The Cost of Having a Jewish State -- And the Cost of Not

Monday evening and Tuesday mark Memorial Day in Israel, one of the only countries that has two official national days of mourning.

Last week, we observed Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, honoring the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators — and with them, the shattered world of Jewish communities across Europe and beyond.

This week, we gather once again for Yom HaZikaron, Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers of Israel’s wars and for the victims of terrorism — those who paid the ultimate price so that the Jewish People could live freely and securely in our own homeland.

The two days stand in profound conversation with one another. As Israelis often say: Yom HaShoah reminds us of the cost of not having a Jewish state, while Yom HaZikaron reminds us of the cost of having one.

To understand Israel is to understand this tension: the yearning and the price, the survival and the sacrifice.

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