Home

I want to talk about experiencing Yom HaZikaron, or Remembrance Day for the fallen soldiers of Israel. But first I want to share a letter with you that my friend sent me. For the record, she's Catholic- we met through Weber's Peace by Piece program, which involves Marist, the W.D. Mohammad school, and Weber and promotes interfaith education. She references Garden State, which is a great movie, and the song "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Here it is:

"Greetings from the U.S.!

I found this sweet little card lodged behind some papers in my desk that I bought just for fun, and I thought you'd like it! I have a lot of things I want to say, but I'll start out with a quote from a favorite book of mine, Into the Wild: "The core of man's spirit comes from new experiences," and you are definitely embarking on a life-changing adventure.

I'm not Jewish, obviously, and I don't think Christians really have an "Israel-like" place that I can make a comparison to- but I do feel that I understand teh longing to be home. To finally have a place in the world that is truly yours, somethign precious and special to call your own.

Just last night I was watching Garden State again and noticed the line whre Andrew tells Sam he feels safe with her-he feels home. And the Edward Sharpe song- "home is wherever I'm with you." It seems to be a recurring theme that is surrounding me lately, and I'm finally understanding how important human relations and the feeling of being comfortable- completely yourself, is what everyone is searching for.

How does this all relate? Well, I'm pretty good at history, and I remembered how even in biblical times the Jews were always searching for home. It seems like Jews have never really been able to have a place to call their own for a long time. Except until Israel. You're in it- you're in that special place that is so important and close to many Jewish hearts.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is welcome home- to the home of your people-the home of your family past, present, and forever. I hope you are drinking in your surroundings with your whole heart. Think of you and everyone daily."

And now back to me.

On Erev Yom HaZikaron, we gathered in our common room area to have a discussion about the day. A day whose purpose had felt so distant every year previous as I sat tapping my foot in a schoolwide assembly listening to stories of people I had never met and singing songs in a strange language became real and emotional very quickly as we shared our thoughts about the army and the day itself. Because as obvious as it is to say, every Israeli that I have met here, from my madrichim to the 70 year old man in the vineyard to the cute babies at the playground, has been or will go to the army; all are potential victims, all have lost a friend or family member. The significance of the night for our group was intensified as one of my friends read the eulogy of her cousin that was written by his father, bringing the immediacy of the day even closer to home. Afterwards, we discussed the dying words of the famous Israeli nationalist Joseph Trumpeldor, who said it was "good to die for our country."

Usually, I would disagree wholeheartedly with this statement. Upon hearing it, I thought of Wilfred Owen's "Dulce Et Decorum Est." For some reason, maybe because I've read it every year in high school, the poem's irony and images of war have left a deep impact on me and effecitvely conveyed that war is not pretty, nor is it glamorous; dying for one's country is never a good or positive thing, despite the glorification of violence in our times. Like my friend so eloquently said though, I think Israel is more than a country. A country is a piece of land. Israel is a home. This word connotes love, family, unity, community, a haven, roots, religion- all of these things are positive, all are what Israel embodies and emanates. I might be being blindly Zionistic right now, because yes, all of the things I'm saying are purely emotional; they can't be cited by the CIA World Fact Book. But you come here and you feel it. Israel is more than a place on the map. It's truly a home for the Jews, home to all of these ideas greater than that of just nationalism, and while I don't think it is "good" to die for anything, I think I agree with Trumpeldor in that the concept of this country is worth defending.
If you have moment and you did not already do so on Yom HaZikaron, spend it in silence on behalf of the fallen soldiers of Israel and their friends and families. If you are interested in supporting Israeli soldiers, visit http://www.israelsoldiers.org/ for information and donation opportunities.