For Whom The Bell Tolls

Last week was Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day). Today is Yom Hazikaron (Remembrance day for soldiers lost defending the country, and those killed in terrorist attacks). Not the happiest of weeks in Israel. On both days, there's a siren that goes off.

On Yom Hashoah, the siren went off at 10am, while I was at work. I received a mass text from my program a few minutes earlier explaining what was about to happen, when, and what to do. At 10am, when the siren went off, everyone stood, and my normally crowded, busy office went silent. I thought (or at least hoped) there would be a noise to start, followed by silence, and then another noise to let us know it was over. No such luck. The loud siren continued to wail for the entire 2 minutes or so. And yet, oddly, there was silence. I would have liked to be outside to see it on the street, but it was interesting enough to see how my office went silent.

Last night was the first of two sirens that go off on Yom Hazikaron. It was at 8pm. Me and some friends had just left the apartment and were heading for the ceremony at Rabin Square. As we were about to cross the intersection, the siren went off. Everything stopped. People stood on all four corners of the intersection. Pedestrians crossing stopped in the middle of the street. Cars stopped, buses pulled over. And again, despite the sirens, there was an eerie silence. One thing I did note, though, there was a man across the street, with dogs. Everything stopped, but the dogs continued to move, restless. They seemed so out of place.

Siren number three went off today at 11am. I had wanted to be in a crowded place since this was the final siren of the year. As a result, I headed to Rabin Square. Rabin Square is located on a very busy street, Ibn Gvirol. As I'm walking, to find a good spot to stand and watch people stop, I hear someone call my name. I look up, and two of the girls from my program were sitting on top of the giant statue in Rabin Square (this is the picture). Their view was better than mine, but, again, it was still quite amazing to watch as the buses stopped and people inside rose to their feet. People at the coffee shops all stood, many with their heads down, remembering.

I remember in school a few times having a moment of silence. I can't recall the reason. Perhaps in honor of Memorial day, perhaps when a student was killed in a car accident. Regardless, that was one school, only maybe 2,000 people trying to remain silent, and it never really seemed to work. I never really had that impact. But for an entire country to stop together in that moment of silence. It's an amazing thing to be a part of.