Tonight's Two Day Holidays Begin in Israel: Of Mourning and Celebrating

 Nadene Goldfoot                                              

Tonight (Tuesday, April 29, 2025) begins Yom Hazikaron, the day of remembrance for the soldiers, police and members of the security services who fell defending Israel as well as for the victims of terror.

On April 29, 2025, in Israel, Yom Hazikaron, the Israeli Memorial Day, is commemorated with solemn ceremonies and observances. This includes placing the national flag on graves of fallen soldiers, lighting torches, and observing moments of silence. The date is just before the celebration of the anniversary of Israel's creation according to the Jewish calendar. 

Israel's Memorial Day, Yom HaZikaron, began in 1951 as a separate day of remembrance for soldiers who fell in the War of Independence, distinct from the festive Independence Day. This separate day was established after families of fallen soldiers expressed a desire for a specific day of mourning. In January 1951, the Public Council for Soldiers' Commemoration was formed to recommend establishing the 4th of Iyyar (the day before Independence Day) as the General Memorial Day. This proposal was approved by the government the same year. Israel has been remembering for the past 74 years out of its 77 years established.  .  

 It is followed on Wednesday night by Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel's 77th Independence Day, in USA on April 30,2025. The number 77 spelled out in Hebrew spells "Strength". May this be a year of physical and spiritual strength for Israel and the entire Jewish nation.

                                              

 Nir Am, Israel on April 20, 2010 enjoying Independence Day, like American 4th of July;  because Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948, which corresponded with the 5th of Iyar on the Hebrew calendar in that year, Yom Ha'atzmaut was originally celebrated on that date. However, to avoid Sabbath desecration, it may be commemorated one or two days before or after the 5th of Iyar if it falls too close to the Sabbath. The day preceding Israel's independence day is Yom HaZikaron, which is dedicated to the memory of fallen Israeli soldiers and Israeli civilian victims of terrorism.  

Born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) died at 87 was the primary national founder and first prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency from 1935, and later president of the Jewish Agency Executive, he was the de facto leader of the Jewish community in Palestine, and largely led the movement for an independent Jewish state in Mandatory Palestine.

Born in Płońsk, then part of Congress Poland, to Polish Jewish parents, he immigrated to the Palestine region of the Ottoman Empire in 1906. Adopting the name of Ben-Gurion in 1909, he rose to become the preeminent leader of the Jewish community in British-ruled Mandatory Palestine from 1935 until the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948,

David ben Gurion and Golda Meir, 2 prime ministers of Israel, announcing the birth of their nation in 1948...The announcement of Israel's independence on May 14, 1948, was a culmination of decades of Zionist aspirations, the aftermath of the Holocaust, and the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine. The Declaration of Independence was proclaimed by the Jewish People's Council at the Tel Aviv Museum, marking the birth of the State of Israel. 

 This holiday was proclaimed by future Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion on behalf of the Yishuv on 14 May 1948. The mood outside of Ben-Gurion's residence just prior to the announcement was joyous:

The possibility of a Jewish homeland in Palestine had been a goal of Zionist organisations since the late 19th century. In 1917 British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour, above, stated in a letter (Balfour Doctrine)  to British Jewish community leader Walter, Lord Rothschild that:

His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country. (Arthur Balfour)

Arthur Balfour, at center, in 1925, was an early convert to the idea that the Jews might constitute more than a religious community.Photograph by Universal History Archive / Getty

“Our policy may fail; I do not deny that this is an adventure. Are we never to have adventures? Are we never to try new experiments?” Arthur Balfour said, in an address to the House of Lords, defending what has become known as the Balfour Declaration. At the time of that speech, his declaration was not quite five years old; today, it is exactly a hundred years old. (It was made public, in a letter to Lord Rothschild, on November 2, 1917.) “His Majesty’s government,” the Balfour Declaration read, “view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.” He accepted the view, Balfour continued before the Lords, “that some members of this race (Jews) may have given—doubtless did give—occasion for much ill will.” But this should be seen, he continued, in light of the “tyranny and persecution” to which they were subjected. Surely it was proper to send a message, to “every land where the Jewish race has been scattered,” that Christendom is not “unmindful of the service they have rendered to the great religions of the world.”  (Said when Balfour Doctrine was not quite 5 years old. ) No doubt he refers to something, as I think of all the anti-Semitism they have rendered to Jews, causing them to seek new homes in their neighbor's countries like Persia, Iraq, Syria, instead of places like Germany, Poland, etc...At the creation of Israel, they were thrown out of their newer homes of Iraq, Syria, etc.                                 

       Iraqi Jews;  Seated in the centre: Sir Sassoon Eskell, first Minister of Finance of the Kingdom with King Faisal I immediately to his left. The tycoon Senator Menahem Saleh Daniel is seated on the far right of this shot.

  The expulsion of Jews from Iraq occurred primarily between 1950 and 1952, after the establishment of Israel in 1948. This large-scale exodus, known as Operation Ezra and Nehemiah, saw nearly the entire Iraqi Jewish population emigrate to Israel. This was a result of increasing persecution and government oppression following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, which the Iraqi government then allowed in exchange for renunciation of Iraqi citizenship.  

                        Chaim Weizmann:   (born Nov. 27, 1874, Motol, Pol., Russian Empire [now in Belarus]—died Nov. 9, 1952, Reḥovot, Israel) was the first president of the new nation of Israel (1949–52), who was for decades the guiding spirit behind the World Zionist Organization.  Besides that, Chaim Weizmann's profession, as a chemist, created a method to produce acetone which was crucial for Britain's war effort during World War I. This acetone was a key component in making cordite (smokeless gunpowder). It helped Britain to win the war.

 Jewish men of Palestine, rabbi in center,  served in significant numbers in the British Army and other branches of the military during World War I, with an estimated 50,000 Jewish soldiers fighting for Britain. Beyond their direct military service, Jewish communities in Britain and elsewhere contributed to the war effort through various support roles and acts of patriotism. Additionally, the British government issued the Balfour Declaration in 1917, supporting the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, in part to secure Jewish support for the war effort. 

Resource:

israelAM

https://unpacked.media/what-is-yom-hazikaron-how-and-when-do-we-commemorate-israels-memorial-day/#:~:text=Israeli%20soldiers%20salute%20after%20placing,KAHANA/AFP%20via%20Getty%20Images)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(Israel)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ben-Gurion

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_Declaration_of_Independence#:~:text=

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Iraq