Commemorating Holocaust Remembrance Day

 Note how all traffic stops on busy Israeli roads  when the sirens sound marking the moment of silence to remember victims of the Holocaust.



As global thinker Dr. Michael Laitman commemorating Yom Yashoah observed:

As the sirens sound across Israel this Holocaust Remembrance Day, we unite in memory of our lost loved ones. These days, the memory of the Holocaust echoes throughout the world as anti-Semitism is spiraling out of control in Europe and around the world. If we wish to prevent this horrifying memory from becoming a reality once again, we must focus on what we can do to prevent a second Holocaust. The sirens that unite us in memory should remind us that our unity is our strength, that our nation was formed through a commitment to mutual responsibility and to being “as one man with one heart.” If the people of Israel remember this on this day of painful memory, and begin to rekindle our brotherly love above all our differences, then we have truly defeated the Nazis

If only America would take our Memorial Day more seriously than an opportunity to barbecue and watch the Indy 500.  But genocide and losing six million people in the Shoah gives a different reverence to Holocaust Remembrance Day.

H/T: Dr. Michael Laitman 

General George S. Patton on Fallen Soldiers

Memorial Day on the Boston Commons

To properly commemorate Memorial Day, five hundred volunteers placed 37,000 flags on the Boston Common to mark every Massachusetts citizen killed in war since the American Revolution.  

This sea of flags is a stirring sight.  But numbers alone does not tell the full story.  Historians may see battle casualties in the American Revolutionary war to be light, but considered in proportions, those who gave their lives for self rule would have been 2.1 million in contemporary scales.  Of course much of this sacrifice came from Massachusetts, the cradle of the Revolution, which started with the "Shot Heard 'Round the World"  at Lexington and Concord. 

The Meaning of Memorial Day

This morning my eleven year old niece informed me that the word of the day was "Memorial".   Being a cunning linguist who hopes to aspire others to appreciating etymology, I innocently asked what that meant.  She was stumped at giving an off the cuff definition.  So I tried another tact by asking "So what are we memorializing?"  thinking that she would instinctively know.  She responded "The Presidents?".  That was a big no as even the colloquially called "Presidents' Day" is actually still Washington's Birthday (Observed).

Sadly, so many in our society simply see Memorial Day as the unofficial kickoff of the summer season.  Or as the occasion to hold the Indy 500.  Such a schoolgirl could be lead to think that it is just another day off of school.  No wonder why Ruben Blades laments that we may be the best informed society that dies of ignorance. 

These illustrations are graphic reminders of the depth of gratitude we should have for those in the Armed Services who fought and sometimes gave their lives to protect the freedoms we have to remain blissfully ignorant of their sacrifices for society.

So when pause to give our blessings at the afternoon picnic, I don't care if I interrupt Popes, Presidents, impressarios or imposters, I will insist that we thank heaven for those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for their brothers and sisters to live in freedom and aspire for peace. 

The Face of Prayer in America