Amidst the difficult year that has passed since the horrific events of October 7, the entire nation gathers in a day of mourning to honor the memory of the victims, support bereaved families, and express hope for the return of the hostages. The main ceremonies will take place at Mount Herzl, attended by senior officials, bereaved families, and security forces.
At 6:29 a.m., the exact time the massacre began, national flags will be lowered to half-staff at two central locations—the plaza of the Memorial Hall for Fallen Security Forces and the Memorial for Victims of Hostile Acts at Mount Herzl. The ceremony will include an IDF honor guard, with a speech from Ofir Dor, the father of Idan Dor, who was murdered in the massacre.
Two main state memorial ceremonies will take place during the day:
– 11:00 a.m.: A memorial ceremony for fallen security forces in the Plaza of the Nation’s Greats.
– 2:00 p.m.: A memorial ceremony for civilians murdered, held at the plaza of the Victims of Hostile Acts Memorial.
In addition, four symbols of state authority—the President, Prime Minister, Speaker of the Knesset, and the Acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court—will attend the ceremonies, along with ministers, Knesset members, heads of the security establishment, and rescue organizations. The journalist Lital Shemesh will host the ceremony, with singer Itay Levy performing a song.
These ceremonies will honor the memory of the deceased, celebrate the bravery of soldiers, communities, security forces, and rescue units, and express hope for the safe return of the hostages. National flags will be raised back to full staff at sunset, marking the end of the national day of mourning.
As it is the first year after the massacre and the beginning of the war which hasn’t ended yet and there are still 101 hostages in Gaza, the country is still finding the right way to remember and mourn. Some prefer private grassroots ceremonies, and others prefer government led national ceremonies. Therefore, there have already been many different events of commemoration on many different days.
In addition, in Israel, two calendars are used. Generally, the Gregorian calendar is used for regular daily use, however, the Hebrew calendar is often used for national holidays and always for the Jewish holidays. Many ceremonies already took place on October 7th. However, there was a feeling that a better day to commemorate would be according to the Hebrew date. To further complicate the situation, the day of the massacre was also on the holiday of Simchat Torah, so memorials can’t take place on that specfic day which is a holiday. So, they will take place after the holiday on the 24th of Tishrei, which was Saturday, October 26th this year. As memorials don’t take place on Shabbat, many families held memorial ceremonies on Friday, but government events will take place today.
In the next few years, it seems likely that rememberance will focus more on the Hebrew date which will minimize conflicts with the Tishrei holidays.
