יום האצמאות השישים-ואחד Israel's 61st Independence Day

Today is יום האצמאות Yom HaAtzma'ut ("Independence Day") here in Israel, and we are celebrating the 61st anniversary of the country. Yesterday was יום הזיכרון Yom HaZikaron ("Memorial Day"), when we remembered all the people, both soldiers and civilians, who have died in wars and terrorist attacks.

Last night, on TV we watched the ceremony at הר הרצל Har Herzl ("Mt. Herzl") in Jerusalem that marked the transition between these 2 holidays, the first very somber and serious, and the 2nd very joyous. I like to watch this ceremony for several reasons. First, it's a way of feeling connected to this country, of understanding the people and the culture. Second, it's quite an amazing show, with top-notch lighting effects, dancing, music, and lots of pomp and circumstance, all of which help one move from the sadness to the joy. Finally, because the people are making grand and formal speeches, it's easier for me to follow because they speak more slowly and clearly. One moving and very interesting part of the ceremony is when they light 12 torches representing the 12 tribes of Israel. Each torch is lit by a different person (or sometimes 2 people connected to each other in some way). Of course, they deliberately select a great variety of people to do this. Before he or she lights the torch, each person reads a short speech, which always begins by telling who they are and giving a little of their background, and which ends by with a list of who or what is being honored. The very last words are ALWAYS ולתפארת מדינת ישראל ultif'eret m'dinat yisrael ("and for the glory of the State of Israel").

Today, we took our friend, Alex, for a little drive around several parts of the North, including near the Lebanon border, קרן נפטלי Keren Naftali ("Horn of Naftali" a hill that sits somewhat alone and looks a little like the horn of an animal), and מצפה גדות Mitzpe Gadot ("Gadot Lookout" a place from which the Syrians shelled Israel, including Kibbutz Gadot, nearly constantly from 1948 until 1967), where we ate a little picnic lunch.

Alex is from Ukraine and is about a decade younger than we are. Russian, though, is his native language (he says that he doesn't speak Ukrainian), and his Hebrew is quite good since he's been here nearly 2 decades. However, he speaks very little English, so this forces me to practice my Hebrew! He speaks slowly and doesn't rattle on much, and he doesn't have much of a Russian accent, so that also makes it easier for me. I felt like I was able to say pretty much whatever I wanted to to him, and I also was able to understand almost everything that he said. As I commented to him, when I was a boy growing up the the States, I would never have imagined that one day I would be communicating with a Russian in Hebrew! This, too, seems appropriate for this national holiday. After all, this is a country of immigrants. There are very, very few people in the entire country, including even the Arabs, whose ancestors were living here 150-200 years ago!