Last year, Yaniv Tayar's first serving with the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey as a shaliah, an emissary for Israel, one of the times when he felt most homesick was Yom Kippur. He was worried that Yom Hazikaron, the day when Israel's fallen soldiers and victims of violence are honored, would feel the same.

At home, he said, it is a day of extraordinary solidarity and sharing and comfort, and that togetherness is something he wants to evoke for people in New Jersey.

"It's very different here from Israel. The thing I think Israelis miss the most [when they're outside the country] is the feeling of being together, united around one thing," he said. In New Jersey, "on Yom Kippur, when I saw cars in the street, it infected my entire day."

"In Israel, on Yom Hashoa everything is closed – shops, malls, restaurants. The music on the radio and all the TV channels are talking about the Holocaust, and every school and university and army base has a special ceremony. It's amazing."

This year, he said, he hopes to make Yom Hazikaron – April 22 – a day of such unity. Working with fellow Israeli Anat Torovesky and other Israelis from the region, he is planning a much larger than usual event at the YM-YWHA of Union County in Union.

Immediately following the solemn observance of Yom Hazikaron comes the joyous celebration of Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel Independence Day, this year on Monday, April 23. Festivities will be held at the Union Y, starting at 5:30 p.m. and featuring dinner, vendors, singing, and craft activities.

The sorrowful commemoration of Yom Hazikaron on Sunday, April 22, at the Y will begin at 7 p.m. and will offer a program – in English and Hebrew – that Tayar said will be as much as possible like such events held in Israel.

Traditional prayers will be recited, choirs and soloists – including the acclaimed Ira Heller – will perform, videos will be screened, and personal testimony will be given about the lives of soldiers who fell in last year's conflict with Hizbullah, now called the Second War with Lebanon.

One of those soldiers was Michael Levin, the only American who died in that conflict. Tayar spoke with his mother, Harriet Levin of Philadelphia. He said, "When she told me that she will be in Israel on Yom Hazikron, I was happy. The first Yom Hazikaron is the hardest thing for the family. In Israel everyone knows it and feels it. I know that she will see the entire country mourning, crying, and respecting her son. It won't bring her son back, but she will know that he didn't sacrifice his life for no reason, that he is a hero."

Tayar said that that is the feeling he wants to pass on to the community this year. "Yom Hazikaron is important to Israel but it's also most important for each individual in the community to come and respect our brothers and sisters who will never come back."