Tonight and Tomorrow - Yom haZikaron for fallen soldiers, policemen, firefighters, and ordinary Jews (and Geirei Toshav who threw their lot in with us) who were killed because we are in the Jewish State, because we are Jews.
Rabbi Akiva lost 24,000 students, not just because of bad military plaמning (Bar Kochva) but mainly, Hashem made this happen because they did not show respect one to another.
The Midrash - Tana D'vei Eliyahu - says that all Hashem wants from us is to love one another and to respect one another.
"מה אני מבקש….אלא שתהיו אוהבים זה את זה ומכבדים זה את זה".
As Jews, we are sometimes split into "tribes" with different priorities, different opinions and even different understandings and beliefs. In our hearts, we know that we cannot change anyone else's minds. But each of us wants the others to respect and accept us as we are.
On Yom haZikaron, milllions of Israelis stand still with the call of the siren, in mourning for fathers, brothers, sisters, children, neighbours, friends. Every newspaper article and Letter to the Editor I have seen this week was written to remind us that on this day, we are all the same, we are all a part of The Bereaved Family named Am Yisrael. And we ask that everyone show their respect for those who were killed as well as those left behind, by standing quietly with us.
I hope that on this Yom haZikaron, we will be able to stop, stand, pray, walk, drive, talk, shop, learn, teach, and behave with hearts full of love and respect for one another. Because that is all any of us ask, and that is all that Hashem asks of us.
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