tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1182748999141179188.post8407970186897461585..comments2023-11-05T13:59:28.534+02:00Comments on Journaling in Jerusalem: Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11599244516390650642noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1182748999141179188.post-60060224436756917302009-05-02T01:18:00.000+03:002009-05-02T01:18:00.000+03:00It was quite interesting experiencing Yom HaShoah ...It was quite interesting experiencing Yom HaShoah through both your eyes. You both came to this occasion with a lifetime of recognizing this day through a Jewish American perspective - and your comparison of the two cultures is appreciated.<br /><br />I am surprised to learn about the emphasis on politics and military perspectives during such a day.<br /><br />Clearly, it seems like the Israelis are seeing through eyes more focused on the many sacrifices that made THEIR home possible - this seems closer to their understanding of loss and grief than the actual Holocaust.<br /><br />Thanks for your detailed and sensitive observations.<br /><br />The poem at the end of your blog made me weep.Elyse Cranenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1182748999141179188.post-24141631812840211422009-04-21T23:17:00.000+03:002009-04-21T23:17:00.000+03:00Just to add my two cents:
A) I agree with everyth...Just to add my two cents:<br /><br />A) I agree with everything you said about last night's ceremony but would like to add that it was strange to me that it felt sort of festive - a beautiful night and we were a group of friends gathering to watch a show - it felt like an outdoor film screening or something, and the dramatic music and film clips added to this such that I felt more like a passive viewer than an active participant - but perhaps this is also due to the foreign-ness of it all and my own interest in being an outsider so that I could analyze and evaluate what was going on. <br /><br />B) the ceremony last night felt to me quite celebratory for other reasons too - there was very little focus on death and loss. When the torches were lit, the stories that were told were ones of survival. When the Holocaust was spoken of, there was a happy end to the story: the establishment of the state of Israel. In Israel, the Holocaust, to some extent, has a happily ever after, which makes Yom HaShoah less difficult somehow. Did you feel this? What did you think of it?<br /><br />C) Today when I was at preschool the teachers prepared the students (about two years old) by telling them that a siren was going to sound and everyone was going to stand up, put their head down, be quiet, and think. And then the siren sounded, and everyone stood up and was quiet. The kids started wiggling after a while, but they did a pretty good job of being still, given that they are at the most 3 years old. What do you think of kids who don't yet know what the Holocaust is standing in remembrance of it? What does this remind you of - a religious ceremony? An air raid drill? I will say for me that there was a certain kind of power to it because the theme of last night's ceremony was "children in the Holocaust" - as we were saying because most of the survivors still living were children in the Holocaust - but anyway it was somehow powerful to be commemorating with children, to be surrounded by innocence and to be thinking about the Holocaust...<br /><br />D) What do you think about Yom HaShoah in general? Often it makes me uncomfortable because in order to feel like I have really commemorated it has to be something so powerful that it fills in me a kind of need for melodramatic self-expression - like the time when I was out all night to take care of the Yom HaShoah happenings with Rachel and it was awful but also a guilty kind of adventure... Also, why just one day - (the same question could be asked I guess on any holiday..) I ask this question in particular as my Yiddish teacher, who is from Riga and I'm sure has family members who were killed in the Holocaust nevermind the subject that he teaches, said today in class that Yom HaShoah doesn't particularly matter to him because every day is Yom HaShoah for him,and every night. Do days like this exist so that we don't have to feel that every day is Yom HaShoah? And is this a good thing?Jessicahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15348915755090768640noreply@blogger.com