Israel's National Memorial Hall for Fallen Soldiers

It's been some time since I first visited Israel's National Memorial Hall for Fallen Soldiers at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. It's a beautiful building and definitely something that I want to share here on my blog, but I have a personal connection to it too. My youngest son is memorialised there. And that makes it hard to write about.
Regular readers will remember that we lost our son in May 2022. He was 19 years old. We are still trying to get to the bottom of what happened to him the night he died, and the war in Israel has not helped the situation. I am writing this post because I want everyone to remember Gadi. Showing you his brick at the memorial is just one way to remember him.

Israel's National Memorial Hall for Fallen Soldiers is located on Mount Herzl, where Israel's national military cemetery and other memorial and educational facilities are situated. It is a memorial for all servicepeople - from the army, police, Shin Bet security agency, Mossad spy agency and prison service - who gave their lives establishing and defending the State of Israel, and includes not only those killed in action, but also anybody who died in uniform. Planning and building the site took more than 10 years. Construction on the memorial began in March 2015 and the hall was finally opened to the public on the eve of Israel's Memorial Day, Yom HaZikaron, in April 2017. It is the first memorial in Israel that commemorates the memory of all Israel's fallen soldiers in one site. There are hundreds of other monuments for individuals or particular battles or military corps scattered across the country, many of which I have written about previously. 

Gadi Isaacs

19th January 2003-21st May 2022

The exterior of the hall, which is set alongside a busy street in Jerusalem, echoes the topography of the surrounding mountain landscape, while inside a tall torch-like formation of bricks, symbolizing an eternal flame, opens the hall to the sky, flooding the void with natural light. At the entrance, a video installation by Israeli artist Michal Rovner juxtaposes groups of soldiers from various periods in the history of Israel's wars, moving and running on one shared landscape before fading away.

More than 24,000 bricks wrap around the hall's walls, forming a 250-metre long "Wall of Names". Each brick is individually engraved in the same font and size with the name of a fallen soldier and the date the soldier died. Neither rank nor mention of the place or circumstance in which the soldier perished is listed. The bricks are no higher than about six feet from the floor, so that family members can reach up and touch the name. A lightbulb adjacent to each engraved brick is lit on the anniversary of the soldier's death, as per the Jewish tradition to light a candle so that the memory of lost loved one still lives on and burns bright. Every morning a memorial service is held in order to honour those who fell on that specific Hebrew date, and near the hall's upper exit, twelve pillars with screens display the pictures and more information about the men and women who died on that day.

The "Wall of Names" begins with the most recent fatality, and at the top of the spiral is a brick with the name of the Jewish guard who was killed in Jerusalem in May 1873 as part of a dispute with the Palestinians over water in the years before Israel became a state. The names - which sadly now also include two of Gadi's closest friends, Ariel and Yakir, who both fell in Gaza - are inscribed in local stone.

Visitors are led through the memorial, from the external entrance court, past the Ner Tamid (eternal flame) and a flag pole with the Israeli flag, through the main spiral ramp and ending at an upper exit, from which one can continue into the military cemetery. A computerized system enables visitors to access information, pictures, and summarized biographies of the dead via touch screens. Towards the end of the journey through the hall, visitors are invited to light a virtual candle in memory of a particular soldier.

Israel's National Memorial Hall for Fallen Soldiers was included on the list of finalists for the prestigious Royal Institute of British Architects' 2018 international prize for world's best new building. The memorial was designed and constructed by Kimmel Eshkolot Architects, a Tel Aviv based Israeli architecture firm.

Finally, a happy update regarding the hostages. After 477 days in captivity Na'ama Levy, Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa and Liri Albag returned to Israel yesterday as part of a ceasefire deal with Hamas. Last week Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher were released. No words can describe the relief. But the price Israel has had to pay for their release is painfully high - amongst the prisoners released are mass murderers. 

But to Na'ama, Karina, Daniella and Liri - welcome home!

90 hostages remain in captivity in Gaza. Bring them home now!

* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun., Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) and My Corner of the World.

A New Door Sign

My eldest son and his girlfriend needed a door sign for their student apartment. I decided to create a papercut sign for them, with their names, in Hebrew, in the centre. Of course I added my signature little bird as well.

I hand drew my design, which is made up of foliage and seed heads, then scanned the image and flipped it, before printing it on a piece of Textura Recycled Bright White Card.

I am sharing photos of the piece as I cut it and as their names emerged from the card.

