New Jersey Jewish News
Commentary
Tears to smiles: Israel pays price, celebrates freedom
In the weeks to come, Jews will mark three days of
observance: Holocaust Memorial Day (April 25 this year), Memorial Day for all fallen soldiers and those who died protecting the State of Israel (May 2), and finally Israeli Independence Day (May 3).
Thinking back on the time I lived in Israel, I have distinct memories of the back-to-back observance of Memorial Day and Independence Day. During my first year in Jerusalem, 1988, like most other residents, I marked Memorial Day by standing for a national moment of silence, visiting a military cemetery, watching televised programs about fallen soldiers, and listening via state television to the roll call of the name of every soldier who had given his or her life. This experience left me with the impression that not one single soldier who died in defense of the state would ever be forgotten.
With such thoughts and feelings stirring inside, I went outside that evening to see how most Israelis, at least in Jerusalem, made the transition from the sadness of Memorial Day to the joy of Independence Day.
Somehow I found myself in Zion Square in the middle of Jerusalem. The sight that greeted me was incredible. Israelis of all ages celebrated with such elation that I almost forgot that only a few moments before, the whole country had been in a state of mourning. I too got caught up in the joy, as I felt a part of Israel and Israeli society.
I returned home wondering how I could reconcile my conflicting emotions of sorrow and joy.
It was only during my second year in Israel, when I was already in the army, that I was able to begin to resolve this paradox of days and feelings. During that 1989 celebration, I was serving in the army’s furthermost front-line artillery position inside Lebanon. My unit had a great sense of camaraderie and family feeling. We marked these days with a military honor guard at our base for those of our unit who had fallen throughout Israel’s history. Beginning then and continuing later in the evening, when we celebrated life and freedom, I began to understand how these days of conflicting emotions could be celebrated one right after the other. I finally understood that Independence Day was another way of honoring the greatest sacrifice those defenders and their families had made for the State of Israel. Independence Day was a celebration of freedom — a freedom that those soldiers whom we had mourned just a few hours before had helped to preserve. At that moment I was a link both to those who had fallen and to those who had survived and continued to ensure that Israel will always remain free.
This feeling followed me for a few years, until tragedy struck the family of the person who at the time was my best friend. This friend had arranged for me to live on a kibbutz outside Tel Aviv. On a training mission with an elite military unit, my friend’s brother lost his life. I remember vividly the moment when I was notified and then told my wife, Michal. Together we visited my friend and his family. Needless to say, they were devastated. At the following Memorial Day and Independence Day I saw that my friend felt only sorrow. Then I realized that the families who had lost a loved one were often not prepared to reconcile Memorial Day and Independence Day as I had.
I began to reexamine my own views on the close proximity of these days. While I have not found a totally satisfying answer, my studies of Jewish text have allowed me to reach some conclusions on the subject of sacrifice for the sake of freedom.
In the Bible we learn that the children of Israel are commanded to go to war against their enemy Amalek, who had attacked the Israelites right after they left Egypt. We read, “The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” (Exodus 17:16) To me this means that the children of Israel, with God by their side, shall always fight against enemies who seek to destroy them, thus ensuring Israel’s survival while sacrificing some individuals who fight to ensure that survival. The Bible teaches us that freedom bears a very high price.
We should not think, however, that the children of Israel are a nation that automatically goes to war in order to ensure its survival. We need to look at the mishnaic literature that was codified around 200 CE.
In this literature, which serves as the basis for Jewish law, we read that the Israelites must offer terms of peace before they go to war. Here we must conclude that independence that can be maintained and fortified without bloodshed is always preferable to warfare.
However, when the Torah and the people of Israel are in direct danger, “all go forth, even a bridegroom from his chamber and a bride from her canopy.” (Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 44b) Unfortunately this has been and continues to be the situation in Israel today. Israel still needs a strong military to fend off its modern-day enemies.
Our independence will always be linked to sacrifice by the Jewish people. While I am not fully comforted by the literature, I can understand the logic of the Israeli leaders who decided to juxtapose Memorial Day and Independence Day. Let us hope and pray that in this upcoming year and for years to come Israel shall lose not another person in the fight for independence. “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isaiah 2:4) It is with this hope that I shall mark both Memorial Day and Independence Day.
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