A Break From Humor on Yom Hazikaron - Israel's Memorial Day

Last Monday it was Yom Hashoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day, and tody it's Yom Hazikaron, Israel's Memorial Day. 

We think it's inappropriate to start the week off with a joke, our usual Monday posting, when everything stops throughout Israel for two minutes at 11 am, to remember Israel's fallen soldiers.

So we're taking a day off from jokes and humor to share a few minutes of silence in solidarity with our family and friends in Israel as they pause to reflect on the sacrifices made by so many to insure a life of freedom and happiness for all who live there.

It's become very popular around the world for flash mobs to show up in a public space and, on command, to freeze in place for a few minutes, making passers-by laugh at the sudden cessation of all activity. But in Israel on Yom Hazikaron and on Yom Hashoah, it's not a joke.

Last year we experienced first-hand the solemnity of the two minutes when all car and foot traffic came to a sudden halt. You really have to be there to feel the effect, so we're sharing a video from last year showing a bustling street becoming frozen for two minutes and then returning to normal.

Tomorrow is Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day, the most festive day of the year, which starts immediately at the conclusion of Yom Hazikaron. We'll be back with appropriate content to celebrate Israel's 66th birthday.

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)