A fire broke out Wednesday morning, on Israel's Memorial Day, in a forest near Beit Shemesh. Firefighting teams are working at the scene after authorities declared an emergency, triggering nationwide assistance mobilization, including aircraft, reinforcement teams from additional districts, and logistical support. The Israel Fire and Rescue Services announced that all Independence Day events requiring firefighter security will not be able to receive protection, therefore, Independence Day events cannot be held.

The Israel Police commissioner was forced to leave the national memorial ceremony for victims of terror attacks due to the fire emergency and is making his way to the command post.

Video: People abandon their vehicles on Highway 1. Credit: Usage under Israel's Intellectual Property Law Article 27(a)

The Israel Fire and Rescue Services has raised its alert level to maximum. Following situational assessments directed by the Israel Police commissioner, emergency protocols have been activated, with firefighting teams being mobilized across all districts nationwide. Vehicles and equipment have been deployed, and the Israel National Special Rescue Unit has been activated at full strength on nationwide alert.

Numerous firefighting teams from the Beit Shemesh area are currently battling a developing forest fire in Eshta'ol Forest. Strong winds in the area are contributing to the rapid spread of the flames. Firefighters are working determinedly to contain the fire and prevent its spread toward forested and populated areas.

Video: The fire near highway 1

During rescue operations at the fire scene on Highway 1, nine people were rescued from vehicles caught in heavy smoke. Three private vehicles and a truck are burning at the scene, all without anyone trapped inside. Several people suffering from mild smoke inhalation are currently receiving treatment from medical personnel in the field.

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Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz delivered a powerful address at Israel's Memorial Day ceremony on Wednesday, emphasizing that the primary lesson from the October 7 attacks is that the IDF must maintain a constant defensive barrier between Israel's enemies and its communities. Speaking at the National Memorial Hall on Mount Herzl during the traditional reading of fallen soldiers' names, Katz addressed the ongoing war in Gaza, the Iranian threat, and made a solemn commitment to the bereaved families of Israel's fallen.

"On this sacred day, our hearts are with the fallen, with their families, and with those who bear the scars of war in body and soul," Defense Minister Katz began his speech. "During this past year, the most difficult news arrived at the homes of hundreds of parents, wives, children, and siblings – and transformed their lives, in an instant, from one extreme to another. Since October 7, we have all received many painful reminders of the unbearable price of defending our beloved country and ensuring its existence. Each of the fallen is an entire world."

Katz addressed the ongoing war in Gaza and said, "It is our duty to defeat those who massacred our citizens on that terrible Saturday, and to ensure that enemies of this kind will no longer be near our border and will not pose a threat to the State of Israel."

The minister spoke about Chief Inspector Arnon Zamora, a counter-terrorism unit soldier who died during the hostage rescue operation in the Nuseirat camp in Gaza. "Arnon sacrificed his life for the release of our hostages, and from this mission and this sacred commitment, IDF soldiers are operating at this very moment in the Gaza Strip – to bring home all the female and male hostages – both living and deceased."

The Defense Minister also addressed the Iranian threat, adding: "We have now seen that when Iran threatened over the years to destroy Israel, they meant it. Iran is the central threat to the entire region, and we are determined – more than ever – to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons. We will not allow threats of destruction against the State of Israel."

At the end of his remarks, Katz addressed the bereaved families, "There are no words that can comfort you. The entire people of Israel embrace you and strengthen you. Your pain is the pain of us all."

"I, Israel Katz, Defense Minister of the State of Israel, commit here, in this holy place, to remember and remind of all our fallen. The walls of this hall echo their names and will echo them forever. This is my oath, this is our oath; to perpetuate their memory and pass on their legacy from generation to generation," the defense minister concluded his speech.

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Panic erupted at a Memorial Day ceremony Tuesday evening in Habima Square in Tel Aviv when a person attempted to enter the event area, triggering alarm among attendees. Police later clarified that it was not a security incident.

According to police, a citizen approached officers stationed at the location and directed their attention to several suspicious individuals wearing vests. The officers approached the suspects, asked them to identify themselves, and when they didn't comply, arrested them. A subsequent investigation revealed these individuals were actually ushers employed at the event.

The suspects, residents of Kafr Qara, Nazareth, and Sulam, were transferred for questioning at the police station. Police repeatedly emphasized that this was not a security-related incident.

Video: Crowd flees from the Memorial Day event area at Habima Square in Tel Aviv. Credit: Usage under Israel's Intellectual Property Law Article 27(a)

Videos from the scene show people running frantically and chairs overturned on the ground. "There was crazy panic, people were lying on the floor. It was like a tsunami of people running," one ceremony participant said. "People who live in the area opened their homes to let in as many people as possible and asked them to be quiet so they wouldn't be heard from outside."

