Posted on 04/24/23
Baltimore, MD - Apr. 24, 2023 - This evening, Rabbi Daniel Rose, mara d'asra of Bnai Jacob Shaarei Zion sent this Yom HaZikaron note to his kehillah:
Tonight, the fourth of Iyar, marks Yom Hazikaron, the day on which we remember soldiers who have fallen in defense of Israel and victims of terror attacks. It is an intensely emotional and profoundly meaningful day in Israel, and it should be for us as well. Eretz Yisrael is acquired through suffering, and through the sacrifices of these holy Jews we continue to live and to thrive in our land. On this day, people will flock to Har Herzl and to military cemeteries around the country, some to visit relatives who have fallen and some to pay respects and show appreciation to heroes they have never met.
I would like to encourage you to take part in one project as a meaningful way to participate in this way. מתפללים וזוכרים, Pray and Remember, is a project designed to unite all segments of klal yisrael in remembering the neshamos of our fallen soldiers. If you visit prayandremember.org, it will show you the picture and brief biography of a fallen soldier, together with a perek of Tehilim which you can say as an aliyah for the neshama. When you finish, you may say as many for as many soldiers as you are able.
Yom Hazikaron has increasingly become a day that unites every segment of the Jewish people. Especially this year, when we have seen so much division on display and have also painfully added new names to the list of terror victims, it is especially important for us to unite in memory of the kedoshim who gave everything for klal yisrael. May Hashem hear our tefilos and protect the Jewish people, bring us closer together with shalom, and continue to grant us the gift of returning to and thriving in Eretz Yisrael.