State ceremonies led the day alongside the tens of thousands of private memorial services that took place in Eretz Yisrael today, Memorial Day. Military cemeteries were filled with bereaved yidden of all walks of life, attesting to the indiscriminate nature of bereavement, and how every sector of society has given their most precious in defense of Eretz Yisrael.

22,993 soldiers were remembered alongside 1,291 members of Israel Police. In the afternoon, beginning at 13:00 with the official state ceremony, members of terrorism were remembered, including the almost 1,000 victims who perished in the Oslo War, the bloodbath that has been part of life in Israel since the signing of the Oslo Agreement on September 13, 1993.

For Israelis, Memorial Day is not a day off from work and a shopping event, but for many it is a day of cheshbon nefesh, a day of tefilla, which admittedly is defined differently in various walks of life but nonetheless, it is a day of stark reality and a reminder of the sacrifice many have made to protect Hashem’s Holy Land.

As the sun begins to set the somberness takes a back seat to usher in Independence Day, a day that is surrounded by more controversy, but at least for one day, there is a semblance of achdus in the air, one that sadly fades with the dropping of the sun.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)