Yom HaShoah

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel to memorialize the six million Jews murdered in WWII by the Nazis. Last night at sundown to commence the observance, all businesses were closed, including all public transit also. Even gas stations close for the night. Every single place is closed. It made the return commute from work a bit complicated, but I didn't really mind.

The experience of Yom HaShoah in Israel can be quite surreal, and intensely moving. It is set every year to symbolically coincide with the date the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began. All television channels cease regular programming and only broadcast documentaries and films related to the memories of those lost, as well as other programs related to the war. The most moving of all customs however is the two minute  siren which sounds at 10 am every year on Yom HaShoah. No matter where you are, walking down the street, sitting in your office, or even driving on the freeway. For those two minutes, everything stops, and everyone, regardless of where you are or what you are doing, stands to pay their respect.

Yom HaShoah siren on the Ayalon Highway