Life as seen and felt with my Israeli eyes.
Read how every day experiences & special occasions are really lived in Israel by someone living here and not by the media
*This is NOT a political Blog*

Apr 18, 2010

Why am I here

For a while I've been meaning to start this blog but it just seemed right to do so in what it is probably the most emotional, happy ,sad and proud week in Israel. The week of Memorial day immediately followed by the Independence day.
Every year there is someone saying how drastic is the switch from Memorial day to Independence Day. Just imagine it's 7:59 pm and you are still thinking about all those lives that ended too early and then BOOM 8:00 pm arrives and all of the sudden Israel turns into a huge party house. Fireworks, ceremonies, people singing and dancing in the streets and basically, the happiest day of the year starts just 1 second after the saddest ends.
For someone that doesn't live here this might seem strange,  a very unconsidered switch from sorrow to joy. 
But for us, the ones that live here, it only makes sense. Exactly one week ago we commemorated The Holocaust Remembrance Day.   A day that reminds us not only of the millions of people that were killed just because they were Jewish, Gypsies, Gay or because they had different ideas. As Jews, that day also reminds us that we need a place to call home, a place where we can be sure that something like the Holocaust will never happen again. That we will no longer be murdered just because we are Jews.
Then today comes Memorial day, to remind us of the price we pay for this land we call home. This day gives us an opportunity to thank all those that scarified their lives so we could go ahead with ours, so that we can have a State that will make sure that the Holocaust never happens again.
In exactly 24 hours we will  celebrate Independence Day. A day of joy, a day we owe to those who lost their lives protecting us and making it possible for us to go on with our lives.
So when you live here, all this makes sense, one day follows the other because they are all a part of an historical chain. 
So tomorrow when we celebrate the 62th Independence day .. just before the fireworks start.. a minute before we go out with our friends.. let's take a minute and think about that chain, not in a sad way but with joy. Let's think about our life in this place and how we make it worthy of all the sacrifices that were made for us

The silver platter 
By Natan Alterman

...And the land will grow still
Crimson skies dimming, misting
Slowly paling again
Over smoking frontiers

As the nation stands up
Torn at heart but existing
To receive its first wonder
In two thousand years

As the moment draws near
It will rise, darkness facing
Stand straight in the moonlight
In terror and joy

...When across from it step out
Towards it slowly pacing
In plain sight of all
A young girl and a boy

Dressed in battle gear, dirty
Shoes heavy with grime
On the path they will climb up
While their lips remain sealed

To change garb, to wipe brow
They have not yet found time
Still bone weary from days
And from nights in the field

Full of endless fatigue
And all drained of emotion
Yet the dew of their youth
Is still seen on their head

Thus like statues they stand
Stiff and still with no motion
And no sign that will show
If they live or are dead

Then a nation in tears
And amazed at this matter
Will ask: who are you?
And the two will then say

With soft voice: We--
Are the silver platter
On which the Jews' state
Was presented today

Then they fall back in darkness
As the dazed nation looks
And the rest can be found
In the history books.



1 comment:

  1. Very interesting blog. Will keep an eye on it

    ReplyDelete