MONDAY, MAY 9, 2011
Sixty-three years have passed since the War of Independence. Many of the thousands of soldiers who died in the war were Holocaust survivors who arrived on Israel's shores from European DP (displaced persons) camps; many had been left with no surviving relatives.
When the young soldiers, last of their families, died in battle, there were none left behind to visit their graves or pray for them.
This Remembrance Day, activists with the Yisrael Sheli (My Israel) movement are planning to change that. Each activist, or group of activists, picked the name of one of the “final remnant” fallen soldiers from a list provided by the Defense Ministry and will visit that person's grave on Sunday night and Monday.
“There are many who left nothing behind but an orphaned tombstone, fallen soldiers who survived the furnace, who were rescued from the Nazis' grip and arrived in the young state of Israel, and fell in a hero's death to defend it,” said organizer Ayelet Shaked. “As they came to Israel, alone, they died alone, and we see ourselves as being doubly obligated to remember them... It is the least we can do for these heroes of Israel.”
Those taking part in the mission, which Yisrael Sheli has defined as “one of our most important activities,” are planning to honor the fallen soldiers in multiple ways: with flowers and letters, by visiting their graves, and through reciting the traditional Kaddish prayer for the deceased.
In addition, those who have chosen a grave of a fallen soldier will put that soldier's picture, and some information about his or her life, on their own Facebook page and that of Yisrael Sheli. Social networking sites, and Facebook in particular, play a large role in Yisrael Sheli's activism.
-------------------
 |
| Netanyahu at Ammuniton Hill |
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, speaking on the eve of Israel's Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Terrorism Victims, quotes the Bible to the effect that working to build Israel is the country’s solace for those killed.
He spoke at Jerusalem’s Ammunition Hill, where a battle raged on the second day of the Six Day War in 1967, which concluded with all of Jerusalem and the rest of Israel being united for the first time in 2,000 years.
The Ammunition Hill battle raged 10 hours. “The enemy had been beaten, the hill captured, but the price we paid was heavy – 21 of our best soldiers from the Paratroopers Brigade fell in that bloody fight here,” said the Prime Minister.
Quoting from the Book of Jeremiah (31:16), the Prime Minister stated, “Our grief is overwhelming, our hearts ache, where will we find comfort? The prophet said: ‘Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded.’”
“We shall find solace in building the land and the people, in striving for days of peace, and in our knowledge that their work shall be rewarded and their heroism shall be remunerated,” he added.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s family also is one of the bereaved in Israel. His brother Yonatan was killed while commanding the daring Operation Entebbe in 1976.
He said: “If the fallen soldiers were with us today, they would have witnessed countless miracles throughout the years. The soldiers from the War of Independence would have witnessed the rebirth of the State of Israel; those who fought in the Sinai Campaign would have seen the ingathering of the exiles; those who fell in the Six-Day War would have watched us as we return to Mount Moriah and the Western Wall…
“Those who fell in all these operations, campaigns and wars to protect Israel, would probably be surprised how Israel has turned from a state verging on the desert with only meager resources into one of the most developed, prosperous and advanced countries in the world. My friends, none of this would have happened if not for the young men and women who sacrificed their lives to ensure our existence…
“They would see that a huge earthquake shook the Middle East region in the past year…. But as the days go by, one thing is becoming clear – Israel is an island of freedom, democracy and progress in a vast, important swath of land.”
Netanyahu added that until freedom and democracy “light the skies of other countries,… we know that there is only one guarantee of our existence and future – the Israel Defense Force – the protector of the Hebrew people, backed by the spirit of the people
and, also from 9-11 Do More than never forget - Stop Islam, the following:
MONDAY, MAY 9, 2011
Honoring the 'Final Remnant' Fallen
Sixty-three years have passed since the War of Independence. Many of the thousands of soldiers who died in the war were Holocaust survivors who arrived on Israel's shores from European DP (displaced persons) camps; many had been left with no surviving relatives.
When the young soldiers, last of their families, died in battle, there were none left behind to visit their graves or pray for them.
This Remembrance Day, activists with the Yisrael Sheli (My Israel) movement are planning to change that. Each activist, or group of activists, picked the name of one of the “final remnant” fallen soldiers from a list provided by the Defense Ministry and will visit that person's grave on Sunday night and Monday.
“There are many who left nothing behind but an orphaned tombstone, fallen soldiers who survived the furnace, who were rescued from the Nazis' grip and arrived in the young state of Israel, and fell in a hero's death to defend it,” said organizer Ayelet Shaked. “As they came to Israel, alone, they died alone, and we see ourselves as being doubly obligated to remember them... It is the least we can do for these heroes of Israel.”
Those taking part in the mission, which Yisrael Sheli has defined as “one of our most important activities,” are planning to honor the fallen soldiers in multiple ways: with flowers and letters, by visiting their graves, and through reciting the traditional Kaddish prayer for the deceased.
In addition, those who have chosen a grave of a fallen soldier will put that soldier's picture, and some information about his or her life, on their own Facebook page and that of Yisrael Sheli. Social networking sites, and Facebook in particular, play a large role in Yisrael Sheli's activism.
-------------------
Memorial Day: Remembering the Family-less Fallen Soldiers
 |
| IDF Military Grave: Moshe Velinger, 1948 |
This morning, students of the nationwide AMIT school network will conduct memorial ceremonies for fallen soldiers whose graves no one else visits. The students will also take note of graves whose visitors number less than ten men, and offer to “fill out” the required numbers so that the customary Kaddish prayer can be said.
Official memorial ceremonies will be held today at 11 AMat all 44 IDF Military Cemeteries around the country, and a government or Knesset representative is to speak at each. Beforehand, however, family members generally arrive and conduct their own private ceremonies for their loved ones killed in war or by terrorists.
At some graves, such as those of fallen soldiers from the War of Independence, barely anyone ever arrives, except perhaps for an elderly parent or sibling.
Rabbi Avinoam Almagor, principal of the Amit “Havruta” Yeshiva in Kfar Batya, Raanana, explained how he first came up with the idea: “Last year, our students decided to visit cemeteries and say Kaddish for fallen soldiers, and we saw several gravesites at which stood only one person – often an elderly woman – who said that for years there has been no Kaddish there.” Rabbi Almagor and students took upon themselves to help out, and Amit Director Dr. Amnon Eldar decided that it was a worthwhile project for all AMIT schools.
“This is hessed shel emet, true kindness [in that it can never be repaid, our Sages teach],” said Dr. Eldar. “This precisely represents what we want to teach. It is a privilege and mitzvah to give to those who gave their all on behalf of the State of Israel.”
AMIT students will visit the IDF cemeteries in Kiryat Sha’ul, Segulah-Petach Tikvah, Raanana, Kfar Saba, Rehovot, Be’er Sheva, Karmiel, Tzfat, Beit Shemesh, Lod, and Kfar Warburg.
======================
My note:
In honor of Israel's 63rd Independence Day:
In honor of Israel's 63rd Independence Day:
