Q&A: The Commemorative Status of Those Murdered and Killed in the Iron Swords War
The Commemorative Status of Those Murdered and Killed in the Iron Swords War
Question
It is important to me to say before asking the question that in my opinion, the murder of our civilians on that day was a cruel and despicable act, and I hope our enemies will fall במהרה and that the families will be comforted.
I would also add that every soldier who fell in the last war is like a holy martyr who fought for the Jewish people, and still, I do not think his status is greater than that of a fighter who fell in Operation Protective Edge, Cast Lead, Peace for Galilee, the Yom Kippur War, or any other war in Israel. a0
In light of my friends who want to create a commemoration for that day as such a0 a0and give it a special status and a special day,
a question is this: does the Rabbi think it would be right to give a special commemorative status, like the American 9/11, for those murdered and killed in the last war, or would it be more correct for us to subsume this within the existing memorial days for fallen IDF soldiers and victims of hostile acts, as has been customary until now? a0
Answer
I do not express positions on these matters, since they involve feelings, and there is no truth or falsehood here. Clearly, the status of the soldiers in this war is no different from any other war. By the way, most of them are not holy martyrs, in any war, and I have already elaborated on this. The commemoration under discussion is for those who were murdered, not for the soldiers. And by the way, here too this is just emotionalism, since I do not see any principled difference between one murdered person and 1,000. For his family and for him, it is the same thing.
Discussion on Answer
I do not see myself as competent in matters of national consciousness. I wrote what I think is true. States of consciousness, experiences, and psychology do not interest me very much.
Don’t you think there is a substantive difference at the level of national consciousness between the murder of one person and of a thousand?
At the family level, it’s obvious that the family lost their loved one whether it’s one or a thousand.
But in the national consciousness, this fact changed the order of the world. You don’t see 300,000 reservists mobilized over one Jew who was murdered. Over an event like this, yes.