Lee Diamond – Havdalah: The separation ceremony
The separation ceremony
Between the holy and the ordinary
Between the profound and the profane.
But why separate?
Why not have our everyday
Infused with the profound?
Why not follow the command
To be a Holy Nation.
To STRIVE for holiness?
The siren of Israel’s Memorial Day has just sounded
Like the sound of the shofar
At the end of Yom Kippur
The sound doesn’t end
The sound of the shofar
Is meant to last
The sound of the siren
A two minute sound on memorial day
Is meant to last!
It’s meant to Impact
To affect
It’s meant to teach
Us to blend
Our pain
With the joy of living.
There is no celebration
Of Israel’s independence
Without the tears of loss.
Not “their loss” but
“Our Loss”
There is no independence
Without the price of our sacrifice
They can’t be separated
There can’t be a “havdalah”
Between our national tragedy
And our national rebirth.
One must influence the other.
The profound must influence
The profound.
There is no Yom Haatzmaut
Without a Yom Ha Zikaron
There Is no Yom HaZikaron
Without Our Atzmaut .
They are one.
Let them flow Into Each other
