Millenia ago, when the Judeans were exiled from the land of Israel, the Psalmist records that they sat on the river of Babylon and wept for their lost home, asking eich nashir, “How can we sing?” (Psalm 130:4) Since October 7, we have been asking ourselves the same question with each holiday and milestone we reach: how can we sing when so many lives have been lost? How can we celebrate moments of freedom and redemption when so many remain in captivity? How can we uphold our traditions and even our routines, when we are so fearful for our future, when all we want to do is sit by the river, hang our musical instruments on trees, and weep? 

As we approach Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut, the question “How can we sing?” assumes a different kind of urgency. What are the words of lament and modes of celebration that we need this year, in the wake of the enormous loss of life and sense of security? 

When Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers of war and victims of acts of terrorism, was established in 1951, it was deliberately placed on the calendar the day before Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day. Although juxtaposing the two days necessitates a dramatic emotional shift from mourning to celebration, the choice also communicates a clear message: these soldiers and victims of terror did not die in vain, and we cannot celebrate the creation of the state of Israel without recognition of its cost.  

This year, when the sirens sound across Israel, the piercing sound will recall the lives of those who were killed over the course of Israel’s 76 years and the more than 1500 lost in just the past 6.5 months.  

One answer to the question “how can we sing?” this Yom HaZikaron may be the music that has emerged in Israel over the past six months, including songs highlighted in the Identity/Crisis podcast episode with Lior Zaltzman, Music in a Time of War. These songs not only capture the pulse of much of Israeli society, but give us a tool to tap into the anger, heartache, and despair of this year, as well as the calamitous loss of life. You can listen to the songs from this episode on this playlist. 

In addition to the liturgies and images that have shaped Yom HaZikaron for decades, we propose lifting up contemporary Israeli voices. In partnership with the Hartman Ritual Center in Jerusalem, we have compiled and translated a poem, two soldiers’ wills, and a memorial prayer written in October 2023, all included here and in the PDF linked below. The poem, by Dafna Haimovitch, “More and More,” published in January 2024 in the digital magazine Gluya, describes endless streams of tears and names of the dead, and the hope she will remember every one of them. The wills are from Staff Sergeant Lavi Lipshitz, a 20-year-old soldier from Modiin who shared daily photos depicting his experience as a soldier, and from Staff Sergeant (Res.) Adi Odeyah Baruch, a 23-year-old reserve soldier and wedding photographer from Kiryat Netafim. Her partner had planned a surprise wedding for them that was to take place at the end of October, days after she was killed. Finally, the prayer “Yizkor: May the Jewish People Remember” was written by Elyasaf Tel-Or a few days after the attacks, to be used as a memorial text in the months and years to come. This Yom HaZikaron, these short pieces give us access to the stories of real people to concretize the loss and devastation of this past year. 

For a Yom HaAtzmaut that may feel more subdued and that may raise existential questions and concerns, we suggest that we continue singing the rich music of Israel, in the same way that Jews and Israelis have done for the past seventy-five Independence Days. As difficult as it may be this year, pausing to lift our voices in song testifies to our determination that better days lie ahead. The struggles of the past did not drown out the music of Yom HaAtzmaut and neither should the events of this year.  

We invite you to listen to two playlists, curated by our faculty to celebrate Yom HaAtzmaut. The first, from 2020, includes 12 Israeli songs Yossi Klein Halevi considers essential. You can also read or watch Yossi’s analysis of these songs.  The second is from an Identity/Crisis podcast episode on Israeli Jewish Music episode with Joe Schwartz and Shayna Weiss. This playlist spans classics of the 20th century, the rise in popularity of Mizrahi musicians, and the role of piyyutim in Israeli music. You might consider listening to these playlists with a group of people, echoing the Israeli tradition of shirah b’tzibbur, public, communal singing.  

Another option is to mark the day by remembering the expressions of kindness, grace, and love from the past 7 months that offer hope, community, and resilience in the face of ongoing and prolonged trauma. In this video from November 2023, Dani Segal weaves together his intimate, contemporary reflections with texts ranging from Rashi to modern Israeli poetry as a new model of rebuilding. He asks us to view the Land of Israel not as a passive inheritance (morasha) but a betrothal (meorasa) we need to work for, invest in, and dream towards.  

For a glimpse of the ways in which Israeli rabbis have stepped up to assume the monumental task of leading, shepherding, and navigating the terrain of grief, loss, uncertainty, and war, listen to Yehuda Kurtzer’s interview with Tamar Elad-Appelbaum on Identity/ Crisis and read Mishael Zion’s piece on Israel’s community rabbis in the special edition of Sources: Israel at War. Finally, in this conversation on the For Heaven’s Sake podcast, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi discuss the sources of hope they are holding onto in these dark times. 

This Yom HaAtzmaut can be a time to return to earlier dreams of what Israel can and should be. These ideas, ideals, and values remind us what is at stake and why we persist in struggling for Israel’s soul and survival. Read Yehuda Kurtzer’s piece Liberal Zionism and the Idea of the Idea from the Fall 2022 issue Sources, which begins with the ideas that inspired early Zionism and then insists that Zionists must begin reimagining what Israel can be morally, culturally, and spiritually. Alternatively, check out Elana Stein Hain’s piece where she identifies the different orientations towards Judaism, the Jewish people, and the Jewish state.  Last Yom HaAtzmaut, Masua Sagiv and Mijal Bitton described the internal threats facing Israel and pleaded for Jews to defy history and rebuild a home that can be shared. These pieces were all penned before the events of October 7 and the war that followed, and certainly read differently than they did at the time they were written. Nevertheless, each piece remains an aspirational blueprint for a better future. They serve to evoke and stir us to recommit to the Israel of today and tomorrow.  

Read and download our Yom HaZikaron resources here.