From Afar

I grew up in Montreal, Canada. I went to Jewish day schools and was taught about the importance of my Jewish identity from a very young age. On Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers of Israel), we always had a commemoration ceremony and I cried. On Yom Ha'Atzma'ut, we hit the streets with flags, singing, dancing and falafel for lunch....And I felt tremendous joy...Israel always had a very deep and special place in my heart.

But that was it. Grieving from afar...Celebrating from afar...Everything from afar, in my comfortable and carefree life back in Canada.

Meanwhile, as I was going out with my friends without a care in the world, you, my Israeli brothers and sisters were getting drafted into the army...You were kids just like me, 18 years old...Lacing up your combat boots while I planned my next Mexican getaway...

You were forced into a painful and frightening reality that I knew nothing about...You were on a mission to protect your Nation....Your mothers and your fathers stayed awake nights on end, hoping and praying that you would return home safely. Your younger brothers and sisters may have been too young to really understand, but they saw the fear and the pain in your parents' eyes.

My blood is not thicker, better or redder than yours. It never was. Why was it okay for me to lead a blessedly ignorant young adult life, while you were on the front lines, heroically fighting to protect our people? Why was it okay that at 18 you wondered if you would return home alive to your family while I wondered how I was going to pass my final exams?

To all of you, my dear brothers and sisters who lost your precious young lives in order to protect our citizens, I am here now, not just in heart, but in body and soul as well. I am in the ring with you. Your losses are my losses. Your tragedies are my tragedies. Your victories are my victories.

Tonight and tomorrow on Yom HaZikaron, I will cry for all 23,320 of you who lost your lives and I will cry for the additional 67 of you that joined this unfathomable number over the summer in Operation Tzuk Eitan. I will stand in silence tonight and tomorrow and feel the heartache that our entire nation will be feeling and then tomorrow night, I will celebrate the wonder and the amazement of our beautiful little country that is turning 67 years old. The giant heart that is our Nation will continue to beat, in sadness and in joy.

With Love,

Cigal