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PAGE 6 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE May 9, 1986 Sue Winner —Remembrance Day — Sincerely, Sue Winner Invitations & Stationery — 15% discount Calligraphy — Discount Bridal Service, Inc. Bridal Bridesmaids, and Mother's gowns 20 to 40% discount — Bridal Consulting Specializing in the Jewish Wedding 255*3804 Congregation Or VeShalom 6 P.M. • Sunday • May 11 Sephardic Foods Gala Broadway Review by OVS Players and Goods & Services Auction 1986 Chevrolet Nova Dinners • Vacations • Jewelry Lunches with the Stars OVER 250 ITEMS FOR SALE Congregation Or VeShalom • 1681 N. Druid Hills Rd. • 633-1737 Reservations Required • S15Adults • S10 Children 12 and under Gate City Lodge SC?j. ^ \ ft B’nai B’rith Member & Prospective Member Family Picnic To salute Israel's 38th birthday 1 Sunday, May 18 1:30-5:30 p.m. AJCC/Zaban FREE FOOD & FUN for prospective members & families Only $5 per family for all others' Entire Community Invited Pony rides • Games • Magic Show Raffles-Wm hotel stays, dinners, more 1 For further information, contact Beth Cohen 9705; Ken or Sherri Levy- 458-0162, Arie oi L Koh n — 565-1 505 RAIN OR SHINE 1 " Israel honors its fallen soldiers The details of the battle are not apparent, but the message is clear. This unique torch is a symbol of remembrance for Israel’s fallen soldiers. by Lili Eylon World Zionist Press Service A children’s playground deep in the Jerusalem Forest. A sympo sium on the subject of cotton grow ing. A Torah scroll in a southern synagogue. An annual pri/e (or fostering Arab-Jewtsh relations. The common denominator of these diverse items and hundreds of oth ers is their dedication to a talien soldier ot Israel: each bears the name ot a son. brother, husband or father who died while defending his country. It is safe to say that no nation honors and commemorates its dead as do the people of Israel. A people with a traditional respect tor human life (“he who saves one soul is as it he saves a w hole world ). whose annals are tilled by exile, pogrom and the Holocaust, is bound to be particularly sensitive to life, suffering and death. And in a country which, since its inception, has know n several w ars and no real peace, there has been ample oppor tunity to demonstrate this sensiti vity. Since November 1947, some 17,()(X) of the nation’s sons and daughters have paid with their lives in “offi cial” wars, isolated incidents or terrorist attacks. I he respect ren dered them and the finesse of feel ing toward the bereaved lirst be come evident by the manner in w hich their death is communicated to their families. There is no imper sonal telegram or letter. A spe cially trained army representative, usually a member of the peer group of the deceased, plus two or three civilian volunteers, one of whom is often a bereaved person himself, first check the medical status of the parents or widow and question neighbors about any special prob lems which may exist within the family. Only after all the relevant facts become known to them, do the bearers of the sad tidings ap proach the survivors. Israel honors its sons in a variety of ways. The Commemoration Unit of the Department of Rehabilita tion at the Ministry of Defense has been publishing two series of books. “Yi/kor." biographies of all who have fallen, and "Scrolls ot Fire," containing the prose and poetry, scientific writings, paint ings, photographs and other crea tive works of the boys whose lives were cut short "When I peruse these books,” said Prof. Urbach, a bereaved father, who is president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, “1 see what the people of Israel have lost.” More than 700 group and indi vidual monuments stand as silent witnesses to a nation’s long memory. Numerous settlements hear the names ot defenders. Mishmat Hashiva commemoiates the seven who fell in 1947 a cl o mpair. m h ,i fond con voy lob', sieged Icnisalem; Halatned t V 1' s ! I 1 1 ai, 1 . ’ ■ ai ■ I:,.i! Inld: !i i a young person, strong, and olten wise beyond his years, lived in the community, attended the local school, read, played and died before his time. Through the years, family and friends have published a total of some 3,200 memorial books of writings by and about their dear ones Kibbut/nik Yehuda Ben Horin w ho, during the Six Day War lost both of his sons on the same day, recently presented the Tel Aviv Uni versity w it h a gift of a 1,700 v olume library he gathered on the subject ot grief. In Israel’s close-knit society, every soldier is considered kin. It is thus titling that one of the most important and joyful holiday s. In dependence Day, is immediately preceded by Remembrance Day. I he very dear price for Israel’s existence is marked in official com memorative ceremonies in every city, town, kihbut/ and moshav, vv ith state observance in the 39 mil itary cemeteries throughout the country. At sites of some of the memorial monuments, school young sters gather to pause and remember, listening to the story ot what hap pened on the spot, reciting poems, singing songs and each devoting thoughts to all who tell, one of whom could well he a member ot his own family in a nation where almost every family has been st i ickcn < hi Renicmhiancc I >av Lags ate N■ >vv n at hall mast and all places ot C'l'.ci tammenl are closed 1 his i> a minute as the sirens wail the gen eral mourning. Drivers brake and step out of their cars, housewives quit their work and bow their heads, workers cease their labor and all stand as one, recalling those w ho are no more. On Remembrance Day the min ister of defense sends a personal letter to the bereaved tamilies usu ally delivered by a school young ster- with a message of personal participation and encouragement. The letters are accompanied by a special gift, usuallv a book dealing with the history and geography, or floia and fauna ot Israel. Dr. Irwin Smalheiser. a newly arrived immigrant from Midwest ern America, has been collecting these letters and commemorative envelopes, and has recently pub lished them, because, as he says. "Jews everywhere owe Israels fallen the same debt." In his publi cation, Dr. Smalheiser recalls that the practice of lamenting the deaths of warrior heroes goes back to bt lical times when David grieved over the deaths ot Saul and J° na than: "And thev waited and u opt am fasted until even, for Saul and Jonathan and his son, and for the people of the I or dam for the House of Israel because they were lallen In i \ word." m Thus, the RememH.i wimen in 1975 bv S then minister ol detv 1 .;) P! .11V is our hope that courage of our son-- ■ nrv ot their sact iH M a m . t he heat i heal 11 '•'"P'' I i "ii. l-mc the tampans of vv it fun them