Hila, my son's girlfriend, likes natural colours and seems to favour a pallet of cream and beige, so I backed the piece with a dark beige backing paper. It is mounted in a 13x18cm lightweight picture frame, which could easily be stuck to their front door.

Nadav and Hila were delighted with their new sign. They have since told me that every person who has seen it has complimented them on it!

* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun., Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday), Tuesday Turn About and Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop.

Twenty Four

Our eldest son, Nadav, turned 24 last month. I shared his 22nd birthday card in January and his 23rd in July. I am squeezing this latest card in at the end of the year so that I can get back on schedule!

Nadav moved to the southern Israeli city of Be'er Sheva in September and recently began his university studies in Computer Science there. Be'er Sheva is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel and is often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev". He and his girlfriend Hila found a nice apartment there and have made it their home. Their student flat is a lot different to the ones I lived in back in the day!

Nadav's card this year shows him using his new ASUS laptop. He is wearing his 2024/25 red Arsenal home shirt. The logo of the university where he is studying, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, is on his left. The flame symbol comprises the letters "alef" and "nun", the first letters of "Universitat Hanegev" (University of the Negev - the name of the University until 1974). The colour orange was chosen to symbolize the different hues of the desert, focusing on the vision of David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, to establish a university with a mission to develop the Negev.

Next to the logo I added a road sign pointing to Be'er Sheva, representing Nadav's move to a new city.

On Nadav's right I added a red heart with Hila's name on it. She is an important part of his life and could not be left off the card! Behind him is a photo of their apartment. They have done a great job of making it look nice. Finally, a big red number 24 marks his age. 

There was a homemade birthday cake as well, though he only got to enjoy it the day after his birthday, when he paid us a flying visit. On the day of his birthday itself there were university studies to get on with!

* This post has been shared on Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) and Creatively Crafty Linky Party.

Hila 23

My eldest son's girlfriend, Hila, celebrated her 23rd birthday at the end of June. My son, Nadav, sent me a favourite photo of the two of them together, and asked me to make Hila a birthday card based on it.

Hila and Nadav spent some time travelling in the Far East earlier this year. They visited Hội An, a city in Vietnam known for its well-preserved ancient town, and also for its workshops and tailors where you can have custom-made clothes made. Hila and Nadav decided to do a cooking workshop together and, on their second day in the city, they joined the workshop of a woman named Hon, along with two more Israeli families and a Dutch couple. Hon is apparently well known among Israelis!

They started the workshop with a tour of the local market. Hon explained to them about local fruits and vegetables, many of which they didn't recognise and are not available in Israel. Then, in the workshop they prepared, among other things, spring rolls wrapped in thin rice wrappers and filled with a variety of fresh vegetables, and egg rolls with a cooked filling and wrapped in a fried, crispy wrapper. This is what they are holding in the photo Nadav shared with me.

I have shown Hila and Nadav wearing the black aprons they were supplied with at the cooking workshop. They are proudly holding the results of their hard work! I added a big number 23 to mark Hila's age. The Hebrew greeting says "Happy Birthday Hila ❤".

They both look happy enough with the card!

* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun., Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday), Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop and Happiness is Homemade.

Twenty Three

It took me a bit longer than I anticipated to share the birthday card I made for my eldest son's 23rd birthday. My blogging schedule is a little off and I only shared his 22nd birthday card in January (his 23rd birthday was the previous November). I am sharing his birthday card now, before his next birthday comes around!

Nadav is a big Arsenal fan. I have mentioned it many times before. His birthday cards since the age of five have all somehow featured football, or more specifically, Arsenal.

This year I showed Nadav and his girlfriend, Hila, wearing Arsenal shirts. They flew to the UK last September to visit our family there and of course managed to squeeze in a couple of games too! My card is loosely based on a photo of the two of them taken at the Emirates Stadium, where they went to see Arsenal vs. Tottenham Hotspur. The final score was 2-2, for those of you who are interested!

You can see the stadium in the background, along with a little aeroplane and a big number 23 to mark Nadav's age. Nadav and Hila were supposed to start several months of post army travel in October, but the war began and they both ended up back in the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) instead. The little plane was to remind Nadav that he would one day get to travel, which I'm pleased to say happened in the end.

As with all birthdays in our home, there was a homemade cake as well.

* This post has been shared on Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday), The Good. The Random. The Fun. and Tuesday Turn About Link Party.