Yom Haatzmaut

Last week was Yom Haatzmaut (or Israeli Independence day). Preparation has been going on for weeks with flags cropping up all over the country. This, is of course, has excited me considerably since I decided to do a flag series (blog to come...) and you really can't walk two steps without finding an Israeli flag, or sit in a cafe/ wine bar without having them draped behind you.

One interesting thing to note about Yom Haatzmaut is that it is the day after Yom Hazikaron. You have the saddest day of the year for Israelis because as already mentioned everyone has lost someone. And then, as the sun sets, and the day ends, you have the biggest party night in Israel, and let me reassure you, it's maddness!

So why the insane flip from mourning to partying? Well, if you think about it, Yom Haatzmaut is an extension of Yom Hazikaron. It's a way to continue to honor and remember the soldiers that have been lost. It's a way to show that their lives were not lost in vain. This died defending their country, to wish the Israelis are grateful.

I was having lunch with my great aunt on Yom Hazikaron, and happened to mention this exact thing to her. How strange it is to go from mourning to partying. My aunt informed me that that's the way it's always been in Israel. She remembers the day that Israeli was officially declared a state. She told me how here and my great uncle were at a movie when it happened. They left the movie theater, and people were dancing and partying in the streets. Minutes later, the war started and soldiers began encouraging people to get inside and find shelter. This is Israel. The land of insane extremes.

So, my friends and I did what everyone else in Israel did that night. We celebrated. We had to Rabin Square, and it was absolute maddness. Little kids ran around with shaving cream, or whipped cream, or something. People had flags, blow up flags. There was a concert in the middle of the square. And my friends and I headed to a party on the roof of the mall that sits beside Rabin Square. We were there to watch the fireworks go off.

Everywhere you went there was this energy. Everyone was happy and partying. Now, maybe I just never went to the right place on the 4th or July, but I never experienced and Independence day like this. I've never seen so many flags before in my life. Everyone has them. On houses, cars, motorcycles, on the streets, in stores... And everyone is out on the streets. It's really quite nice to see a whole country come together for something.