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May 8, 2011
Opposing The Method Of Commemoration and Celebration of Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut
If for whatever reason you are planning on not standing during Yom HaZikaron, and/or not participating in any way of celebrating Yom Ha'Atzmaut, I offer you this to think about and consider.
You might not participate in the Israeli methods of commemoration and celebration for a variety of reasons. Perhaps it is chukas hagoyim, perhaps not the Jewish way of remembering the dead and fallen soldiers, not the Jewish way to celebrate, opposed to such celebrations during sefiras ha'omer or for a variety of other reasons.
When you tell yourself that it is wrong to stand for a moment of silence, do you sit down and say a chapter of tehillim instead, in the memory of the fallen soldiers? Do you learn a mishna in their merit and memory?
It is nice to be self-righteous and opposed to what others do, but are you doing things any better? Does your opposition to their methods mean you are not allowed to mark the day at all?
Does your opposition to "their" ways of celebrating and commemorating give you the right to ignore the day completely? Where is your gratitude for those who gave their lives so that we can all live here in relative safety and comfort? Spend a moment and think about those who have given so much for us.
I saw in the news a few days ago that some leftists are upset that the yeshivas are going to be learning as per their regular schedules on Yom Ha'Atzmaut. They consider it wrong to do so, they consider it a lack of gratitude, a lack of sharing a common fate.
I disagree with that attitude. there is no need to stop learning just to go out and barbecue or go on a tiyul.
On the other hand, perhaps some of the learning or davening done on Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha'Atzmaut can be done in the merit of the fallen soldiers or in the merit of the State.
Think about it.
You might not participate in the Israeli methods of commemoration and celebration for a variety of reasons. Perhaps it is chukas hagoyim, perhaps not the Jewish way of remembering the dead and fallen soldiers, not the Jewish way to celebrate, opposed to such celebrations during sefiras ha'omer or for a variety of other reasons.
When you tell yourself that it is wrong to stand for a moment of silence, do you sit down and say a chapter of tehillim instead, in the memory of the fallen soldiers? Do you learn a mishna in their merit and memory?
It is nice to be self-righteous and opposed to what others do, but are you doing things any better? Does your opposition to their methods mean you are not allowed to mark the day at all?
Does your opposition to "their" ways of celebrating and commemorating give you the right to ignore the day completely? Where is your gratitude for those who gave their lives so that we can all live here in relative safety and comfort? Spend a moment and think about those who have given so much for us.
I saw in the news a few days ago that some leftists are upset that the yeshivas are going to be learning as per their regular schedules on Yom Ha'Atzmaut. They consider it wrong to do so, they consider it a lack of gratitude, a lack of sharing a common fate.
I disagree with that attitude. there is no need to stop learning just to go out and barbecue or go on a tiyul.
On the other hand, perhaps some of the learning or davening done on Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha'Atzmaut can be done in the merit of the fallen soldiers or in the merit of the State.
Think about it.
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The Curmudgeonly Israeli Giyoret says:
ReplyDeleteI never saw any custom of standing in silence in honor of something before I came to Israel. I had a Quaker professor who used to start class with a minute of silence, but we sat for that.
they do it at official US ceremonies honoring the dead. There was one recently in parts of the US for the victims in japan of the earthquake and tsunami. there was one for the victims of the arizona shootings. I remember in Houston they had one for the victims of Katrina. It is not uncommon, though it is not a Jewish ceremony.
ReplyDeleteWe have plenty of customs that were taken from goyim. Not cutting boys hair until they are three, wearing red threads, etc., etc.
ReplyDeleteThe Curmudgeonly Israeli Giyoret says:
ReplyDelete"they do it at official US ceremonies honoring the dead"
Uh, Rafi, I grew up among non-Jews in a part of the US in which they never tire of honoring the dead, and I NEVER saw anyone standing for a minute of silence accompanied by a siren. Never.
I didnt say anything about the siren. but if you google "stand for a moment of silence", you will see they ise it at ceremonies fairly regularly
ReplyDeleteBut the Israeli custom is unique. We had invocations,recited poetry, laid wreaths, but we NEVER stood in silence for a siren. This among goyim l'mehadrin.
ReplyDeleteor you could say, if the goyim dont do it with a siren then what the Israeli society does (i.e. with a siren) is not chukas hagoyim.
ReplyDeleteI am not debating whether it is the right way to commemorate or not. i said that even if you think it is the wrong way, so at least say a perek tehillim in their memory or learn a mishna in their memory.
Hmmm, I can't think of anything we do that's like standing silently and introspecting at the sound of a horn...
ReplyDeleteFirstly - Rafi, I agree with every word you wrote here.
ReplyDeleteSecondly - in England on Memorial Day, people stand for 2 minutes of silence, following a siren; exactly the way they do here - doing totally nothing; I assume the secular Israelis got the idea of the British Mandate era.
The Curmudgeonly Israeli Giyoret says:
ReplyDelete"doing totally nothing"
You must tell me how you manage to "do nothing" during the siren.
Sometimes I start by reciting Tehillim, but in the past several years I find myself totally overcome with thoughts and memories of those we have lost, the wrecked peace of their families, and their struggle to carry on.
I find I invest a lot of spiritual energy into suppressint this grief on an everyday level in order to get on with the work tht must be done. Sometimes this is to the detriment of my ability to feel the pain of others. I cannot function and focus fully on our shared mourning on a constant everyday basis, but the siren, and the communal standing still enables me to reconnect, even if only briefly, with the sacrifices of the dead and the pain and needs of the living.
Menachem very good point. I was thinking about "vayidom Aharon" - there is a place for silence. (When Rav Wolbe was told about a Torah tape library for one's idle time while traveling: "gevalt! doesn't anyone think anymore?")
ReplyDeletePausing for 60 seconds 3 times a year is a very small way to be sensitive to others. And those who are so careful with their time to never "do nothing" with 60 seconds likely never find themselves in public during those sirens anyway.
"When you tell yourself that it is wrong to stand for a moment of silence, do you sit down and say a chapter of tehillim instead, in the memory of the fallen soldiers? Do you learn a mishna in their merit and memory"?
ReplyDeleteI remember, that the first week of my return to Sherut Sadir( Army service) was the week after the one Yom ha'Asma'ut fell. That Shabat, there were observant Jewish soldiers who were kept on base in detention, for having not stood to attention at the sounding of the siren.
When sitting around in the dining room, after one of the meals, the guy that was Mefaqed Toran( stand-in for the base commander that weekend) asked one of the detained soldiers why he did not respect the fallen enough to stand to attention at the sounding of the siren. The particular soldier responded that, as a religious Jew, he saw it more appropriate for him to read Tehilim for the fallen's 'Ilui Neshama, which is what he did.
Years ago I stood and said Tehillim, and someone asked me about it. But now I think in public the right thing to do is the standard procedure, because one minute of being "smart" can seem unnecessarily disrespectful.
ReplyDelete