Divrei David: Long Time No Blog

So I owe all of you an apology for not posting as frequently as I had promised I would. Things have been great and I have been keeping busy. I am going to try and give you the most detailed and accurate summary of what I have been doing over the past few weeks sine getting back to Israel after Pesach. This blog will be pretty long and it will include some more pictures, this time men will be in them as well. Hope you enjoy and try to stay with me.

Yom Hashoa-Holocaust Memorial Day
Yom Hashoa, Holocaust Memorial Day, is a typical day in Israeli society. It is a normal work day and its main ceremony takes place at night of Yom Hashoa. Yom Hashoa commemorates all of those who passed away in the time of the Holocaust and the and survivors of the Holocaust. It is much happier of a day then Yom HaZikaron which is celebrated a week later. The reason for this is because Yom Hashoa commemorates those who have already died and that no one else is going to be dying in the near future with the exception of the last survivors who are quickly dying out. Yom HaZikaron is much more difficult because for as long as Israel is in existence, people will continue to die and will be memorialized forever.
The eve of Yom Hashoa begins with a siren that last for two minutes. The siren can be heard all of the country of Israel and this is when most of the Tekes/ceremonies will begin. We as Nativ had our own Tekes. We gathered together and did a very traditional Tekes that we all could relate to. We had discussions about the Holocaust and we were supposed to bring with us a personal memory, story, picture that reminded us of the Holocaust. Many Nativers had been to Poland whether on the March of the Living, Poland/Israel Pilgrimage or the Nativ trip to Poland, so the discussions were rich with personal stories. We concluded our Tekes with the Yizkor service to memorialize all those who perished in the Holocaust and for those who don’t have anyone to remember them. We closed with Mourners Kaddish and Hatikvah and called it a night.
The day of Yom Hashoa, as I mentioned, is a normal day for Israelis. We all had work in the mornings and at night we all gathered together again for a continuation of the memorial day and got on a bus and headed to Kibbutz Yad Mordechai in Ashkelon. The Kibbutz was named after Mordechai Anielewicz who died fighting the Nazis while being the commander of the Jewish Fighting Organization in the Warsaw Ghetto. We all gathered with the rest of Nativ to take part in the biggest Tekes in Israel to end Yom Hashoa. We heard from the Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, and several other major officials in the Israeli Government, and heard several famous singers including Shlomo Gronich sing an amazing rendition of Eli Atah. It was a very nice Tekes and I was able to follow most of what they were saying during it. That ended the commemoration of Yom Hashoa and we headed back to Yerucham for the evening.

Yom HaZikaron-Israel’s Memorial Day
Yom HaZikaron is probably one of the saddest days I have experienced in a very long time. It is a national holiday for all Israelis and for anyone who knows someone who has been killed in the IDF all the way from pre 1948 to today. We as Nativ once again gathered all together for our very own Tekes. This Tekes also began with a siren but this time it was one minute long. I am not sure why the difference in times but it was significantly shorter then Yom Hashoa. We had different discussion groups that focused on different aspects of Yom HaZikaron from major tragedies in Israeli military history, famous soldiers, American Israeli soldiers to famous battles in Israeli history. It was once again a very powerful Tekes and I am sure that most everyone got a tremendous amount out of it. We ended the evening once again with Mourners Kaddish and Hatikvah and then offered an optional showing of the famous movie Operation Yonatan which is the story of Yonatan Netanyahu and the Raid on Entebbe.
The following morning we all got up very early and prayed and got on the bus and headed straight to Jerusalem to the main ceremony at Har Herzl. When we arrived the bus dropped us off about a seven minute walk from the cemetery because it was so packed. We all got off the bus and headed quickly to the cemetery before the ceremony began. At 11 am on the dot a siren went off and this is when the entire country no matter where you are shuts down and stops. If you are driving you stop in the street or highway and pay tribute to the brave heroes of the Israel Defense Force. A bunch of the Nativers, including myself, tried to get our way to the grave of a former USYer, Michael Levin. I was successful enough to be next to his grave for the siren and for the majority of the Tekes. It was quite a sight to see. His grave was probably one of the most crowded graves in the entire cemetery. His story is well known around the world and is now one of the most frequently visited graves and also the last stop on the officers training course for the IDF. After the ceremony we headed back to Beit Nativ for lunch and a program. We were lucky enough to have Michael’s parents come and speak to us for about 45 minutes and answer questions and share heartfelt words about their son and a hero to many. After they finished speaking to us we had a short break and then came back to watch a movie about a terrorist attack that took place in the 90’s at Beit Leid which was a popular meeting spot for soldiers on Sunday mornings in Netanya. That was really the end of Yom HaZikaron and we were free until the afternoon of the following day.

