Living in America, I cannot help being struck by the stark contrast between Yom Hazikaron in America and Yom Hazikaron in Israel. Yom Hazikaron in America is Memorial Day. It is a federal holiday in May that honors and mourns the United States military personnel who have died while serving in the United States armed forces. How does the average American feel about Memorial Day? Barbecues. Long weekend. Extra day off work. There are some notable exceptions, and there are events throughout the country that pay tribute to the American soldiers who sacrificed their lives in defense of the United States, but that is not the dominant feeling amongst the average American citizen on Memorial Day.

In Israel, the mood on its Memorial Day could not be more different. For 24 hours, all places of public entertainment are closed. A siren sounds across the country, and the entire nation comes to a standstill – two minutes of complete silence, a collective cessation of activity. Radio and television broadcast stories of the fallen, and even the music reflects the weight of the day.

Why is that? Why is Israel’s Memorial Day – Yom Hazikaron – so much more solemn than America’s Memorial Day?

First, because the loss in Israel is deeply personal. We do not merely remember Joseph Trumpeldor, the one-armed Russian soldier who fell at Tel Hai in 1920 and famously declared, “Ein davar, tov lamut b’ad artzenu” – “No matter; it is good to die for our land.” We do not merely remember Yonatan Netanyahu, the lone Israeli soldier killed during........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)