This Week's Thought - Yom Hazikaron

- Sherri Mandell

Yom Hazikaron

Yesterday, Yom Hazikaron, we went to the cemetery in Kfar Etzion for the ceremony for fallen soldiers and terror victims.

 
Before the ceremony, we arranged to meet Gidon, a classmate of Koby's, at the grave. Gidon is now a teacher at Ohr Torah Stone, the junior high school that he and Koby attended when Koby was murdered.
In front of Koby's grave, Seth and I spoke to Gidon's seventh grade class about Koby and the messages of his life: his love for Israel and for the Jewish people. 

 
As the rabbi spoke in the cemetery, four fighter planes jetted above us and we all looked up. And as I looked at the honor guard, suddenly I had a vision: I couldn't tell if the soldiers were holding clarinets or guns. I didn't understand what I was seeing.

After last night's Independence Day Celebrations, with all of the singing and dancing and celebration, I knew. Isaiah's vision is that one day our swords will be made into ploughshares. But perhaps our dream is even more — that our guns will turn into musical instruments. That with the help of God's mercy, all of our pain will one day be transformed into song.