30 Apr 2025 Yom HaZikaron/Yom HaAtzmaut 5785

Yom Ha’Zikaron 5785 – Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror – was observed in advance this year on Wednesday 2 Iyar.

Yom Ha’Atzmaut 5758 – Israel Independence Day – is observed in advance this year on Thursday 3 Iyar. This date commemorates Erev Shabbos, 5 Iyar 5708 (May 14, 1948), when the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel was issued in Tel Aviv.

These two days are two of the most impactful, meaningful, paradoxical days on the calendar of Medinat Yisrael.

Tremendous, painful, searing mourning on Yom Ha’Zikaron is followed by the national celebrations of Yom Ha’Atzmaut.

Each year, before the establishment of the State of Israel is celebrated, her citizens – and Jews worldwide – acknowledge, and mourn for, all those who have selflessly and bravely given their lives so that the State would be founded, and continue to exist, b’ezras Hashem.

This past erev Shabbos, Friday April 25, Captain Ido Voloch, 21, from Jerusalem, was killed in the northern Gaza Strip, becoming the 850th IDF casualty since the start of the Swords of Iron war.

His brother, Uri, spoke about Ido, who served in the tanks corps and followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming an officer and platoon commander – giving everything he could until the very last moment. “At first it was difficult for him to enlist in tanks corps when all his friends wanted to go to infantry. But it was in his blood. He followed in his father’s footsteps,” said his brother Uri. “He enjoyed the service, working with tanks and the good people in the army. In his first role, he was a tank gunner and served in Gaza.”

Ido was promoted only last week. “They held a military ceremony without families in the Gaza area, and we got a video of him receiving his new rank,” Uri shared painfully.

Uri shared a message that Ido wrote about six months ago, when he was in the officers’ course:“Thank you for the privilege given to me to command a tank division now, when it is needed more than ever. I dedicate this appointment in memory of Ido Testa, Ittai Fogel, Ofir Berkovich and Barak Sagan, may their memory be blessed – my dear friends who are no longer here, and to all the other heroes who are no longer here and who gave their lives so that we could live here. I am proud to take part in mission of securing the safety of this country, to ensure its continued existence.”

Even during the difficult times of the war, Ido did not give up his enjoyable habits. “Food was an inseparable part of his life,” said Uri. “In the army, he would cook for his friends in Gaza, and when possible, he would take photographs and send them to us.”

Ido was killed on Friday in a clash with terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip. Terrorists who launched an RPG at a tank in the 46th Battalion, where Ido served as a platoon commander, managed to hit the tank. As a result, Ido was killed and another soldier was moderately wounded. About an hour earlier, Sgt. Neta Yitzhak Kahana, 19, from Moshav Eitan, was killed during an undercover operation in Shejaiya (https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/407450).

Captain Ido Voloch HY”D and Sergeant Neta Yitzhak Kahana HY”D

While we mourn the tremendous losses of the fallen in each of Israel’s bitter wars, and especially the current, ongoing war, we also give thanks to Hashem for the gift of our beloved Land and Jewish state.

So precious is the Land to HKB”H that the Torah states: אֶרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר–ה’ אֱלֹקיךָ דֹּרֵשׁ אֹתָהּ תָּמִיד עֵינֵי ה’ אֱלֹקיךָ בָּהּ—מֵרֵשִׁית הַשָּׁנָה, וְעַד אַחֲרִית שָׁנָה – It is a land that Hashem your G-d seeks out, the eyes of Hashem your G-d are always upon the land, from the beginning of the year, until the year’s end (Devarim 11:12).

And just as Hashem loves, yearns for, seeks out, and gazes upon the land, we must emulate His ways (Sotah 14a, Shabbos 133b), and do the same.

In his sefer “The Gift of Eretz Yisrael,” Rabbi Yishai Kalfa relates:

Chazal relate that Rabbi Abba loved the land so much that he would kiss the stones of the city of Akko (Kesubos 112a). Tosafos quotes Talmud Yerushalmi and explains that half of Akko was situated within the borders of Eretz Yisrael (E”Y) while the other half was outside of E”Y. When Rabbi Abba journeyed to E”Y, his route took him through Akko, which meant that the first stones of E”Y that he encountered were at the border that ran through the city. Thus, the moment he encountered the stones of E”Y, he would fall upon them with great emotion and lovingly kiss them.

The Maharal explains that the reason that Rav Abba kissed the stones is that every Jewish person has an intrinsic bond with the Land because this Land was “created specifically for the Jewish people and belongs to the Jewish people.” Rabbi Abba would display his great love for the Land because, in a sense, the Land was part of him.

On the above Gemara, the Ben Ish Chai offers a novel interpretation: Even in those days, people who visited E”Y would take souvenirs back with them to give as gifts to their friends. Some popular souvenirs were utensils or sculptures carved out of the stones of Akko. When Rabbi Abba, who lived in Bavel, would see these sculptures, which travelers brought back from E”Y, he would kiss them out of his deep love for the Land from which they had come. (The Gift of Eretz Yisrael, Rabbi Yishai Kalfa, p.78-79).

As we give thanks to Hashem for the gift of our beloved Land, let us continue to daven for the day when the final redemption will arrive, when peace will be showered upon us, and when ‘those who have sown with tears will finally reap with joy’.

וְאַתֶּם הָרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל עַנְפְּכֶם תִּתֵּנוּ וּפֶרְיְכֶם תִּשְׂאוּ לְעַמִּי יִשְׂרָאֵל כִּי קֵרְבוּ לָבוֹא – And you, the mountains of Israel, will shoot forth your branches, and you will bear your fruit for My nation, Israel, because they are about to come (Yechezkel 36:8).

בברכת בשורות טובות ושבת שלום,

Michal