National and Public Mourning

It's Israel's Memorial Day today.  I think that every Jewish child growing up in Israel understands what it means in a way that I never understood about American Memorial Day.  First of all, it's connected to Independence Day to make it very clear that only due to the sacrifices of those killed in our wars and terror attacks do we have a State of Israel.

That's a very important lesson.  We must pay for our independence as a state.  This isn't some fuzzy, drug induced "Imagine..."  John Lennon got it all wrong, and all of those who praise that song aren't really listening.  If there's "Nothing to kill or die for," there's nothing to live for either.

I'm proud to be living in a country that reminds us all of the time that our lives here came at a great expense.