Order of the Tekes (ceremony)

-         yom hazikaron

-         light the candles

-         yizkor

-         el male rahamim

-         paratroopers cry

-         unknown soldiers

-         how can I bless him

-         tfila leshlom hamedina

-         tfila lhayaley tzahal

-         singing- ani mamin

-         singing- hatikva

Yom Hazikaron

Yom Hazikaron is a day of collective and personal anguish mingled with awe and honor for the fallen who fell in the struggle for the establishment of the State of Israel and in its defense.

On Yom Hzikaron the entire nation remembers its debt and expresses eternal gratitude to its sons and daughters who gave their lives for the achievement of the country’s independence and its continued existence.

Ending at sundown, the somber, reflective mood of Yom Hazikaron gives wway to the celebration of Yom Ha’atsma’ut, a transition which emphasizes the lasting tie between the sacrifice of the country’s fallen and the continued existence of a vibrant and dynamic State of Israel.

Lighting the Remembrance candles

We ligt these remembrance candles as a symbol, to honor all the heroes of our generation; the partisan groups, the ghetto fighters and the underground defenders, the innocent victims of terror attacks, and those who fought in the wars to defend the State of Israel since its establishment

-Mrs Miriam Cohen-

I would like to ask everyone to please stand for a minute of silence to honor the lives of the fallen soldiers.

Thank you, please be seated.

יזכור

יזכור א-לוהים את בניו ובנותיו

אשר חרפו נפשם במאבק על המדינה- בדרך

ואת חילי צבא- הגנה לישראל

אשר נפלו במלחמות ישראל.

יזכור ישראל ויתברך בזרעו ויאבל

על זיו העלומים וחמדת הגבורה

וקדושת הרצון ומסירות הנפש אשר נספו

במערכות הכבדות.

יהיו גיבורי הדרור והניצחון הנאמנים

והאמיצים חתומים בלב ישראל לדור ודור.

Yizkor

May G-d remember the valiant men and women who

Braved mortal danger in the days of struggle prior to the

establishment of the state of Israel and the soldiers who

fell in the wars of Israel.

May the people of Israel cherish them in their memory,

Let them mourn the splendor of youth, the altruism of

Valors, the dedication of will ad the dignity of self- sacrifice

Which came to an end on the battlefield.

May the loyal and courageous heroes of freedom and

Victory be sealed forever within the hearts of all Israel,

in this generation and forevermore

א-ל מלא רחמים

א-ל מלא רחמים שוכן במרומים, המצא מנוחה נכונה על כנפי השכינה במעלות קדושים וטהורים, כזוהר הרקיע מזהירים, לנשמות הקדושים שנלחמו בכל מערכות ישראל, במחתרת ובצבא ההגנה לישראל ושנפלו במלחמתם ומסרו נפשם על קדושת השם, העם והארץ, בעבור שאנו מתפללים לעילוי נשמתיהם.

לכן בעל הרחמים יסתירם בסתר כנפיו לעולמים ויצרור בצרור החיים את נשמותיהם, ה' הוא נחלתם, בגן עדן תהיה מנוחתם, וינוחו בשלום על משכבותם ותעמוד לכל ישראל זכותם ויעמדו לגורלם לקץ הימים, ונאמר אמן.

E-l Male Rachamim

O G-d, full of mercy, who dwells on high, grant proper rest on the wings of the Divine Presence- in the lofty levels of the holy and the pure ones, who shine like he glow of the firmament- for the souls of the martyrs who fought in all the wars of Israel, in the underground and in the Israel Defense Forces, who met their death in war and pledged their souls to the sanctification of G-d’s Name, the Jewish people, and the Land of Israel, by virtue of our prayers for the ascent of their souls.

May the Merciful One therefore shelter them beneath of his wings for eternity, and may He bind their souls in the Bond of Life. The Lord is their heritage, Eden their place of rest. May they repose in peace on their resting place, may their merit reflect on all Israel, and may they meet their destiny in the End of Days.

Now let us respond: Amen

The Paratroopers Cry

This wall has heard many prayers

This wall has seen the fall of many other walls

This wall has felt the touch of mourning women

             and petitions lodged between its stones.

This wall saw Rabbi Yehuda Halevi trampled before it

This wall has seen Caesars rise and fall

But this wall had never seen paratroopers cry.

This wall saw them tired and wrung out

This wall saw them wounded, mutilated

Running to it with excitement, cries and silence.

And creeping as torn creatures in the alleys of the old city.

And they are covered with dust and with parched lips

They whisper:

       “If I forgot thee, if I forgot Thee Jerusalem”

They are swift as eagles and strong as lions

And their tank- the fiery chariot of Elijah the prophet

They pass by with noise

They pass by a stream

They remember the 2,000 awful  years

In which we had not even a wall

            to place our tears before.

And here they stand before it and breathe in dust

Here they look at it with sweet pain

And tears run down and they look at one another perplexed

How does it happen that paratroopers cry?

How does it happen that they touch this wall with great emotion?

How does it happen that their weeping changes to song?

Perhaps because these boys of 19,

             Born as the same time as the state,

             Carry on their shoulders- 2,000 years.

Unknown Soldiers

We are nameless soldiers, no uniforms on,

Surrounded by terror and death

We serve our cause for the length of our lives-

A service that ends with our breath.

Not driven like slaves at the master’s command,

Forced to die at the stranger’s behest.

We wish to be free men forever and ever,

For our people to die we request.

With thousands of obstacles, placed in our way.

By merciless fate, are we met;

No foe and no spy and no prison- cell walls

May stop our reaching the aim fore us set.

Our death if we meet on the street or at home,

Put to rest in the silence of night,

In our place, that’s left void, shall thousands more come

To guard and defend in the fight.

The tears of our mothers, bereft of their sons,

And the blood of mere babes that was split,

Shall be like cement- and our bodes, the bricks-

And thus will our land be rebuilt.

In days that red with the flow of our blood,

In nights of the blackest despair,

Through the length and breadth of our land shall we ralse

Our banner of strength without fear.

How Can I Bless

“How can I bless him, what gift shall I give

 To this child” said the angel of love.

And he gave him a smile that was radiant as light,

And he gave him two eyes that were open and clear

To seek out each flower and each creature and bird

And a heart to rejoice in each day of the year.

“How can I bless him, what gift shall I give

 To this youngster” said the angel of love.

And he gave him two feet that were light in the dance,

A soul to rejoice in each tune and each song,

A hand that collected the shells on the shore,

An ear to respond to the old and the young.

“How can I bless him, what gift shall I give

 To this sapling” said the angel of love.

But those hands that were able to make flowers grow,

Were blessed with the skill to drive engines of might,

And the feet that could dance also knew how to march,

And the lips that could sing, also summoned to flight.

“How cam I bless him, what gift shall I give,

 To this man” said the angel of love.

“I have given him all that an angel can give,

Two light dancing feet, and a song and a smile,

A delicate hand and a sensitive heart.

What else can I give him? I’ve given him all.”

“How can I bless him, what gift shall I give

 To this child” said the angel of love.

 He has joined the angels, that wonderful boy,

He has no more blessings, no longer is blessed.

Oh, Lord, Lord above, did your angel forget

To bless him with life along with the rest?

תפילה לשלום מדינת ישראל

אבינו שבשמים, צור ישראל וגואלו, ברך את מדינת ישראל, ראשית צמיחת גאלתנו. הגן עליה באברת חסדך ופרוש עליה סכת שלומך, ושלח אורך ואמתך לראשיה, שריה ויועציה ותקנם בעצה טובה מלפניך. חזק את ידי מגני ארץ קדשנו והנחילם אלוהינו ישועה ועטרת נצחון תעטרם, ונתת שלום בארץ ושמחת עולם ליושביה. ואת אחינו כל בית ישראל פקד-נא בכל ארצות פזוריהם ותוליכם מהרה קוממיות לציון עירך ולירושלים משכן שמך, ככתוב בתורת משה עבדך: אם יהיה נדחך בקצה השמים משם יקבצך יהוה אלוהיך ומשם יקחך: והביאך יהוה אלוהיך אל הארץ אשר-ירשו אבותיך וירשתה והיטיבך והרבך מאבותיך: הופע בהדר גאון עזף על כל יושבי תבל ארצך, ויאמר כל אשר נשמה באפו: יהוה אלוהי ישראל מלך ומלכותו בכל משלה, אמן סלה.

Prayer for State of Israel

Our Father in Heaven, Rock and Redeemer of Israel, bless the State of Israel, the first manifestation of the approach of our redemption. Shield it with Your loving kindness, envelop it in Your peace, and bestow Your light and truth upon its leaders, ministers, and advisors, and grace them with Your good counsel. Strengthen the hands of those who defend our holy land, grant them deliverance, and adorn them in a mantle of victory. Ordain peace in the land and grant its inhabitants eternal happiness. Lead them, swiftly and upright, to Your city Zion and to Jerusalem, the abode of Your Name, as is written in the Torah of Your servant Moses: “Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the world, from there the Lord your God will gather you, from there He will fetch you. And the Lord your God will bring you to the land that your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your fathers.” Draw our hearts together to revere and venerate Your name and to observe all the precepts of Your Torah, and send us quickly the Messiah son of David, agent of Your vindication, to redeem those who await Your deliverance.

Manifest yourself in the splendor of Your boldness before the eyes of all inhabitants of Your world, and may everyone endowed with a soul affirm that the Lord, God of Israel, is king and his dominion is absolute. Amen forevermore

תפילה לשלום חיילי צבא הגנה לישראל

מי שברך אבותינו אברהם יצחק ויעקב הוא יברך את חיילי צבא הגנה לישראל,

העומדים על משמר ארצנו וערי א-לוהינו מגבול הלבנון ועד מדבר מצרים ומן הים הגדול

עד לבוא הערבה ביבשה באויר ובים. יתן ה' את אויבינו הקמים עלינו נגפים לפניהם.

הקדוש-ברוך-הוא ישמור ויציל את חיילינו מכל-צרה וצוקה ומכל-נגע ומחלה

וישלח ברכה והצלחה בכל מעשה ידיהם. ידבר שונאינו תחתיהם

ויעטרם בכתר ישועה ובעטרת נצחון. ויקים בהם הכתוב: כי ה' א-לוהיכם

ההולך עמכם להלחם לכם עם אויביכם להושיע אתכם:

ונאמר אמן.

Prayer for the Well-Being of the Israel Defense Forces

May He who blessed our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, bless the soldiers of the Israel Defence Forces, who stand watch over our land and the cities of our Lord, from the Lebanese border to the desert of Egypt and from the great sea to the verge of the wilderness, on land, in the air, and at sea. May God strike down before them our enemies who rise against us. May the Holy One save and spare our soldiers from all forms of woe and distress, of affliction and illness, and may He invest their every action with blessing and success. May he vanquish by their means those who hate us, and may He adorn them with a crown of deliverance and a mantle of victory. Thus may the verse be fulfilled: “For it is the Lord your God who marches with you to do battle for you against your enemy, to bring you victory.” Now let us respond “Amen.”