Amid an ongoing war, we salute Israel's fallen - editorial

At 8 tonight, a one-minute siren will sound throughout Israel to mark the start of Yom HaZikaron, officially known in English as Remembrance Day for the Fallen Soldiers of the Wars of Israel and Victims of Terrorism. The opening ceremony traditionally takes place at the Western Wall.

This year’s events will be unlike any held beforehand. Not only do we mourn the huge number of members of security forces and victims of terrorism killed since October 7, we also pray for the soldiers still fighting in the war against Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as for the return of the hostages – alive and dead – still held in Gaza.

According to the Defense Ministry, 1,594 soldiers and civilians have been killed in combat or terrorist attacks since last year’s Remembrance Day. According to data released on Thursday, this was the deadliest year for the country in five decades – since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

In the past year, 760 members of the security forces were killed on active duty, 711 of them since October 7 – 598 IDF soldiers, 39 security officers, 68 police officers, and six members of Shin Bet, the Israel Security Agency.

On Monday, a two-minute siren will sound at 11 a.m., after which memorials will be held throughout the country, most of them at military cemeteries, with the central ceremony at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. Families of the fallen will light commemoration candles and recite memorial prayers. For the past five years, a non-profit organization called Dam HaMaccabim (Blood of the Maccabees) has been distributing pins with the Red Everlasting flower bearing that name that has become Israel’s national flower, anemone coronaria.

Among the prayers recommended is Psalm 144, which begins: “Blessed be the Lord, My Rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle.”

Aryeh Moalem, who heads the Families and Commemoration Department in the Defense Ministry, said the number of funerals of members of security forces in the past year reached what would have been a total for about 15 years.

The war and loss of loved ones left a mark on the people of Israel 

 “Since the start of hostilities, we have conducted many respectful funerals, in some places under rocket fire and fear of terrorist infiltration,” he said. “We have expanded cemeteries in minutes, with the clear goal of bringing the fallen to their final resting place respectfully.”

Every soldier leaves a whole world behind – a loving family and friends, comrades and colleagues – and marvelous memories that inspire and give us strength and hope for the future.

One of them, 21-year-old St.-Sgt. Shachar Fridman from Jerusalem, a soldier in the 101st Paratroopers Battalion who was killed fighting Hamas terrorists in Gaza on November 19, left an ethical will like many others, which his family translated from Hebrew for us all to share:

Be Good People!

Smile.

Strive to make every person you meet smile, too.

Be open to criticism and always try to improve yourself.

Know that the most excellent quality a person can have is the ability to make another person happy.

Open your ears to the needs of others and open your eyes to their pain.

Try to smile as much as possible, even when it’s hard.

Pay attention to the small people who fall in the corners of the eye.

Appreciate the little things the world offers, especially nature and music.

And most importantly, be good people in your way.

Don’t let society dictate to you what makes you good people;

Just try as hard as you can, and even when you fall, know that that’s the road to success.

Love yourself and the world.

When you radiate happiness, a circle of joy will slowly form that will create a better world.

As we bow our heads to the fallen, we should be proud of the heroes who have sacrificed their lives for the state. We should remember that they did not die in vain, and we must be united, strong and resilient, as they would want us to be in the spirit of St.-Sgt. Fridman’s ethical will: to open our ears to the needs of others and open our eyes to their pain.

May the memories of all Israel’s fallen be blessed, and their families and friends be comforted by their legacies.