This is the time of the year when our Nation collectively “Remembers.” The period of time from Erev Pesach when we remember our bondage and our redemption from Egypt reflectively could be the beginning of the period of “remembering”. The Holocaust Memorial Day when we remember the persecution of our families the planned destruction of our Nation while the world watched indifferently as the Nazis and their helpmates hunted down and systematically slaughtered entire communities; our families; six million, amongst them one and a half million children.
Almost immediately following Holocaust Memorial Day is Memorial Day for our fallen: those of our loved ones who fell in battle during the establishment of our State, or in battles since then and also our loved ones who were murdered by terrorists simply because they were Jews.
Each of us individually has the memories of our loved ones who gave their lives in Kiddush HaShem whether in battle in a military operation or in battle for the survival of our Nation.
There are so many dates in our lives when we go up to the graves of our loved ones, so many times when we remember them and grieve for our lost ones that they are no longer here to celebrate the joys of life, and grieve that we miss them so much.
There are so many dates and so many names and so many memories. So many instances when we remember them and feel our hearts heavy with longing to see them again, to speak to them, to hold on to them and watch them enjoy life.
I personally have made a commitment in the memory of our loved ones to continue the fight for our survival in their blessed memory. Each time I speak to a group, or write an article or volunteer for any active duty I do it for them also and in their honor.
This is a time of the year when we, the Jewish people, collectively remember and this is imperative. We must remember all of them but this is not enough – we must also each of us remember to continue to fight for our survival, for our independence as a Nation. We must fight by building in each and every corner of our Land. We must fight by insisting that the world accept our inalienable right to live here and live as Jews. We must fight to find leaders who represent and protect the lives and interests of the Jewish people and are not seeking the acceptance of any other country or the Hussein Obamas of the world that we can never depend upon to care about our survival. We must fight in the IDF and send our sons and daughters to fight proudly and with the human values that they inherit as Jews that are so integral a part of our heritage.
Every day is Memorial Day for me when I grieve for Yochanan, Daniel, Eliraz, Oriel, Gilad, Gad, Yitzhak, Dina, Eli, Gila,Malkie, Matat, Kinneret, Ohad, Roi, Amichai, Emmanuel, Yisrael, Tal, Asher, Yonatan, the Fogel family HY”D, Benia, Hadar, Max, Adel Chaya, and yet rejoice that we were blessed with such special people and special Jews, to name afew of my memories. Every day I remember and every day is a Memorial Day to fight on in their loving memory to try to be a good Jew and continue to fight for our right to live proudly and safely as a Jew in our Land. And to pray that we will be worthy of our loved ones blessed memory.