Yom Hazikaron speech

I've never had to face the suffering of loss. I've never been to a funeral. I've never been in war, and until the beginning of this year have I ever known someone who has.
What I have seen... is suffering. I've held in my arms a grieving mother, I've listened to a man expelled from his country from war, and I've heard the shaking voice f a veteran who hurts from what he was made to do. I've seen enough to learn that the wars we make - inside and out - can destroy our lives. War takes away the very heart of what we live for: our loved ones and our homes. My visit to Mt. Herzel in Israel this past January added for me a vital understanding of the nature of suffering.
As my Birth Right group gathered at this
powerful unification of graves, I watched
my Israeli friend grieve. I watched
them cry with their heads in their hands
while I held in my pocket a desperate
message from my Gazan friend, whose
family braced through bombs each night.
And I realized... that it was all the same.

I hope that as we gather to commemorate these soldiers we can find the courage to reach out to all who have lost from war. Whether we agreed with their motivations of not, there are people in this world who every day, face the challenge of happiness because of the results of war. I ask that today we may reach out with compassion and lovingkindness, and not feelings of hurt, for the suffering of war.