Yom Hazikaron / Yom Ha'Atzmaut

April 27th (4 Iyar), marks the start of Yom Hazikaron, the Day of  Remembrance, for the fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism in the State of Israel. At 8 PM in Israel and again on Tuesday morning at 11 AM, a siren will sound uniting the country in mourning. Israelis will not only pay respects to family and friends, sons and daughters, who lost their lives, but also reflect on the many sacrifices that all Israelis have made to ensure a strong, vibrant, Jewish, and Democratic state. This day is deeply personal to most Israelis because almost everyone in the State either personally knows or is somehow connected to someone whose life was lost in defense of their country.

As the sun sets in Israel on Tuesday night, April 28th, Yom Ha'atzmaut, the celebration of Israel's 72nd Independence Day, begins. After an emotional 24 hours, when Israelis think about the sacrifices made for the first 72 years of this great State, the next day, they will celebrate their country and remember how important it is to continue living and creating a better future. We invite you to watch last week's Two Minutes of Torah with Rabbi Abbi Sharofsky interviewing the JCRC's Adam Odesser to learn more about what these days mean to Israelis.