that the school made for us.

Being in Israel for the 60th anniversary of the declaration of the state was very special. In a few years when people talk about how Israel is, I will be able to say that I was there when the country turned 60.

Last week, Wednesday was יום הזכרון לחללי מערכות ישראל ונפגעי פעולות האיבה (day of remembrance for the soldiers that have fallen and the fallen victims of terror). It was the most meaningful day that I spent in Israel so far. The thing with Yom Ha’ Zikron is that pretty much everyone in Israel is effected, so unlike memorial day in America, during Yom Ha’ Zikron in Israel there aren’t sales and parties, there are memorials and sadness.

At night we went to the city’s memorial. They had a video that said the names of the soldiers that had fallen from Hod HaSharon. It was sad, because Hod HaSharon is a really small city, yet from each war there were at least 10-30 people who were killed.

During the day our teachers and counselors told us stories of how terrorism and the wars have effected them. It was really sad and meaningful because each of them had to choose from a few different stories to tell us and each of the stories were about their close friends who were killed. Later that day we went to the ceremony at Latrun which was moving, but it was really hard for me to see what was happening.