Nate's blog

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.

Normally people on Israel Trips go on this thing called yam (sea) el(to) yam(sea). They start at one side of Israel and touch the sea there, then they hike to the other side of Israel and touch the sea there. It normally takes 4 days and it is a lot of fun. However our group got a special invitation to the dress rehearsal for the official ceremony for the transition between the memorial day and independence day of the sate of Israel. So instead of going to yam el yam we went around the hill of Jerusalem. We started calling this givha(hill) el(to) givha(hill).

On the first day we went hiking in this dry river bed, and there we saw the remains of the English being in Israel and their system for taking water to their trains. That night we camped at this camp site near the road and had an awesome night.

The next day we went hiking on a trail that went around one of the mountains around Jerusalem. It was neat and I got all cut up because I was wearing shorts and the plants were thorny. That night we went to the dress rehearsal for the official government independence day ceremony. It was kind of odd being there because it was not yet independence day, but it was still cool and fun. Our seats were the closest to the stage that someone could be. This year the government chose the theme “the children of Israel” for the ceremony. It was neat because there were a lot of children in the ceremony, children my age. The most moving part of the ceremony was when a Arab teen and a Bedouin woman light a candle for the glory of the state of Israel and cooperation between all religions and peoples. That night we also camped out.

The next day we went hiking on the Burma road. It was cool being on the road that saved Jerusalem and the state of Israel. After lunch we went mountain biking. It was a lot of fun.

During the past 3 days I was hiking and camping, I also went to the dress rehearsal for the official independence ceremony of the state. Tonight I went to the ceremony for the day of remembrance that was put on by the city of Hod Ha’ Sharon (where I have been living for the past 3 months) where they remember the fallen soldiers from the city. More info about these things to come…

One long blast to remember the 6 million who were murdered

A movie of the Siren that sounds every year in Israel on Yom Ha’ Shoah in memory of those who died in the holocaust. This is an HD video (go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYQNXz… then make it play in full screen) and was filmed in Hod Ha’ Sharon, Israel.

Today was יום הזיכרון לשואה ולגבורה (in English: Yom Ha’Zekron La’Shoah Veh La’Gevurah, lit: day for the remembrance of the destruction and the heroism, aka: holocaust remembrance day). It was a day of mixed emotions for me. I was kind of happy to be back in Israel, but it was also really sad because I kept thinking of the Shoah.

Last night things began to change in Israel, most stores closed and all broadcast and cable media either changed all of the programming to be holocaust related or shut down for the day. Also most organizations and groups hold remembrance ceremonies. I went to the one at Israeli boarding school that we share a campus with.

Today, the stores, restaurants, and media continued to commemorate the day. Also at 10:00 (am) there was a 2 minute siren that sounded around the country, during this time everyone, even people in cars stopped. (HD video of this to come soon) The time of the siren was a time for quiet reflection about the holocaust, the siren was loud and effective in achieving this purpose.