Video: Crowd flees from the Memorial Day event area at Habima Square in Tel Aviv. Credit: Usage under Israel's Intellectual Property Law Article 27(a)

Approximately 20 people with minor to very minor injuries who were hurt during the rush arrived at Tel Aviv's Ichilov Medical Center following the incident. A mother describing her daughter's experience at Habima said, "A few minutes after leaving, my 17-year-old daughter called in great panic, not to say hysteria, saying there was an attack at Habima and she ran away and didn't know where she was. Everyone was running in great chaos. Someone broke through a glass building door, got injured, and then went up the stairs and knocked on doors. No one opened. They went up to the building's roof. She lost contact with her friends."

Video: Personal belongings scattered across Habima Square in Tel Aviv. Credit: Carlos Dermer

In the aftermath of the panic and chaos on Tuesday evening, numerous personal belongings remained scattered across Habima Square. The items were abandoned by attendees who fled when suspicions of a terrorist attack first arose. The ceremony, which had just started before the incident, was cancelled due to the chaos.

"A country in trauma," multiple users commented on footage circulated on social media. "We don't have a single quiet moment," another user said. The Israel Police have charged the suspects with resisting arrest, assaulting officers, disturbing the peace, and obstructing police in the performance of their duties.

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A major controversy erupted Tuesday following remarks by Sara Netanyahu, wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said there were "fewer" than 24 living hostages, after her husband stated there are "up to 24 living hostages" in Gaza. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum immediately demanded clarification and warned, "On the eve of Memorial Day, you've sown indescribable panic in the hearts of hostage families."

In their statement, the families asked, "What did you mean when you said 'fewer'? Do you know something we don't? We demand that the prime minister clarify his and his wife's statements. If there is intelligence or new information regarding our loved ones' condition, we demand to know it in full."

Amid the growing controversy, a source involved in the negotiations clarified that the number of living hostages stands firmly at 24 – the same official figure that has been provided to mediators in ongoing talks for their release.

Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, sharply criticized the comments, "If the Prime Minister's wife has new information about hostages who were killed, I demand to know whether my Matan is still alive or was murdered in captivity because your husband refuses to end the war. You did something unconscionable for all the families – it's their child you determined was killed in captivity, and on Memorial Day eve. Enough! We deserve different leadership!"

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We are in the middle of one of the most powerful and emotionally fraught periods in Israel, marked first by Yom HaShoah – Holocaust Remembrance Day, and then by Yom HaZikaron, or more formally, Yom HaZikaron laChalalei Ma'arachot Yisrael u'Nifga'ei Pe'ulot HaEivah, meaning "The Memorial Day for Israel's Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism."

Throughout most of my life, Yom HaZikaron felt distant. Even as I grew closer to my Judaism and began working as a Jewish and pro-Israel professional, the gravity of the day barely registered. Growing up outside of Israel meant that this period rarely stirred strong emotions. Jews in the diaspora, even those who care deeply about Israel, often struggle to connect because there's little chance we personally know someone who fell in battle or was murdered in a terror attack, even if we have friends and family in Israel.

Diaspora communities usually hold ceremonies for Yom HaZikaron, but in my opinion, they often struggle to emotionally capture what the day means to Israelis – the rawness of the sacrifices so many have made. Without the personal loss of a loved one, it's no fault of our own that the experience feels removed; formal ceremonies can feel too scripted to truly convey the solemnness of what it means to mourn the fallen.

It wasn't until April 2023 that I began to understand the true weight of Yom HaZikaron. In the weeks leading up to Passover, Israel was rocked by back-to-back terror attacks, including the brutal murders of Lucy Dee and her two daughters, Rina and Maia. Their deaths pierced something deep within Israeli society, especially among Olim like myself, as the Dee family were British nationals as well. During the Hol Hamoed period in the middle of Passover, Lucy and her daughters were driving in the Jordan Valley when a Palestinian terrorist rammed their car off the road and shot them at point-blank range.

The cruelty of their murder devastated so many of us. Watching the Dee family honored just weeks later during a Yom HaZikaron ceremony finally made me register the profound pain of the day. What struck me most was seeing Keren Dee, sitting in the audience, shaking and weeping as the images of her mother and sisters flashed across the screen. It was a moment I'll never forget.

Who could have imagined that just four and a half months later, the entire nation would experience unprecedented levels of terrorism and cruelty? As Hamas invaded Israel, they unleashed atrocities I still struggle to put into words: slaughter, burning, decapitation, and mass rape against innocent civilians. For the first time since the Holocaust, the Jewish world witnessed the depths of evil and hate that is antisemitism.

For Israelis, Yom HaZikaron is not new. Unlike most Jews in the diaspora, the vast majority of Israelis have either lost someone or know someone who has been killed in battle or by terror. But now, in the wake of the October 7 massacre, the ongoing war in Gaza, the hostages still held captive, and the global surge in antisemitism, everything feels different.

For many Jews living outside of Israel, I urge you to try to truly connect to what this day represents. This year might be the first time you can genuinely understand what it means to mourn the fallen.

Yom HaZikaron is remembering the horror you felt when you first heard Hamas had invaded. It's the sickness in your stomach as you watched Hamas parade Shani Louk's lifeless body through the streets of Gaza. It's the terror you felt seeing Shiri Bibas holding her two redheaded children, surrounded by a Palestinian mob, as they were taken captive, and the agony of learning how they were murdered and their bodies desecrated.

It's the unbearable heartbreak of hearing that Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Ori Danino, Carmel Gat, and Alex Lubanov were killed in a Hamas tunnel in Rafah – and the devastation of watching their families bury them.

Yom HaZikaron is remembering the countless soldiers who gave their lives before and after October 7th, not just as numbers, but as young men and women, many only 18 years old, forced to make the ultimate sacrifice to defend our nation. One of them was Sagi Golan, killed on October 7th while fighting Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Be'eri, just 13 days before he was supposed to marry his partner, Omer Ohana. Sagi and his unit helped rescue residents under attack. Israeli singer Ivri Lider was scheduled to perform at their wedding, but instead, he sang at Sagi's funeral.

Yom HaZikaron is also about the hostage families, like the family of Omer Neutra, who have not even been able to bury their loved ones, terrified that their sons and daughters are still buried under Gaza's ruins with no grave to mourn at.

Yom HaZikaron usually means feeling all of this while also experiencing the powerful transition from mourning to celebration, knowing that despite everything, the following day we celebrate Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel's Independence Day. This year, however, it feels impossible to celebrate Jewish liberation in our ancestral homeland while 59 of our people remain in captivity.

This solemn day may always be hard for diaspora Jews to fully grasp. But now more than ever, it must serve as a bridge, a call to strengthen our collective commitment, to educate the next generation, and to draw inspiration from the thousands of soldiers and civilians, all who are heroes, who gave everything for the survival and future of the Jewish People.

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This year's commemoration will carry extraordinary significance amid the ongoing conflict following the October 7 attacks. The ceremony, themed "Together We Remember," will serve as both a reflection of national grief and a demonstration of Jewish solidarity during this challenging period.

The event will spotlight the personal narratives of young olim from Jewish communities worldwide who chose to make Israel their home and subsequently sacrificed their lives. These individuals include Ronny Ganizat, a French-Israeli reservist who lost his life in Lebanon; Bruna Valeanu, a Brazilian-Israeli student and Masa alumnus who was killed at the Nova Festival; and Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a young man from California who Hamas kidnapped during the October 7 attack and later murdered while in captivity.

These deeply personal stories will be presented at the ceremony not merely as names to be commemorated but as comprehensive accounts of lives fully lived. Each individual embarked on a journey that began in a different country but concluded in Israel, becoming an integral part of the Israeli narrative and collective identity.

"I'm doing this for my children": Ronny Ganizate 

Ronny Ganizate, a father of three and a former combat soldier, was killed on October 9, 2024, in a mission to uncover terror infrastructure in southern Lebanon. He was 36 years old.

But Ronny's journey began decades earlier in Marseille, France, where he grew up as the fourth of five children. His family wasn't particularly religious or Zionist. It was his older brother Jeremy who first became observant, made Aliyah, and enlisted in the IDF, soon inspiring his siblings to follow.

"Ronny didn't come just because we did," Jeremy explained. "He asked himself: 'Is this what I want?' And when he decided, he said, 'Yes. I choose this.'"

At 18, Ronny made Aliyah alone through a Masa–Bnei Akiva program, volunteering on a kibbutz and with Magen David Adom. He later joined the Nahal Brigade, serving as a lone soldier.

"Being a lone soldier means total independence," Jeremy reflected. "There were no parents at the ceremonies. No one to wash your uniform on weekends."

After his mandatory service, Ronny met Shoshana, the love of his life. They married, had three children, and Ronny began working at Jeremy's accounting firm, where he became, as Jeremy put it, "the heart of the office."

Though he was not obligated to continue serving in the reserves, Ronny never missed a single day. In his final call with his brothers before returning to Lebanon, he said: "The soldiers with me are like my second family. I can't leave them. And I'm doing this for my children, too."

On October 9, during a mission to clear a village in Southern Lebanon, Ronny and his unit were ambushed by a terrorist cell hiding near a school. Ronny was killed instantly by a rocket-propelled grenade. He had completed 226 days of reserve duty since the war began.

"He had an infinite love for Israel," Jeremy said. "Even in the mud and rain, he smiled. He said, 'You can do it with a smile or without one — but without a smile, it's much harder.'"

"She loved fiercely": Bruna Valeanu 

Bruna Valeanu, originally from Rio de Janeiro, made Aliyah at age 16. She arrived with little Hebrew and no friends, and quickly built a life of purpose, service, and deep connection. Her friend Sharon said, "Her motto was – You only live once".

"Her Hebrew name was Bracha, which means blessing in Hebrew. And she really was a blessing," her sister, Florica, said. Bruna learned Hebrew quickly, and after completing high school, she enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces, serving as an instructor in the Armoured Corps.

"Bruna was radiant," her sister said. "She laughed loudly, she spoke fast, and she loved fiercely."

On October 7, 2023, Bruna was dancing at the Nova Festival near Kibbutz Re'im. She tried to escape during the attack, sending her last messages shortly after gunfire erupted. "Bruna did send me a message at some point, saying she thinks she is going to die", Sharon said. Florica added: "I know that evil exists, but I couldn't possibly imagine the magnitude of what has happened there".

At 24, Bruna was murdered that morning by Hamas terrorists. "If I could, I would erase that day, it was the worst day of my life," Florica said about the day when she was told about what happened to her sister. Thousands gathered at the Yarkon cemetery in Petach Tikvah to mourn a young woman who had given her heart to a country that became her home.

"We had a very special bond," Sharon said in tears. "She was the best hugger. If I had just five more minutes with her, this is what I would do – just hug her really close". Her story, shared at the Masa ceremony, reminds us of the dreams she carried from Brazil — and the life she built, proudly, in Israel.

"Those who have a 'why'": Hersh Goldberg-Polin 

Hersh Goldberg-Polin was born in Berkeley, California. He made Aliyah from Richmond, Virginia, in 2008 with his parents, Jon and Rachel, and his two sisters. "When we made Aliyah, we said to Hersh: your name is going to be confusing for people in Israel, because it is Yiddish and not Hebrew," Jon said. "Now is your chance to choose a nickname or to come up with something that is a Hebrew version of 'Hersh'. And he right away said, 'I am Hersh, and they're going to deal with it. ' And they did."

Hersh was an active, curious, gentle-hearted young man — the kind who tried to bridge divides, bringing Israeli and Arab kids together through soccer.

On October 7, Hersh was at the Nova Festival when Hamas attacked. "We heard sirens go off, which is very unusual in Jerusalem," Rachel said. "I knew Hersh and his friend were out camping, so I wanted to check on them. As soon as I turned on my phone, two messages instantly popped up on the WhatsApp group that Jon and I had with Hersh. The first said 'I love you', the other said 'I'm sorry'. I knew immediately something horrible was unfolding. I wrote 'Are you ok? Tell me you're ok,' and those messages were never read."

Hersh was wounded — his dominant left forearm below his elbow was severed — but he managed to apply a makeshift tourniquet to himself. He was then kidnapped and taken to Gaza.

"We knew the country was in panic and crisis, and so we immediately started working, first trying to determine what happened to him, and then, once we learned he was taken hostage and was severely wounded, trying everything we could to bring him and the others home," Rachel said.

Over the following months, Rachel became the face of the hostage movement, speaking at the UN, meeting with world leaders, and refusing to let the world forget her son and the rest of the hostages.

On April 24, 2024, Hamas released a video showing Hersh in captivity. "It's an underground hell," he said. The video was the first sign of life that Rachel and Jon received since Hersh was taken hostage on October 7.

Then, on September 1, Hersh's family announced that his body had been recovered. "We had 328 days of torture, and at 4:00 a.m., we got a phone call from our point of contact in the army, and we knew right away what it is that they were coming to tell us," Jon said.

Hersh had been executed by Hamas in a dark and airless tunnel, about 164 feet underground, with 5 other beloved young people. "Hersh did every single thing right to stay alive. He was a survivor. If I could talk to him again, I would say 'I am so proud of you,' but he knows," Rachel said. "In our Jewish tradition, a Jew who is killed for no other reason except that they are Jewish is called holy. All of the beautiful souls lost during this dark chapter, beginning on October 7th, who were killed for this reason of simply being Jews, they are the essence of holiness, each and every one." Hersh was buried in Jerusalem. President Isaac Herzog attended the funeral.

In the tunnels, Hersh told fellow hostages the famous quote by Viktor Frankl, who himself survived the Holocaust and went on to write the famous book, Man's Search for Meaning: "Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'." Hostage survivors say this motivated them to keep going and gave them hope, even in the darkest of places.

A shared journey

The Masa Yom HaZikaron commemoration demonstrates that Israel's honored dead represent diverse backgrounds beyond native-born Israelis. These fallen include numerous immigrants who relocated to Israel from countries such as France, Brazil, the US, Argentina, South Africa, Ukraine, and various other nations. These individuals serve as connectors between Israeli society and Jewish communities globally.

Meir Holtz, CEO of Masa, said: "Yom HaZikaron, our Day of Remembrance, is an essential part of Israel and the Jewish people. Each year, we hold the ceremony in English and other languages, primarily to make this day accessible to Masa fellows in Israel — in a language they understand and with content they can relate to. This year, this goal feels more important than ever. The Jewish people are at a pivotal moment, and our unity, our ability to empathize, and our expression of solidarity with the entire Jewish people, wherever they may be, are critical. That's why this year's ceremony theme is — 'Together We Remember.'

