100419 Yom HaZicharon 2010

The Weeping Statue
The lone woman paced back and forth, addressing a small crowd which had gathered at Kikar Tzion. At first glance, she seemed somewhat mad! Over and over she yelled: “There is no memorial for my children who were murdered on Jaffa Road! There is no memorial for our children who were ruthlessly murdered on Ben Yehuda Madracha (walkway)! Our government can spend billions for a train to run through the city of Jerusalem, but they can’t spend money for a memorial for my children, a place where I and other mourners can stand to pay tribute to our children on Yom HaZicharon!” She repeated the same thing over and over as she fought back the tears welling up from inside.
Those of us who empathized with her wanted to go to her, hold her, and comfort her, yet none dare break through the invisible barrier she had put up around herself to protect her emotions. It was as though, if someone invaded her space or stepped across her red line of protection, she would have a meltdown and break into tiny pieces.
Besides, it seemed like the ground around her was all too sacred and I was thinking: “Is this woman a God-send? A messenger from heaven? The voice of Mother Rachel? Is the spirit of Mother Rachel manifesting within her neshamah? Mother Rachel weeping for her children who were no longer? Is this generation listening to the cry of their Fathers & Mothers who are becoming fewer and fewer? Yet in every generation there remain witnesses to tell of personal accounts of the cost to liberate the nation of Israel now celebrating only 62 years of returning home?”
Even the men in the crowd were fighting back the tears and I wondered if they felt what I felt as she cried out from her innermost pain. All the while, behind her stood a stone statue of an Israeli fighting soldier and suddenly I noticed the statue’s eyes turn red. He blinked trying to restrain himself from bursting out crying, yet the tears flowed down his face. One idiot Israeli man broke through the crowd trying to knock the statue off its pedestal, but others quickly restrained the man, furious at his attempts. All the while, the young man doing the miming held steady like an iron statue. Unmovable! Indestructible! A perfect example of the Israeli Defense Forces which stands immovable under the banner of the God of Israel! May we never forget WHO is the Commander in Chief as we look out upon the horizons and see the army of the Lord which is our eternal guardian and protector!