Yom HaZikaron Tekkes

Yom HaZikaron, the Israeli Day of Memorial, is a complicated day to mark in the Diaspora. Israelis sometimes feel strange to be marking the day outside of Israel, missing the all-togetherness of an entire nation standing to attention, and sometimes feeling bad they are not with their family. Local Jews also grapple with some ambivalence – wishing to show solidarity on the one hand, but at the same time knowing their emotional connection to Yom HaZikaron is always going to be qualitatively different to that of their Israeli counterparts.

This year JW3 will be marking  a deliberate attempt to bridge these gaps in a creative way, with the help of Bet Avi Chai. Every year Bet Avi Chai commissions top Israeli animators to create short films about people’s memories of their fallen loved ones. The JW3 Yom HaZikaron ceremony will incorporate readings together with these short films – all with English translations.

About The Oranges

In 1998 the Israeli government chose to add to the emphasis of Yom HaZikaron. Not only would this day mark the memories of soldiers fallen in battle, but it would also mark the loss of those who fell in terror attacks. In the light of this tradition, JW3 will also be marking the victims of terror with a special performance of About The Oranges. This piece of solo theatre was created out of the burning atrocities of those terrible days during the 2nd Intifada – a hilarious and horrific combination of comedy and tragedy.

“Bleakly blackly funny”**** )Sunday Times), “a one-man theatrical border conflict, with Gringras madly stomping across national, political and generational lines — not to mention the jagged one that divides laughter and pain.” (Vancouver Sun), “heartbreaking prayer for peace” (The Scotsman) “stripped down the Middle East conflict to its essentials: pain and comedy” (The Guardian)