Days of memory

Now that we have passed Pesach and entered the zone of Sefirat HaOmer, a sequence of special calendar dates will soon be upon us.  In a piece written some years ago for the Destiny Foundation, Rabbi Wein explains.

These few weeks are crowded with special days of memory here in Israel. Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikaron L’Chalellei Tzahal, and Yom HaAtzma’ut come upon us in swift succession. They are really the framework for the Israeli psyche—both political and national—that governs our national mood and policies. The rest of the world does not, and perhaps cannot, understand where we are coming from. 

Yom HaShoah has taught us that if someone arises and, as a matter of principle, means to exterminate the Jewish people, there are no real protectors in the world on whom we can rely upon to arise and use force to defend us. Yom Hashoah comes to remind us that reality differs from the naive hopes on which we would so much like to rely. The fecklessness of the world in the face of militant Islam, unabating terrorism, and rogue nuclear armed states inspires little confidence here in Israel; there is no comfort for us in platitudes and statements about commitments to Israeli security. We may say “never again” but deep down in our hearts we know that “again” remains, God forbid, a distinct possibility. 

The world wants us to get over the Holocaust while at the same time creating a scenario that constantly reminds us of the Holocaust. People who are bitten by large dogs do not walk on the same side of the street where rottweilers are present. 

The Jewish people have paid a heavy price for maintaining our little state. Tens of thousands of Jews have been killed and continue to die for its preservation. The Arab world has basically never come to terms with the reality of the existence of the State of Israel. Constant war, mindless terrorism, unceasing incitement, never-ending accusations, fabrications and biased UN resolutions have been the daily fare of the State of Israel since its inception. 

We can never, God forbid, lose a war—but we are never allowed to win one either. So Yom HaZikaron L’Chalellei Tzahal becomes tragically a regular occurrence in our lives. Golda Meir may have famously expressed her regrets over the deaths of the Arabs in their struggles against our existence. But the Arabs have never expressed such sentiments. 

The Ayatollahs of Iran have said that they were willing to lose fifteen million(!) Iranians in order to eradicate the State of Israel. It is hard to see how one can come to an accommodation with such bloodthirsty and uncaring fanatics who value human life, theirs and certainly ours, so cheaply. So Yom HaZikaron comes to remind us of the real world and of the heartbreaking cost that Israel paid and pays to survive in that world. 

Again, pious platitudes about peace do not change the reality of murderous intent on the ground. We have been down that road too many times in the past to be seduced to go there again. 

The miracle of the past century was and remains the reestablishment of Jewish sovereignty over the Land of Israel. Yom HaAtzma’ut has to be viewed in that light. The tragedy is that this miracle, unlike Chanukah and Purim, had no religious leadership that could have cloaked it with the necessary ritual that would have made the day so meaningful to all sections of Israeli and Jewish society. Having a barbecue in the park hardly makes it a memorable day, a tradition of observance that can be passed on to later generations. 

Those of us who were alive when the State came into being and experienced all the pangs of its establishment are a fast-disappearing breed. The deniers amongst us, and certainly in the non-Jewish world, already distort and falsify the story. The victim has become the oppressor and Goliath struts around the world stage as David. Yom HaAtzma’ut should come to remind us of the real story, of God’s grace unto us in a dismal century, of Jewish heroism and purpose and of triumph against all odds and powerful enemies. 

It should also remind the world that even though it is popular and oh-so-politically correct and progressively noble to damn Israel, in the long run it is highly counterproductive to do so. So let us take these days to heart and stand tall for our God and land.