Yom Ha'Shoa

The entire country of Israel literally comes to a stand still on the Holocaust Remembrance Day. A morning siren sounds for 2 minutes, during which time everyone, everywhere stops what they are doing and stands, soberly at attention. The photos at left were taken on the corner of a busy Jerusalem intersection. Look carefully at the street scene and you will see that people stop their cars, get out and stand quietly remembering the tragedy that nearly destroyed the entire population of European Jews. Even the woman carrying her groceries, stopped instantly, in the middle of the crosswalk, and waited. After quickly snapping these photos, I joined in the stillness. Then, the emotional wave struck me. Daniel held my hand and hugged me as I cried for maybe 5 minutes. It was not just sadness for the loss to humanity, it was pride that we have survived and life goes on.