The Last Stop: Mount Herzl
I woke up about 7:00 AM on Thursday morning - 30 minutes earlier than requested - in order to read some information about Yonatan Netanyahu, who I was requested to talk to the group about. At 8:00 I enjoyed the last good breakfast on the trip before going back to “enjoy” the breakfasts at the military.
At approximately 9:00 AM we reached Mt. Herzl and entered the cemetery in order to learn about the place and to share our respect for the fallen soldiers (and ministers that are buried in the cemetery).
We first stopped at the grave of Yonatan Netanyahu the brother of prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and we talked about him as a person, while I talked about the part he had in his fatal Ugandan operation and about the way he found his death while trying to rescue Jews and Israeli civilians from the hand of the terrorist organization who kept them captive at a hostile land. It was very important for me to talk about him because his story as a man, soldier, and a commander affected me a lot as a human being and as an officer in the IDF.
We kept on talking and hearing stories about various soldiers who had died while defending the country and their friends in battle, and it was very emotional for me to see the reaction of the group members to the story, and see how much were moved by the stories that they heard.
Later on we reached the memorial of the submarine Dakar which was lost at sea with all its crew member in the 60’s and was found only 30 years later in 1999. We entered the memorial ground and sang a song for the soldiers who found their death at sea. For me hearing this song there was very hard and emotional and it touched me deeply (I almost shed a tear) and I believe it touched the entire group as well.
We kept on going in the cemetery hearing about Hanna Senesch who gave her life while fighting to save Jews from the holocaust and sang “HaTikva” - the Israeli national anthem.
After hearing (and feeling) the stories about the soldiers who gave their life for the country , we reached the burial ground of Golda Meir, Itzhak Rabin, and other prime ministers of Israel in the past who are buried in the place. Brandi read a very emotional eulogy that was written by Itzhak Rabin‘s granddaughter Noa and we all listen to her words and were moved by them.
Our last stop was at Herzl’s tomb. There the mood had changed when we talked about the vision he had about the building a country for the Jews, and that we should always keep on looking forwards for brighter days and happy days when peace will come and there will be no more need to mourn for dead soldiers, but we only celebrate peace.
s
Then in order to make the group feel how we feel when we move so suddenly from the saddest day in the year ( The memorial day for fallen soldiers and civilians who lost their lives in terrorist acts) to the most happiest day of the year in which we celebrate the foundation of the Israel we started to sing and dance.
Shouting “Brothers brothers brothers, Happiness, Happiness , happiness”
Because we are a big family and we should always cherish life and be happy.
Regards,
Itay