Yom Ha’Atzmaut-Israel’s Independence Day
Yom Ha’Atzmaut started the evening that Yom HaZikaron ended. I went to shul at Shira Chadasha with a bunch of Nativers for a very interesting service that had song, poetry, memorials, and prayer all to end Yom HaZikaron and then had an extremely festive Maariv service to begin the 62nd birthday of the State of Israel. I had a good idea what to expect this year for Yom Ha’atzmaut because I was in Israel two years ago for the 60th birthday of Israel. But this year I was going to actually be in Jerusalem for both days which was super exciting. Lets just say it was a very long evening but a fun evening. After shul I walked with a bunch of people back to Beit Nativ so they could change and they we all headed out on the town for an amazing night. I went to Ben Yehudah Street, the Shuk, Kikar Saphra(City Hall Square), Kikar Chatulim(a popular American hangout), Emek Refaim and other places for live music, fireworks, dancing and just an all around good time. It was a great night and a night I will remember forever. I finally came back to Beit Nativ around 3:30 am and hung out with some of my friends from high school that were staying at Beit Nativ. I finally got to bed around 4:30 and was up at about 9:30 so I could pray and then meet a friend for coffee.
Yom Ha’Atzmaut is very similar to the 4th of July in the states because everyone does Mangals also known as BBQ’s. It reminded me of going to tailgate at a Kansas City Chiefs Football game or driving down St. Line Road in Kansas City and smelling Gates. The smoke filled the air with the amazing smell of meat and other foods. We as Nativ gathered in the park across from Beit Nativ for the Annual Nativ Mangal. It lasted for about 4 hours. We all stuffed our faces on chicken breast, hamburgers, kabobs, steak and other amazing meats and salads. We finally finished the Mangal and Kibbutz and Yerucham parted ways and headed home to end an amazing Holiday week full of smiles and tears. It was a very nice holiday that I cant wait to celebrate again in the years to come.

Well it has been a fun packed few weeks and I have enjoyed them very much. I of course have been working at school and working MADA shifts as often as I can. I haven’t had so many calls that are worth telling you about but I will share a somewhat funny story. I was working a shift and we got a call to one of the health clinics in Yerucham and it was a 60ish year old man who was not quite passed out on the entrance way of the health clinic, but he was pretty unresponsive. He was a Bedouin man and was very fragrant and was attracting the flies toward his body. We get him onto the bed and into the ambulance. The driver asks me to prep the IV so we can get him some fluids because he honestly looked like a prisoner in a concentration camp with such frail bones. I prep the line and the medic puts the IV in his arm after his tries rejecting it the first time. The driver then begins to drive and I am in the back taking vitals by myself. The patient is still pretty unresponsive and is sleeping for most of the ride to the hospital. About 5 minutes before we get to the hospital, his IV starts to run out and he starts waking up and is very confused to where he is. I start yelling at him and telling him who we are and where we are going but of course he doesn’t speak Hebrew. Another man came with us in the ambulance who spoke Arabic and translated for me. As we pull up to the hospital and get him out he starts fighting with us. We get him out of the ambulance and start wheeling him into the hospital and he starts moving and the bed ends up falling forward and was 180° in the air. We pick up the bed and get it all settled again and now he starts hitting and kicking. I have to restrain him by myself with my body over him and we start wheeling him in. The security guard calls for police and the meet us in the waiting area for him to get a bed. He then pushes me off of him and starts kicking me in the stomach and hitting me in the arms, pretty strong for a guy who looks so horrible. He ends up yelling at me in Arabic and I yell back in English and this went on for a minute or so until we got him into the bed and let the nurses and doctors deal with him. Lets just say, he was very kind in his thanks for the work I did. I guess its all in a days work.

I hope all is well with everyone and I will try to post more frequently now until the end of Nativ.

Kol Tuv to all.

David