Date: 2006-04-25 10:04 Subject: That was...amazing Security: Public In my heart: thankful In my head: Noise from the street Tags: israel

I just experienced my first Yom Ha'Shoah siren in Israel. I'm sitting here crying now. What a ridiculously moving moment.

I am alone in my apartment doing work and I got up to get some water when I heard the siren. I'd forgotten that it sounds at 10 a.m. on Yom Ha'Shoah. I went out onto my balcony because I wanted to have my moment out there looking out onto the street. I had no idea it would be as amazing as it was. I looked out and saw the bus at my bus stop, just stopped. It was sitting there. People who had been driving stopped their cars and got out into the street to stand. Everyone on the sidewalks stopped. Everything was frozen. And I stood on my balcony crying because I love this country. I love this country because people here -- as hurried as they are -- really take a minute to think about the important things. I thought about how I got here and how I came out of free will, not out of duress. I thought about those who fled Europe after the war...and those who seem to be fleeing now. And meanwhile...I just decided that this is my home and I wanted to be here despite the luxuries of living in America. I wasn't persecuted. I wasn't tortured. I just wanted to be here. And so I am.

I thought about what it must look like on the Ayalon (the main highway in Tel Aviv) and wondered if people really stopped their cars and got out on the highway.

After the minute, when the sirens stopped, everyone just got back in their cars or started walking right where they'd left off. I came inside and wanted to talk to a new immigrant and luckily TW was online. She was crying too. She's on the 51st floor of a building in Tel Aviv and said she had a view of the entire city. Everyone was frozen. The Ayalon was, indeed, frozen as well. I can't imagine what it must look like from up there.

I love this country and I'm so thankful I was here for this.