In the heart of the Israeli calendar lies a sequence of days where a nation pauses, remembers, mourns, and celebrates. These days, spanning from Yom HaShoah to Yom HaZikaron and culminating in Yom Ha’atzmaut, form a thread binding past to present and tragedy to triumph.

While Yom HaShoah dances around our own Gregorian calendar, it always lands in spring and always on the 27th of Nissan on the Israeli calendar. The Knesset – their parliament – selected this specific date as it falls between the outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising on Passover eve and Yom Hazikaron.

Because these days are not just Israeli in meaning; they are deeply Jewish and universally resonant, the Merage Jewish Community Center is privileged to present our 11^th annual Reflections series, commemorating the Israeli Yamim, or Days. It is an opportunity to remind ourselves who we are and to share with our community – Jewish and not – our values and stories.

Every spring, with Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) we see Israel, a nation bowing its head to six million lives extinguished in the Holocaust. On this day, in Israel, sirens wail and time itself seems to halt. Yet Yom HaShoah is not confined by borders. The Shoah, or Holocaust, was a global Jewish tragedy — a rupture in history and humanity. For American Jews, too many of us descendants of survivors and those lost, and all affected, this day is deeply personal. It is a time to honor memory, to amplify stories, and to recommit to the values of justice, vigilance, and dignity. The siren may not sound in our streets, but it echoes in our hearts.

Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror), follows a week later reminding us that the safety and existence of our homeland has come at a great human cost. Together we honor Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror. The losses are not distant. Today, more than ever, the pain and horrors are in our embrace. We are reminded that responsibility of freedom is heavy.

The very next day, following Yom HaZikaron, the celebration of Yom Ha’atzmaut bursts forth. We celebrate Israel’s Independence Day, rising from tears to song, dance and fireworks. For Jews in America, Israel represents more than a nation-state, it is a spiritual, cultural, and emotional home. Its existence affirms that after millennia of exile, the Jewish people returned, rebuilt, and revived.

Here at the J, commemorating the Yamim is an act of solidarity – a declaration that our fates are bound together. It's a moment of identity as well: anchoring ourselves in our past, our people, and our values. It is how we say: We remember. We stand with you. We celebrate with you. We are you.

Please find the full event schedule here!