A Memorial Day event centered on the heroism of Israel’s bereaved families was held on Tuesday evening at the Sultan’s Pool in Jerusalem.
Renana Meir, daughter of Dafna Meir who was murdered by a 15-year-old Palestinian terrorist last January at the entrance to her home in Otniel, while three of her children were at home, spoke at the ceremony and discussed her mother’s courage.
Dafna was able to fight back against the terrorist and in doing so saved her children’s lives.
"I have come tonight to speak on behalf of the bereaved families, on behalf of the families who lost loved ones, the light in their lives. I came in the name of the people who are struggling to get up every morning, who are fighting to fill their day with points of light," said Renana Meir at Tuesday’s event.
"Those families for whom darkness took control of their lives, who get up with a black cloud in the morning, go with it to work and go to sleep with it at night. There is no way to describe the pain that fills every minute of every day, the heartbreaking loss which does not let up for even a moment," she continued.
"The thought that a person, a loved one, a family member was taken from you and will never return paralyzes the mind. The battle is an everyday one with pain that threatens to destroy the joy of life, a battle with one side that wants to move forward and one side that wants to cling to the memories."
"The struggle is hard, hard to bear, but it also strengthens you. The ability to find points of light in a sea of pain is what is holding us here today. The warm embrace from the entire people of Israel is giving us strength to continue the path started by our loved ones. The knowledge that that no matter what, we can win despite the weakness, is what keeps us together."
"All of us are fragments which together create a whole. I will conclude with a quote from a letter my mother wrote to a friend who lost her mother: 'God will send you condolences, and will fill your heart with longing and joy, as well as with the joy of longing. Because longing for a loved one is also something that can make you happy. It means you had them.'"