Three years have passed since a joyous Shabbos holiday morning turned dark.
Three years of pain, courage, and determination that have changed each and every one of us. And while time moves forward, we do not leave that day behind.
In 1955, my father, Haviv Shimoni ז״ל, wrote a poem in Jerusalem called A Monument of Glory. He wrote of the loss and sacrifice of his time, and of the enduring hope for a better future.
72 years later, his words still resonate:
רק אתמול נסער הלב, והתקדש בדם טהור
שנשפך בידי זדים, והיום נכספנו לגלי אור
אבות ובנים יחושו, לשאת עין לתפילה למרום
ששעת רצון תגיע ותרגיע, ודם ישראל יחדל לזרום
כי אנו נשאף לבנות ארץ, לקומם חרבות עולם
לראות ביתנו מתנוסס, ומוגן ומובטח ומושלם
ועל אלה שהיו ואינם נתאבל, אף נקים לזכרם חיש מהר
בעומק הכרתינו ומצפונינו, פן נשכחם בינתיים – אנדרטת פאר
חביב שמעוני ז״ל
ירושלים, 31 בינואר 1955
“Only yesterday our hearts trembled, sanctified by pure blood
spilled at the hands of evil, and today we yearn for rays of light.Fathers and sons lift their eyes in prayer to Heaven,
that an hour of grace may come and bring peace, and Israel’s blood cease to flow.
For we aspire to build a country, to restore what was destroyed,
to see our home protected, secure and whole.
And for those who were and are no longer here, we will mourn and raise in their memory,
deep within our hearts and conscience, lest we forget them, a monument of glory.”
–“A Monument of Glory,” by Haviv Shimoni
This painting is from my My Primal Cry series, which I painted in 1999 following one of the first suicide bombings in Jerusalem.
From 1955 to 1999 to October 7, 2023, and to today, the years have passed, but the weight of sadness has grown. Beneath the vibrancy of Israeli life lies a deep, deep ocean of pain for the senseless loss, for lives taken too soon, and the stark reality that we are still fighting for the simple right to live in peace.
We mourn. We remember. We rebuild. And we remain determined: להיות עם חופשי בארצנו ארץ ציון וירושלים
To be a free people in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem.
שיהיה זכרם של יקירינו ברוך לעולם ועד. עם ישראל חי
