Memorial ceremonies were held this morning at all 42 military cemeteries around the country, and similar ceremonies were conducted in tribute to the underground fighters, police casualties, those who were hanged by the British, and terrorist victims. The late Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren, who made the decision to institute Israel\'s Memorial Day immediately before Independence Day, once explained Memorial Day\'s significance:
\"We view the warriors who fall in battle as those who sprout forth life. The life of a nation grew out of this blood... This day must be more than mourning: We must remember, we must grieve, but it must be a day of mourning, majesty, and vision.\"
President Moshe Katzav, speaking at a memorial ceremony today, said,
\"Those who carried out the Hevron pogrom in 1929 [murdering almost 70 Jews] are the same entity, the same essence, that carried out the Pesach Massacre in Netanya last month. For seventy years and more they have adopted the same methods, the same cruelty, the same lack of humanity, the same lack of sanctity for human life and suffering. Then, like today, they come in the name of religion and term us \'enemies of Allah,\' and then are able to take boulders and crush the skulls of two young boys taking a hike [Kobi Mandell and Yosef Ishran, both 14, of Tekoa, who were brutally murdered last May]…
\"They surround themselves with women and children for protection, knowing that that will prevent us from hurting them, because they know that we are ethical, while they are bloodthirsty. They know how to take advantage of our ethics, sensitivity, freedom, and democracy in the State of Israel.\"
Ruth Gillis, the widow of Dr. Shmuel Gills, father of five, who was murdered by terrorists in Feb. 2001, spoke at the Mt. Herzl ceremony in Jerusalem today:
\"I once asked my husband, a doctor [oncologist] in Hadassah Hospital who was murdered on his way home to Karmei Tzur, what was the most difficult part of his work. He told me that the most difficult part was telling patients about their illness, for at their moment, their lives changed forever... That moment, in which our lives changed forever, all of us here have undergone. Each one of us feels and knows that our lives will never again be the same. Our lives will always be more difficult, more painful, and will always demand more of an effort to live happily.
\"Today was to have been one of the happiest days for our family: Our son Amichai becomes 13, the age of Bar Mitzvah, and accepts upon himself full responsibility for fulfilling the Torah\'s precepts. This day is one of the happiest in the life of any parent, who raised his child to this age of maturity and sees blessing in his efforts. Today, I swing back and forth between the happiness of our son\'s growing up and the great pain in seeing [him] reach this day without a father at his side. The pain that accompanies me every day, every hour, is stronger today. The happy days - the holidays, the Shabbatot - these have become the most painful and difficult…\"
\"We view the warriors who fall in battle as those who sprout forth life. The life of a nation grew out of this blood... This day must be more than mourning: We must remember, we must grieve, but it must be a day of mourning, majesty, and vision.\"
President Moshe Katzav, speaking at a memorial ceremony today, said,
\"Those who carried out the Hevron pogrom in 1929 [murdering almost 70 Jews] are the same entity, the same essence, that carried out the Pesach Massacre in Netanya last month. For seventy years and more they have adopted the same methods, the same cruelty, the same lack of humanity, the same lack of sanctity for human life and suffering. Then, like today, they come in the name of religion and term us \'enemies of Allah,\' and then are able to take boulders and crush the skulls of two young boys taking a hike [Kobi Mandell and Yosef Ishran, both 14, of Tekoa, who were brutally murdered last May]…
\"They surround themselves with women and children for protection, knowing that that will prevent us from hurting them, because they know that we are ethical, while they are bloodthirsty. They know how to take advantage of our ethics, sensitivity, freedom, and democracy in the State of Israel.\"
Ruth Gillis, the widow of Dr. Shmuel Gills, father of five, who was murdered by terrorists in Feb. 2001, spoke at the Mt. Herzl ceremony in Jerusalem today:
\"I once asked my husband, a doctor [oncologist] in Hadassah Hospital who was murdered on his way home to Karmei Tzur, what was the most difficult part of his work. He told me that the most difficult part was telling patients about their illness, for at their moment, their lives changed forever... That moment, in which our lives changed forever, all of us here have undergone. Each one of us feels and knows that our lives will never again be the same. Our lives will always be more difficult, more painful, and will always demand more of an effort to live happily.
\"Today was to have been one of the happiest days for our family: Our son Amichai becomes 13, the age of Bar Mitzvah, and accepts upon himself full responsibility for fulfilling the Torah\'s precepts. This day is one of the happiest in the life of any parent, who raised his child to this age of maturity and sees blessing in his efforts. Today, I swing back and forth between the happiness of our son\'s growing up and the great pain in seeing [him] reach this day without a father at his side. The pain that accompanies me every day, every hour, is stronger today. The happy days - the holidays, the Shabbatot - these have become the most painful and difficult…\"