Showing posts with label Yom HaZikaron. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yom HaZikaron. Show all posts
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Monday, April 15, 2013
Remembering Nachshon Wachsman HY"D (May God Avenge his blood)
It's been nearly 19 years since Nachshon Wachsman HY"D united the country by bringing 100,000 people to the Western Wall to pray for him. I suspect that one of the earliest memories of my two oldest sons - whose picture appeared in Yedioth Aharonoth the next day - was being present at that prayer. This video with Nachshon's mother was made about three years ago.
Sharansky: In Prison, I thought about Yoni Jewish Agency head says he had Prime Minister's heroic brother in mind, when held in Soviet jail.
At a Memorial Day ceremony in Latrun Sunday evening, Jewish Agency head Natan Sharansky told Masa program youths that the thought of the Prime Minister's heroic brother Yoni helped him through the most difficult moments, when he was held in Soviet jail.
"All those years that I was in prison, whenever I was told that I can be sentenced to death, I thought about Yoni Netanyahu. He was 29 when he fell and I was 29 when I was arrested. If he did it, I also have to do it.
"And each time when I heard the engine of the airplane in Siberian [skies], I thought about Israeli airplanes. And I remembered about Entebbe. And I knew that a day will come when an Israeli airplane will come to take me out of prison. And this day came.
'One Family" Memorial Service - Yom Hazikaron 2013
OneFamily Remembers Israel's Fallen Soldiers, Victims; The OneFamily organization held a memorial service Sunday night to commemorate the fallen Israeli soldiers and victims of terror.
The OneFamily organization held amemorial service Sunday night to commemorate the fallen Israeli soldiers and victims of terror. “Our gathering is not a usual memorial day ceremony,” said Shalom Hirschfeld, whose brother, Yonadav was killed at the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva in 2008. “In our homes and in OneFamily, not only today, our every day is a day of stories, memories and nostalgia for the ones who are no longer with us. Every day is a day of living in the shadow of memories.” The State of Israel came to a standstill for a minute on Sunday evening and again for two minutes on Monday morning, as the country paid tribute to those who sacrificed their lives for the future of the Jewish people and the Land of Israel.
About 1.5 million Israelis – almost 1/5 of the country's citizens – are expected to visit Israel's cemeteries Monday, according to estimates released by the Israel Defense Forces.
OneFamily is a non-profit organization aimed at to rehabilitating, reintegrating and rebuilding the lives of Israel's thousands of victims of terror attacks.
About 1.5 million Israelis – almost 1/5 of the country's citizens – are expected to visit Israel's cemeteries Monday, according to estimates released by the Israel Defense Forces.
OneFamily is a non-profit organization aimed at to rehabilitating, reintegrating and rebuilding the lives of Israel's thousands of victims of terror attacks.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Bereaved Family and Officer Share Special Connection Shalom and Esther Hazan lost four of their family members. Arutz Sheva met them, as well as the IDF officer who 'adopted' them.
During the recent Memorial Day in Israel, Arutz Sheva visited the home of Shalom and Esther Hazan. Shalom and Esther Hazan’s bereavement story is especially difficult to bear.
They have lost a brother and son who died defending Israel and a daughter and a son-in-law in a tragic accident. The grandchildren who have remained without parents have moved in with their grandparents. Their home is one in which one cannot help but feel the mourning.
“My brother was killed one day before the ceasefire that ended the Six Day War, and my son was killed on September 28, 1980,” Shalom Hazan recalled. “My daughter and her husband were killed on December 3, 1993.”
Esther Hazan said, “We feel the grief all year, it’s not just on Memorial Day. It’s all year long. We feel it every moment, every second. We’re always with them. Our heads are only with them. We only think about them. It’s extremely difficult for us.”
She painfully said that she does not celebrate Independence Day, which for many bereaved families is a very painful transition after Memorial Day – from mourning to celebration.
“The truth is that I don’t have an Independence Day,” she said. “I had two children and I lost them. I was left without children. I don’t have an Independence Day. It’s very difficult for me. I can’t be happy after what happened to me. It doesn’t mean anything that so many years have passed. It’s my entire life.”
Arutz Sheva came to the Hazan family home along with Elik Avrahami, head of the Ground Forces teleprocessing unit. Avrahami visits the Hazans on a regular basis as part of a special project in which officers 'adopt' bereaved families. The bereavement, as well as a special date on the calendar, connected between Avrahami and the Hazan family.
“I am a member of a bereaved family,” Avrahami said. “My father was killed in the Yom Kippur War on the 19th of Tishrei, the tenth day of the war. It comes out during Chol Hamoed Sukkot. In 2005, General Elazar Stern, then the head of the Israeli Human Resources Directorate, issued a call for connecting with bereaved families. After thinking about it, I decided to go for it and I asked to join the project.”
He recalled his first meeting with the Hazans and said, “I was really welcomed with open arms by both Shalom and Esther. And then we sat and talked a bit about their son Ami, about who he was and what he was. And then we got to his date of death, and the date of death is the 19th of Tishrei, which sent shivers down my spine. My date is the 19th of Tishrei, their date is the 19th of Tishrei. At the same meeting, I found out about their daughter Dina and her husband Tzvi who were killed in an accident and about Shalom’s brother, Yitzhak, who died during the Six Day War. I remember coming out of the house with a feeling that is hard for me to describe.”
Shalom said that Avrahami visits the family each Memorial Day and also drops by every few months.
“He comes to visit us and check how we’re doing,” he said. “He always asks about our family and looks after all our needs, and if there’s any problem he solves it. We thank him for everything he does for us.”
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