Zikaron Value: Zikaron
The three Hebrew letters form a root that has to do with memory: remembering. Jews are big on remembering. Just about every Jewish holiday tells the story of some major past event. We light a candle and say Kaddish on the anniversary of someone’s death. And on the three festivals and at Yom Kippur we say Yizkor (remembering prayers) for those who have died. Yom ha-Zikaron is the day before Yom ha-Aztmaut, Israeli Independence Day. The fourth of Iyyar is a day devoted to remembering soldiers killed defending the state of Israel. Many Israelis go to the cemetery. At the end of the day, after two minutes of silence, sirens are sounded. A new holiday is begun. It is a day of parades and dancing in the street. It is the celebration of the State of Israel. Zikaron also has to do with the Holocaust. Yom ha-Shoah is Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is observed as a day of commemoration of the approximately six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. In Israel it is a national memorial day. In other counties it is observed by Jews in synagogues and communities. The Hebrew word yad (hand) also means “memorial”. The national Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority in Israel is called Yad Vashem because Isaiah 56:5 says: “And to them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name (Yad va-Shem) that shall not be cut off.”
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