Israel Advocacy

Yom Hazikaron in Milwaukee 2010/5770

by Carly Cohen, an 8th grade at the Milwaukee Jewish Day School

“I marvel at the resilience of the Jewish people. Their best characteristic is their desire to remember. No other people has such an obsession with memory.”

This quote, by Elie Wiesel, is very powerful and touches me greatly. I feel like this is very relevant to the Milwaukee Jewish Community and how it celebrates Yom Hazikaron every year.

Yom Hazikaron is not only the commemoration of the IDF fallen soldiers and terror victims, but it also remembers all those who fought for Israeli independence. Yom Hazikaron is a time to remember. It is a very intense ceremony, which is saddening and depressing.

The Milwaukee community has always had a strong connection to Israel and has been very committed to gathering to support a group of people or a cause. For Yom Hazikaron, my community gathers to show their respect and their feelings toward the fallen soldiers of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). They annually hold a ceremony for which the community gathers to commemorate this.

This year at the Yom Hazikaron ceremony, I felt overwhelmed with the feeling of awe and inspiration. The people that took part in the ceremony had a very powerful impact. Some people sang, some people talked, some people played the piano, and some people viewed a slideshow of missing soldiers. I took part in the ceremony by singing a Hebrew song with my fellow students from the Milwaukee Jewish Day School.

As a participant in the ceremony, I felt like there was an even deeper connection because I could express my emotions and my feelings for the soldiers in a way that maybe others couldn't. By singing I could share my feelings with everyone who attended the ceremony. I was able to let the audience know how I felt without actually saying how I felt. For others, they may or may not feel a strong connection because they can share words about how they feel.

Although they might not have participated directly in the ceremony, members of the audience get a strong feeling too. When I was sitting in my seat waiting for my turn to present and then after I presented, I was deeply moved. I felt very sad, but I also felt proud of how my community came together to commemorate this event. I felt sad because of the type of event that it was but also because the words that people spoke or the songs they sang touched me deeply. I felt proud because of all the work that people put into this event to make it wonderfully touching.

I always enjoy attending Milwaukee community programs. Yom Hazikaron was a very powerful and memorable program that shows just how strong our Jewish community is.