Memorial day isn’t celebrated lightly here in Israel. Unlike America, where memorial day means no school, sledding, and barbecues, everyone in Israel takes this day very seriously. Israeli flags are posted up everywhere and every car puts one on their roof. The night before, every city holds memorial services and I went to one with all of MASA (the head umbrella that overlooks all the gap year programs) and heard lots of tear jerking stories about fallen soldiers. Torches were lit and prayers were sung. The next morning, we all went to Har Herzl to pass out water to people and put flowers on graves. I was expecting a lot of people, but was shocked to see thousands and thousands of people squished together in the massive gravesite. I could hardly move. Every Israeli has someone they know that has died in the army, so the weight of the service is huge. The siren went off for about 1 minute, signaling the whole country to stand still wherever they are and have a minute of silence. All cars pull over and everyone gets out to stand. At the service, all the soldiers saluted and stood still, and everyone else just stood tall to remember all of those who have passed away. It was truly an amazing experience to witness this event in society because the army plays a significant aspect in Israeli culture as it unites the people together.
The switch from memorial day to independence day is very sudden. The sadness that people feel for the lost lives turns into gratefulness that this country exists because without the sacrifices of many soliders, we wouldn’t have Israel today. In every city, there were dance parties and barbecues, song sessions and festivals. It was hard to decide which party to go to, but my roommate and a couple other people and I went all the way up north into the mountains for an Independence Day Nature Party Rave. A couple hundred people set up tents everywhere (even though nobody slept) and for twelve hours through the night, everyone was dancing and having a good time.
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