Cape Town’s Yom Hazikaron

SHANA BEINART

Addressing those gathered at Herzlia High School on Tuesday night, community shlicha Michal Ilan said these poignant words: “They say it takes a village to raise a child… and each of those children left a village behind. A community of people who loved him or her. Each of those deaths were sudden and left a void in the lives of parents, siblings, spouses, friends, girlfriends and boyfriends, classmates, neighbours, children and more. Tonight we chose to focus on those people, the ones who were left to mourn their loved ones.”

All youth movements participated in the ceremony and read moving tributes, poems, remembrances and eulogies of the fallen. Each speaker lit a memorial candle on behalf of a different group of bereaved loved ones.

Two candles were lit by Machal volunteers who fought in Israel’s War of Independence, Leslie Marcus and Albert Shorkend.

The Herzlia Vocal Ensemble sang two songs, one of which was written by the best friend of a fallen air force pilot and first sung at his funeral by his sister.

At the entrance to the venue, an interactive exhibit was erected as a maze, with a focus on honouring South Africans who fought and fell in Israel’s wars and terror attacks. Attendees could place a stone on a replica tombstone to express their personal grief, watch videos reflecting specific stories, share words, and light a candle in commemoration.