An American Jew's reflections on the upcoming Remembrance Day - opinion

Born, raised, and educated on the East Coast, I have practiced law for over 42 years, first in New York City and for the last 37 years in Denver. I am a loyal and patriotic American, but first and foremost, I am a believing and observant Jew, a member of the Jewish people, an ardent Zionist, and a strong supporter of the State of Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East and America’s closest ally in the region. 

I am a frequent visitor to Israel, where I have close family and friends. I have been privileged to work for many years with the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem, whose magnificent building in the heart of Israel’s eternal capital has recently been completed. As its permanent exhibits near completion, it is a venue for various special programs and events. The museum’s grand opening is scheduled for 2025.

This year, Remembrance Day is observed from sundown on Sunday, May 12, until nightfall on Monday, May 13, when Independence Day—marking Israel’s 76th birthday—will begin. Remembrance Day is a solemn occasion, a day of national mourning for some 30,000 soldiers and ordinary citizens who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the State of Israel and the Jewish people. 

Throughout the country, places of entertainment will be closed, flags lowered to half-mast, yizkor candles lit, and memorial services conducted. When sirens sound, first at 8 p.m. and again at 11 a.m., the entire nation will come to a halt. Wherever they are and whatever they are doing, people throughout the country will stop in their tracks and stand in silence, paying tribute to their fallen countrymen. 

I WILL never forget Remembrance Day of 2015. I was driving back to Jerusalem from a meeting in Tel Aviv when the morning sirens went off. Thousands of cars, for as far as the eye could see, pulled off to the side of the highway, and everyone stood outside their vehicles with bowed heads until the time of silent tribute was over. 

That evening, in the waning moments of Remembrance Day, I attended a moving memorial ceremony at Israel’s national military cemetery on Mount Herzl, followed immediately by a rousing celebration welcoming the onset of Independence Day. 

Sadly, Israel’s national freedom, the incredible accomplishments of its people, and, indeed, its very existence have been paid for with the blood of so many of its soldiers and civilians. But, in the immortal words of Ecclesiastes, “To everything, there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven… a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” In time-honored Jewish tradition, the seamless transition from Remembrance Day to Independence Day reflects the reality of life, in which moments of sadness and joy, tragedy and triumph often overlap, yet each must be given its just due. 

The poignancy of Remembrance Day this year 

This year, Remembrance Day will be especially poignant, given the loss of more than 1,200 of our brothers and sisters on October 7, and hundreds more in the ensuing and ongoing war against Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other Islamic terrorist groups bent on Israel’s destruction and the mass murder of its people. 

Another sobering reality is the frightening rise of antisemitism in the US, home to the largest Jewish population in the world outside of Israel, especially among young people on its elite college campuses. 

With the recent devastating losses in Israel and my own home country suddenly less hospitable to Jews than at any point in my lifetime, I can only hope and pray for the coming of the Messianic era envisioned by Isaiah, when: “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” and “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”

May these prophetic words be fulfilled speedily in our days.

The writer is a lawyer based in Denver and represents the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem.