Memorial Day at Mt. Herzl
Photo: AFP
Nitai Stern, fell in Lebanon
Reproduction Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit
Bereaved families honor fallen soldiers
Thousands to attend ceremonies at military cemeteries, beginning with two-minute siren at 11 am. Esther Ben-Yehuda, who lost her 24-year old son Eliel in Second Lebanon War, will visit his grave at the cemetery in Kfar Tavor. 'Every year the pain gets worse. Why did God do this?' she asks
Thousands of bereaved families headed to Israel's
cemeteries Monday in order to honor the memory of their loved ones. At 11 am a two-minute siren will mark the beginning of memorial ceremonies at 43 military cemeteries throughout the country.
Esther Ben-Yehuda, who lost her 24-year old son Eliel in the Second Lebanon War
when he tried to evacuate a wounded soldier from the battlefield, will visit his grave at the cemetery in Kfar Tavor. He was buried next to his uncle, who fell in the Battle of the Beaufort.
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"Eliel received a commendation this year, and they have changed the bases of the headstones," Esther told Ynet. "I had mixed feelings about this, because it's hard to go there and see something new."
She added that Eliel did not know her brother, but was educated according to the same values. "We called him by a similar but different name in order to confuse death, but it didn't work. Every year the pain gets worse, as does the lack of will to understand and move on, and the question why. Why should a person who wants to walk in the footsteps of another have to disappear? Why did God do this?" she asked.
Esther added that she would soon join IDF officers on a trip to Poland labeled 'Witnesses in uniform', something her son wanted to do but never got around to.
"It will be hard for me to see 180 officers and to think that he could have been there, at that age, in the same situation. It's hard for me but I'm completing a circle," she said.
'Does God take only the good ones?'
The Memorial Ceremony at Mount Herzl will be attended by the family of Nitai Stern, who was killed at age 21 along with three other soldiers by friendly fire on their tank during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.
"We will be there to mourn Nitai and welcome his friends, new and old. We will not forget Major Eliraz Peretz," Reuven Stern, the father, told Ynet, referring to a commander killed by terrorists in Gaza recently.
"This is not an easy day. It is the day when memories flood you with a greater force than any other. Nothing eases the pain, but on the day when all of the friends are with us we gain a lot of strength."
Stern says time helps him deal with the loss. "With the perspective gained by distance, it's not easier, but we understand bereavement better," he said.
"When a man dies, no matter if he is a young soldier or an old man, the body is not here but the spirit is, it is with us. People always say about combat soldiers that they were beautiful and good. I ask, does God take only the good ones? The answer is no. Most of the combat soldiers are above average in traits, goals, understanding, devotion, love, and loyalty. Those who fall are a statistical sample."
Stern adds that Israelis should learn from this day. "It is a trait that we all have, and if everyone gives something small from himself and says he will remember the soldier that fell, we will become a better society and a light to all nations," he said.
