יום השואה

today marks Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day. in israel, one of the main ways it is commemorated is by sounding a siren throughout the whole city at 10am, for about 2 minutes. everyone immediately stops what they are doing and stands silent during that time period. today a few friends and i went outside the pardes building a minute before the siren to watch and remember with the israeli public. as soon as the siren began, all cars (except one cab, notably) halted and their passengers exited. it was a more powerful moment than i could have imagined, knowing that all of israel, the center of the jewish people, was remembering an event, perhaps the event, that defines much of jewish history. never have i seen so clearly a representation of the acknowledgement of the past of the jewish people, framed against a beautiful and powerful backdrop of its present.

..אתה יודע שאתה גר בישראל כש

you know you live in israel when...

it's windy. and you have sand in your mouth.