Together, we remember. Together, we grieve. Together, we honor the memory of those who have fallen defending our homeland. And together, we hold our heads high with hope for the future. The stories shared here tonight are connected by the values of love, determination, sacrifice, and commitment to Israel and the Jewish people. This ceremony is for us to focus on the heroes, cherish the world they left behind, and try to be worthy of their sacrifice. May their memory be a blessing".

Major General (res.) Doron Almog, Chairman of the Jewish Agency, added: "On Yom Hazikaron, we come together with deep sadness and a strong sense of responsibility. We remember the brave men and women who gave their lives for the State of Israel. Their memory serves as a moral compass, connecting the past to the future. The stories show the deep connection between the Jewish people and the State of Israel.

"It is a miracle like no other," he said. "Memorial ceremonies held in Israel and in Jewish communities around the world also represent this shared journey for the Jewish people and the State of Israel. We will remember Israel's fallen with gratitude and sorrow, and we will strive in everything we do to be worthy of the generations who gave their lives for all of us."

Through the shared narratives of Ronny, Bruna, and Hersh, the Jewish and Israeli community collectively remembers, perseveres, and demonstrates solidarity.

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Masa Israel Journey will hold its 17th annual Yom HaZikaron ceremony at Yad La-Shiryon in Latrun (Israel's official memorial site), bringing together more than 4,500 expected attendees in what will be the largest English-language commemoration of its kind, with countless more viewers participating online.

This year's event carries heightened significance amid the continuing aftermath of the October 7 attacks, the ongoing war, and increasing global antisemitism. Under the theme "Together We Remember," the ceremony will provide a space for collective mourning during these challenging times for Israel and Jewish communities worldwide.

The commemoration will feature government representatives, including Yossi Fuchs, Cabinet Secretary of the Government of Israel, alongside Jewish community leaders such as Rebecca Caspi, Senior VP of Global Operations and Director General of JFNA Israel, and Yehudah Setton, CEO of The Jewish Agency for Israel.

"On Yom Hazikaron, we come together with deep sadness and a strong sense of responsibility. We remember the brave men and women who gave their lives for the State of Israel. Their memory serves as a moral compass, connecting the past to the future," Major General (res.) Doron Almog, Chairman of the Executive of The Jewish Agency for Israel, said.

The ceremony will honor several fallen individuals, including Captain (posthumously) Daniel Peretz, a South African-born platoon commander whose body remains in Gaza. The event will also memorialize Major General Ronny Ganizat, a French combat soldier and Masa alumnus who fell in South Lebanon on September 10, 2024, leaving behind a wife and young children.

Among others to be remembered is Sergeant Ilan Cohen, an Argentinian combat soldier and Masa alumnus who fell in Gaza on May 13, 2024, while participating in an operation that recovered four kidnapped bodies.

The ceremony will also honor Hersh Goldberg-Polin, born in Berkeley, California, who was kidnapped from the Nova Festival and later killed in Hamas captivity, with his body recovered on September 1, 2024. His mother Rachel has become one of the most prominent advocates for hostage families.

Brazilian-born Bruna Valeanu, who made aliyah in 2014 and served as a shooting instructor in the Israeli military, will be remembered after being murdered at the Nova Festival on October 7, 2023. Fellow Brazilian Hanani Glazer, who became a lone soldier in the Golani brigade at age 16, will also be commemorated after being killed when terrorists attacked a shelter where he was hiding near Kibbutz Re'im.

Additionally, Ukraine-born Inspector Andrei Poshibai, who served in the Southern Region of the Israeli Police, will be honored for his heroism in rescuing people from the Nova Festival before being killed in a confrontation with terrorists.

Meir Holtz, CEO of Masa Israel Journey, emphasized the importance of the multilingual ceremony: "Yom HaZikaron, our Day of Remembrance, is an essential part of Israel and the Jewish people. Each year, we hold the ceremony in English and other languages, primarily to make this day accessible to Masa fellows in Israel — in a language they understand and with content they can relate to. This year, this goal feels more important than ever. The Jewish people are at a pivotal moment, our unity and solidarity are critical. That's why this year's ceremony theme is — 'Together We Remember'. This ceremony is for us to focus on the heroes, cherish the world they left behind and try to be worthy of their sacrifice. May their memory be a blessing."

Current Masa fellows will also participate by honoring their personal connections to fallen loved ones, including Captain Omer Nautra, a soldier still held in Gaza whose childhood friend Abigail will speak at the ceremony, and Yogev Pezi, an Israeli who served as a Shaliach (emissary) at a US Jewish summer camp where he befriended Sofia, an American now participating in a Masa program in Israel.

The solemn event will conclude with wreaths laid by bereaved families and representatives from the Israeli government, Knesset, and global Jewish organizations including Keren Ha-Yesod and JFNA.

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Daniel Colthof stood next to the bereaved father and couldn't stop the tears. Four days after October 7, hundreds of people stood, huddled together in the small cemetery of Kibbutz Kfar Etzion, as they escorted the body of Roey Weiser, a combat soldier in the IDF's renowned Golani infantry brigade, who fell in the battle to defend the IDF post of Nahal Oz on the Gaza Border. I stood by Weiser's friend, who had come directly from hospital, still wearing multiple bandages and dressings on his arm and head. I watched the bereaved father as he parted from his son, and next to him stood Daniel, the IDF cantor, his eyes brimming with tears as he ran from one funeral to the next.

Seven months have elapsed since that moment, but as far as Daniel is concerned – those terrible days have not yet really come to an end. This time, we meet on the tenth floor of a luxury office building in Ramat Gan, near Tel-Aviv, at the law offices where is he a partner. His dress uniform remains neatly folded in the trunk of his car, ready for the moment when he receives his next order to go out once again to yet another funeral.

"On October 8, I conducted my first full funeral service," he tells me. "It was the funeral service of the commander of the Nahal (infantry) Brigade, Colonel Yonatan Steinberg OBM, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem. The funeral took place at the second grave in a freshly opened plot. Since then, the entire plot has been filled. On that day I led three funeral services. Since then, I have taken part in dozens."

Of all the military professions, cantors are hardly ever the subject of discussion. Neither do we hear much about their incessant activity during those dark days at the beginning of the war, the considerable psychological challenge that their work involves – running from one funeral to the another, taking in the grim harshness of death and bereavement in all its severity while trying to reach out to the bereaved families and help them – the reason being that this is the first time in the history of the state that there has been a genuine lack of casualty notification/assistance officers in order to carry out their duties fully and properly. Thus, the cantors, whose routine job description in peacetime and at war is confined to conduct the funeral service, before they knew it, had become the IDF representatives facing the families.

Daniel Colthof (38 years old) grew up in the mainly ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Har Nof in Jerusalem ("Yanki Deri, the son of MK Aryeh Deri, the head of the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox party, Shas, is my age and we used to hang out together quite a lot") and was educated in a family that straddles the line between the ultra-Orthodox 'Haredi' world and that of the 'Haredi Leumi'. He currently resides with his wife and four children in the city of Petach Tiqwa in central Israel.

He began his military service after meeting the current Chief Military Cantor, Shai Abramson, at the Tel Aviv Cantorial Institute, the school of cantor studies, and then became his right-hand man in the IDF's Military Rabbinate Corps, at first as part of regular service and now as a reservist. During IDF Operation Protective Edge in 2014, he led a number of funerals, but this involved only the ceremonial aspect of the event rather than actually accompanying the families themselves, as has been the case in the current war.

Just like all the other residents of central Israel, on that Black Shabbat in October, Colthof woke up to the sound of sirens. As an observant Jew, he did not turn on his phone and went to his synagogue that is located in the nearby Hasharon Hospital. "This was an absolutely outlandish experience. Hasharon is a very small hospital and so essentially, everything was carrying on as normal, but we could constantly see the numbers appearing on the adjacent televisions and what was going on. On the following morning, for the first time, he entered the IDF's Shura Camp where the bodies of those murdered were taken. "I was taken aback by the view of trucks, filled with corpses, entering the camp. It was totally chaotic."

80 funerals a day

He would end up conducting the first funeral of the war on that very evening, the funeral of the Nahal Brigade commander, and this was to be followed by a non-stop stream of more and more. The military unit responsible for arranging and conducting funerals comprises 60-70 soldiers. Usually, two unit members attend each funeral – a 'hazan' or cantor and a gravedigger, while up to five members might be sent to a larger funeral.

"At the briefing prior to leaving, they talked to me about how to minister to the family, and I failed to understand why, as this is not something that we usually deal with. It's not in our remit. The commanders replied that those who are usually responsible for this type of work are too busy dealing with identifying those murdered and attending to the entire array of needs of the bereaved families, so we were now charged with this task.

"In the past, we had been prepared to deal with severe scenarios, but that had involved no more than 30 casualties, not hundreds as was now the case. I don't think that anybody had anticipated such inflated numbers. In retrospect, I can safely say that the Military Rabbinate took charge of this event and took care of everything in a very accomplished manner. On no occasion did we receive a request to conduct a funeral and there was nobody to do it."

On a number of occasions, the funerals were held in the Gaza border communities under rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. "During the second week of the war, we traveled to one of the Gaza border communities wearing helmets and bulletproof vests. This area had now become a veritable ghost town, with a whole battalion to secure the perimeter, us and the family of the dead. On one of the days that we traveled there, immediately afterwards there was a security incident on the road.

"With all due respect, we are not the story here. There are bereaved families whose lives have been turned upside down, IDF wounded whose lives will never be the same again. Okay, so we attended many funerals, it was very difficult, but this really pales into insignificance in comparison," stresses Daniel.

Performing kri'a on a nine-year old

The funerals that he attended were emotionally demanding, some of them lasted for several hours with thousands of people turning up. Daniel was required to attempt to conduct a military ceremony while everybody around him was basically falling apart. So, then he made the decision – he was not going to remain cold and distant.

