Yom HaZikaron is a time for the Jewish people to pause, reflect, and remember the sacrifices that have allowed Am Yisrael to live in safety, strength, and freedom in Eretz Yisrael.
In a meaningful speech today, Mrs. Rosenblatt highlighted the idea of mesirus nefesh= self-sacrifice, and how it exists in two distinct but equally meaningful forms. The first is the mesirus nefesh of the soldiers. These brave men and women, many just a few years older than us, put their lives on the line daily to protect Am Yisrael. They leave their homes, their families, and their comforts to stand at the borders, ensuring the safety of their fellow Jews. This ultimate act of mesirus nefesh is what allows Jews all over the world to live with pride and security.
There is also another form of mesirus nefesh, one that happens here, in our schools, homes, and communities. It’s the mesirus nefesh of living every day as a proud Jew, of having energy, passion, and simchas hachaim in our Yiddishkeit. While soldiers give their lives, we must value the lives we’ve been blessed with and fill them with meaning, purpose, and Torah. Every tefillah we say, every mitzvah we do with kavanah, every moment we choose to uplift ourselves and others, it all matters. It’s our way of fighting for Am Yisrael in our own space.
One of the most potent messages shared today was about the value of life in Judaism. Our Torah doesn’t glorify death, but it glorifies life. The soldiers who fall protecting our land are kedoshim, holy tzadikim, and those who survive are tzadikim too, because they chose to stand up for their nation and their people. But it’s not enough to only remember the fallen; it’s our duty to value the life we have because of them. To live it fully, meaningfully, and with gratitude.
The words spoken today left us all with a sense of achrayus. We don’t get to opt out of caring. Yom HaZikaron is not only about grief and memory, it’s about achdus, togetherness, and carrying our brothers and sisters with us. It’s about remembering that the fight for Klal Yisrael continues every day, some on the battlefield, and some in the classroom, in the beis midrash, and in how we live our lives with emunah and simchas hachaim.
May the neshamos of all the holy soldiers and victims of terror have an aliyah, and may we be zocheh to live lives filled with meaning, passion, and purpose, in their memory and for the honor of Am Yisrael. ■
Tali Grossman
10th Grade, Mesorah High School for Girls
