From Day to Day

Yom HaShoa, day of rememberence of the Holocaust, Yom Hazikaron and Yom Hatzmaut were some of the most incredible and unique experiences I've had in Israel. In Israel for Holocaust Rememberence Day there is a two minute siren that goes off where everyone in the country stands and has a moment of silence. We were standing in a town square and then the siren went off. Honestly, there has never been a time or place where I felt time stop so realistically. Everyone just stopped and stood, even city buses stopped and I could see everyone, including the bus drivers, stand up in rememberence. It was beautiful. Knowing that at that moment for a minute everyone was thinking about the same thing, about the death and destruction of 6,000,000 of our people. But my favorite part was then when the siren stopped, and everyone immediatly started moving again. As if we have moved on from this act and have been able to birth a new state for our people, but we will always remember. I had butterflies the entire time. In America they show films of it, but unless you're there, you just don't feel that atmosphere. Time feels as if it stops. Really just halts. It's so unique.
On Yom Hazikaron, remembering fallen soldiers and those who have died in terror attacks, another two minute siren is played. We were lucky enough to spend the night before at the Kotel (Western Wall) where the state's official ceremony takes place. We were priveleged in seeing the President of Israel and the Head of Defense speak at the ceremony. The ceremony started with marching in the paratroopers and then the two minute siren went off. Like in Yom HaShoah, everything stops. All around me people were crying. In America, the chances of you knowing someone in the army, let alone someone who has passed away, is very slim. But in Israel it's different, everyone has been in the army and almost everyone has known someone who has died. The speeches that were made were difficult to follow, but counselors were around trying to translate for us. It was a really moving experience and I'm so grateful we were able to go. The day of yom Hazikaron we first went to the Kibbutz's ceremony. The Kibbutz has lost multiple people in the fighting before Israel was a state, and two boys since the state was established. There was another siren, and then the ceremony. This ceremony was really special and much easier to understand. Poems were read, songs were played and flowers were placed on the graves. We then attended classes and got ready for an exciting night.
The night of Yom Hazikaron is one of the strangest transitions. Israel transitions from one of the saddest days of the year to the happiest: Independence Day. First, we had a final Yom Hazikaron ceremony and then we started the Independence Day party. We danced with the Kibbutz people and watched fireworks. Then, at 10:00pm, we headed into Jerusalem for dancing in the same square we witnessed the Yom HaShoah siren. There was mass dancing where you grab anyone's hand and start dancing with them. There were hundreds of people all celebrating the 61st birthday of Israel. It was so much fun. We spent the next day hanging out at another Kibbutz where there were two pools, the sun, and another youth movement that we got to play basketball, volleyball, soccer and swim against. It was a relaxing, great way to celebrate Israel's Independence day. I think that that week was the most "Israeli experience" we have had so far, and I was intrigued by every minute of it.