"A funeral involves a number of technical matters – where the people need to go, how to get there, who delivers a eulogy, when do we say the 'El Malei Rahamim' memorial prayer, a very clear and precise check list. But in no time at all you are hurled into the midst of the painful world of grief and bereavement, and right from the word go I decided that I would not keep my emotions balled up in the pit of my stomach. Whenever and wherever crying is called for, I cry. At every funeral and every goodbye. It is simply uncontrollable. It is just not possible to remain cold and aloof in the midst of such a heart-wrenching event."

"There were occasions on which it genuinely was extremely difficult. I have to call on the next speaker, but I am enveloped in tears and cannot stop crying. I have developed a knack of identifying the tone of speech of those delivering the eulogies, so that I can tell when the speaker is about to wrap up and that is the point at which I really have no choice but to pull myself together. You cannot invite the next speaker or recite the 'El Malei Rahamim' prayer while you are breaking down crying, although this too has happened on occasions."

Daniel recounts that he has succeeded in his highly challenging task, of crying together with the families during the eulogies and then being able to continue to lead the funeral ceremony, but having said that, the inherent difficulty in all of this comes back and overwhelms him afterwards. "After the funerals, I would go back to my car and just fall apart. I was lucky that I would travel to them with members of my team who helped me on the way back to the base to clear my head, to share the immensely difficult and traumatic experiences that we had undergone with somebody who was able to empathize, having experienced similar difficulties. In addition, the unit's psychological support staff have also helped tremendously."

The most agonizing funerals have been those of soldiers who were fathers or had small brothers or sisters. "Do you have any idea how difficult it is to perform kri'a (the ritual rending of a mourner's garments immediately prior to the funeral service) on a nine-year-old boy? It is excruciatingly difficult. Listening to eulogies delivered by innocent children is just as hard. There was one boy who said a few words and then asked to recite a psalm dealing with Techiyat HaMetim, the resurrection of the dead. I cried out together with all those present at the graveside."

"A few days beforehand, I led a funeral service for a soldier who had been engaged, and his fiancée delivered an extremely charged and powerful eulogy. Suddenly, there and then, when she uttered the words from the well-known Friday prayer we say to welcome in the Shabbat, 'Lecha Dodi Likrat Kala' (Let us go, my beloved, to greet the bride), I could no longer retain my appearance, the flood gates opened and I began to cry. Fortunately, those attending the funeral were busy singing and did not notice this, and it was only my brother who caught sight of what was happening to me and he helped me to regain my composure. Somehow I managed to pull myself together and I continued with the prayer."

Q: Did you have any concern that you might become desensitized as a result of having to attend so many funerals?

"The truth is, yes, I did. I was concerned that over the course of time the funerals would develop into a matter of routine. Luckily, however has not been the case. I do want to be touched by this. There were soldiers here who went out to protect me, us, and were killed. As far as I am concerned, that connection between us is critical."

Q: To what extent might that mental state have an impact on you in the future?

"I grew up on stories of people who suffered deep mental scars from the experiences they underwent during the Yom Kippur War. This time there should not be any such cases as the army as a whole and the Military Rabbinate in particular will be able to provide us with the necessary care and treatment in real time.

"I wish to salute my friends and colleagues who have gone through this harrowing period together with me, and I hope and pray that the fact that we are talking about it testifies to the fact that we will be able to learn from it down the road, that we will not find ourselves in a similar position ever again."

We were called to duty

This campaign has not yet really come to an end for Daniel. Although he has finished that long stint of reserve duty and has returned to a full working routine at his law office, he might be called up again at any moment.

"Since January, we have been called up as needs be. They divided us up into companies, and each company is then on standby for a given week. There was once case where I was in the office, I had just begun to work and one minute later I received the phone call. I am grateful that our office has really embraced the reservists and have provided much help and assistance. We never know when we will be called up again.

"Unfortunately, we were called to duty, but we were able to perform our tasks in the best manner possible. I have heard stories about what occurred during the Yom Kippur War and I just couldn't believe it. And then, all of a sudden, we too shared the same experience, we saw precisely how it all unfolded.

I think that despite all the chaos, we did succeed in putting things in order and enabling the families to part from their beloved ones. I really hope that we have succeeded."

The post 'After the funerals I would go back to my car and just fall apart': The cantor who just couldn't hold back the tears appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

1.

The poet Abba Kovner remarking on the difference between Jewish existence at the time of the Holocaust and at the time when the State of Israel was fighting for its independence observed disintegration versus crystallization.  The blows systematically rained down on Jewish communities in the Holocaust caused what he labeled "atomization of the collective." Everyone was equal before the Nazi monster with no discrimination between class or ideology, but the Jews were fragmented in the face of this threat. Ultimately, the individual sank into his fears and sought his shadow of safety. Concern for the collective dissipated with the smoke from the crematoriums.

