Yom Hazikaron

Son of a fallen IDF soldier hugs his fathers headstone

There is a famous story, told about Rav Shlomoh Zalman Auerbach Z”L. He was asked by some of his students if they could leave the Yeshiva to go pray at the graves of Tzadikim in Teveria. 

Rav Auerbach responded. “If you want to pray at the graves of the righteous, you need not go far. Down the block is the military cemetery on Mount Herzl. There, at any grave, you can pray to a Tzadik.” 

Those at rest are righteous because they are Kedoshim-separated. Separated from us physically. But, more importantly, spiritually. They have merited an Eternal Life of Good because of their sacrifices. The living must work diligently to attain that great spiritual level that will yield them their Rewards in the World To Come. The Kedoshim, however, have earned their rewards by virtue of lives cut short, their ultimate sacrifice. 

We should view the slain as holy souls, whose entire lives were refined and sanctified through their self-sacrifice for the people and Land of Israel. 

About such heroes our Sages, Chazal, say, “No one can dwell in the section of Gan Eden where those who were killed by the kingdom dwell” (Tractate Pesachim 50a). 

A nonbeliever thinks that they are dead in comparison with the living, but a believing Jew knows that they are more alive than all the rest. They died young in this world, but they are very alive in the everlasting world, the World to Come. They are much more alive than we are. They are holy, and our Sages say, “What is holy exists forever” (Tractate Sanhedrin 92a).

By giving their lives in sanctification of G-d’s Name, they rose above the personal existence of an individual Jew to the comprehensive level of the holiness of Klal Yisrael. 

By sacrificing their lives for Klal Yisrael, they were elevated to the stature of Klal Yisrael, and they are more connected to G-d, Hakadosh Baruch Hu, the source of life. Therefore, they added great light and blessing in both the World of Truth and this world when they died. Moreover, we live here today in their merit, and all of our accomplishments belong to them.

If we  observe Yom Hazikaron, we must underscore the soldiers’ self-sacrifice in sanctifying G-d’s Name. We must emphasize how they demonstrated to us that the prophecy of the ingathering of the exiles and the rebirth of the Jewish nation in its ancient Homeland is so great that it is worthwhile to give up one’s life in this world for its sake. This will strengthen us and inspire us to follow their lead.

The children we bear and raise exist in their merit; the settlements we establish flourish because of them; the Torah we learn is theirs; the ethical Jewish society we want to build here, as the prophets foretold, is theirs as well.

If we remember this, and exert a great deal of effort, we will be able to continue in their path, the path of self-sacrifice for Klal Yisrael. Then we will truly honor them, as holy and pure souls, illuminating and shining like the glow of the heavens.

This is also what we must say to the bereaved families in whose midst these holy warriors sprouted: 

Do not surrender to death; continue to live by their strength. 

Do not bow your heads; rather, stand up straight and tall in their honor. 

Lift your eyes beyond the ordinary horizon and look towards the vision of the redemption and the End of Days.

And even if there are tears in your eyes, let them be tears of grandeur.