Holidays and Family

The past few days have been busy around Jerusalem, as Israelis have been celebrating two major holidays back-to-back. Monday was Memorial Day (Yom Hazikaron), during which Israelis honor fallen soldiers as well as civilian victims of violence and acts of terror. At 8pm in the evening before Yom Hazikaron, and at 11am on the day itself, sirens wail throughout the entire country for a full 2 minutes. Everyone stops in their tracks -- even cars pull over to the sides of the roads and passengers get out to stand by their vehicles -- as the sirens blare. Other than the sirens, there is complete silence. We also heard these sirens a week ago, at 10am on Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day). In each of these three instances, we were moved by the idea that everyone in Israel was stopping to take a moment of silence at exactly the same time. It's a powerful and unifying experience to stop, listen to the siren, and reflect upon the fact that most people in this country know someone personally who has been a victim of war or terror.

Ironically, and terribly, at the close of Memorial Day in Israel, we heard about the bombings that took place at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Eric and I stayed up late last night reading news reports of the horrible events occuring in our home city. I read in a newspaper article that the type of attack that occurred in Boston was something one might expect to occur in a place like Jerusalem or Baghdad, but not Boston. That was certainly an eerie thing to read, since we're currently living in Jerusalem. Most Americans (including myself) have become normalized to the idea of violence in the Middle East, and do not expect it to occur at home. But to be living in Jerusalem and reading about bombs going off in Boston drills home the idea that acts of terror are not constrained by geography. No matter where you live, terrorism is not something anyone should come to expect. And while we are bound to feel more terrified by a tragedy that affects innocent people near our own homes, a bomb is horrible no matter where it goes off. We are so upset by what has happened in Boston, and we feel much sadness for the victims and their families.

At the end of Memorial Day, there is a curious change of tone in Israel, because the day after Yom Hazikaron is Yom Ha'atzmaut, or Independence Day. As Memorial Day comes to a close, fireworks signal the start of Independence Day, and reflection and mourning give way to a prideful celebration of Israel's founding in 1948. Independence Day here is much like Independence Day at home. Most stores and restaurants are closed, and people get together to BBQ, listen to music, and celebrate. We went up to the Israel Museum, where we heard there would be live music and the opportunity to watch and participate in traditional Israeli dances. Since Alexander loves to dance, we figured we had to check it out! We were surprised by how popular this event was; the line to get into the museum snaked all through the parking lot! But we eventually made it inside and it was worth it; we spent a couple of hours listening to music, watching young dancers perform, and watching Israelis dance to traditional songs. The atmosphere was festive, despite the cool and windy weather. We even ran into a few people we've met in Jerusalem, which was pretty fun. Below is a picture of Benjamin at the celebration, along with a couple of videos of the dancing (one of which features Alexander, of course!).

 

The holidays have been moving and powerful, but the real highlight of the week for us has been the fact that we've had family visiting. Eric's brother, Paul, his wife and our sister-in-law Amy, our awesome nieces Leah and Eva, and the amazing Ari have been in Jerusalem for the past several days with Amy's parents. They've spent most of their days touring around, seeing everything from the Dead Sea and Masada to the Old City to a live archeological site. Despite their very busy schedule, they took time out to visit with us, which was great. We all enjoyed dinner out near their hotel, along with a couple of pizza nights at our house (nothing else has been open on the holiday evenings; good thing the nearby pizza shop serves yummy pies!), and Eva and Ari joined us one morning to play with the boys while the others went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum here in Jerusalem. Needless to say, Alexander and Benjamin loved visiting with their cousins! We'll look forward to seeing everyone else again in the summer, but we're grateful to have spent some time with family here in Jerusalem.