When he made Aliyah and joined the Yishuv that was fighting for its independence, Kovner found a world in stark contrast to that he left behind. Here too, "togetherness" was not to be taken for granted. "But here in the Land of Israel," he wrote, "I felt that an opposite process was taking place… here the collective was taking shape in suffering, in tears and protest, all amid the blows of war." One could say that under the shock of an ever-intensifying war "a community was being formed and the understanding of the needs of the collective became deeper and egoism was pushed aside for the meantime."

2.

An interesting observation by Kovner explained the source of inspiration for the partisans and uprisings against the Nazis: "The Zionist youth was shaped out of the fact that we were a portion of the Land of Israel amid the experience of exile." Its inspiration was not the Yishuv in the Land of Israel back then, but "the Land of Israel that was yearned for, revered in poems, in ideas and ideologies, the Land of Israel that was to be."

This is a testimony to the place that the Land of Israel took among Jews in the Diaspora throughout history; it was not only a geographical location where we once lived but a living dream that brought us together and sparked our collective imagination to transcend the troubles of time and place. I saw this when I was an ambassador among the Jews of Europe. Israel is their insurance policy, and they know they are living on borrowed time. They struggle to hold on to a world that no longer exists and despite rampant antisemitism and the approaching pogroms, they refrain from making Aliyah; after all, they know our gates are always open for them.

3.

The first time I celebrated Sukkot in Rome I told the Jews there that the holiday is alien to the Diaspora. It is only in autumn in  Israel that one can leave one's stone house to reside in the Sukkah. Where can one find safety in a Sukkah outside of our land; doing so would be a mortal peril! It is only in the State of Israel, defended by our soldiers that we can live in a fragile Sukkah for a whole week. Do you understand, I asked them, that when you enter a Sukkah in Rome, you enter the Land of Israel? Without intending to, I echoed Kovner's words about a "portion of the Land of Israel amid the experience of the exile."

4.

Ever since the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and the dispersion of our people into exile, we have disintegrated into communities dispersed around the world. The national element of our identity went into a long hibernation, while the "religious" component is what kept us going. I place the word "religious" in quotation marks because within the national element too lay dormant the religious element. In other religions, for the most part, the individual stands alone against God. With us however, in almost every blessing, prayer, and ceremony, we employ the plural: "Who has sanctified us with his commandments and commanded us…", "Sound the great shofar for our freedom…", "Hear our voice… have mercy and compassion on us." We must remember that we left Egypt as a people even before we received the Torah. Only a people could have received the Torah, while as individuals we could not have it.

But in exile, the national element was somewhat "theoretical." It reminded us of where we had been exiled from and where we wanted to return to. It showed us that we could not reconcile with being a people living outside of our land and that we must not forget the dream of returning to Zion. In the meantime, we were divided and fragmented, we spoke different tongues and adopted foreign national identities.  So much so that toward the end of the 18^th century, the Vilna Gaon wrote in his commentary on the Sifra DeTzniuta: "From the time of the destruction of the Temple, our crowning glory as gone and we were left just us … the body… without the soul… until the flesh rotted and the bones were scattered… and all that was left was a ladle that had rotted and become dust…"

It was only when we started to engage with returning home and realizing the dream of a Hebrew state, that the national idea began to be implemented and that we established ourselves anew as a people in our land. The dispersed dry bones that Ezekiel saw in his vision (chapter 2024) in the sixth century BCE, have now joined, one bone to the next, to become a body, and a great spirit has emerged from the depths of history to breathe life into the national body and recreate us as a people.

5.

The great historical innovation in the establishment of the Jewish state – especially after the Holocaust – was the formation of a military force that could keep the vow of "Never Again!" This defensive force is a means, not a goal. Zechariah, the prophet of the Second Temple taught us: "Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the Lord of hosts" (Zechariah 4:6) . When the prophet describes God as "the Lord of hosts" he makes sure to qualify, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit."  Nevertheless, hosts (armies) employ might and power so what spirit does the prophet refer to? Seven months of war have exposed us to acts of incredible, breathtaking heroism that shine a new light on the essence of the spirit the prophet spoke of – our soldiers' spirit of self-sacrifice for the sake of the land and the people. The historical innovation in the establishment of a defensive force for our independent state is that now devotion does not just relate to keeping the individual mitzvot – as it did in exile – but also to the national idea, in the other sense of the Hebrew word mesirut nefesh, self-sacrifice for the existence of the people as a collective and to maintain our hold on the land.

A people willing for self-sacrifice and devotion to these values over time builds a phenomenological iron wall of faith against our enemies. We are not guests in that land.; we are the rightful sons of this land which lay in waste waiting for us for generations, and only with our return over the past generations began to bloom once again. The spirit that the prophet spoke of breathed life into us in the War of Independence in 1948 and has done so once more in the current war with the unimaginable acts of heroism of our soldiers and the profound words of prophecy spoken by bereaved mothers on their sons' graves as they address the people and lift its spirits to give it strength to continue the war and expunge all evil from the world "until the people had avenged themselves on their enemies "(Joshua 10:13)

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