Remembering on Memorial Day

A couple of weeks ago we commemorated Memorial Day in Israel, Yom HaZikkaron.  At the time I noted how different this somber day of remembrance was from the day which in our country marks an official beginning to summer, usually accompanied with barbecue, family celebration, a good dose of shopping and maybe fireworks.   Of course, the origins of Memorial Day in our country are more directly tied to honoring those who were killed in battle.   In fact, the first seeds of memorial day were planted in the aftermath of the Civil War when General  John Logan declared May 30th, 1868 as a day to recall both Union and Confederate soldiers who fell.   While many in the South resisted its adoption, Decoration Day, as it became known, helped create common ground for recognizing the losses suffered in the War and those that would come in subsequent fighting on behalf of the United States.

While our country is currently at war in Iraq, Afghanistan and engaged in a  myriad of fronts, it is hard to deny that the lives of most Americans are farther removed from the life and death consequences of war than either our predecessors in the late nineteenth century or our contemporaries living in and defending the State of Israel.   On one hand, we must make sure not to let Memorial Day be a day of forgetting, rather than remembrance.   Visiting graves and assisting in their upkeep, being in touch with military families, writing cards to soldiers and taking time out of the day to include them in our thoughts and prayers are all fitting ways to mark the occasion.  However, we also can think of ways to weave these and other practices into our day to day life. 

Each Friday night and Saturday morning we include the well being of soldiers of the United States and Israel in our prayers for safety.  Many of our kids have chosen to make their Bar/Bat Mitzvah projects about the needs of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Our Founding Rabbi Albert Slomowitz has served as a chaplain in the U.S. Navy, and we make sure that our synagogue education does not leave out the important role played by Jewish men and women in our Armed Forces

The purpose of memory is never to overwhelm us with thoughts of death, but rather to inspire us in how we live.

May we all find meaning and inspiration in our celebration of Memorial Day and every day,

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Michael