Tikvah
Editors’ Pick

May 25, 2018

A Memorial Day Lesson for Americans, from Israel and Abraham Lincoln

The link between the sacrifice of American dead and the freedom that we, the living, enjoy.

The battle of Gettysburg ended on July 3, 1863; a few days later, Lincoln would note the proximity of this date to Independence Day in remarks, perhaps inspired by the sermon of a prominent rabbi, that presaged the famous opening of his address at the dedication of the Gettysburg cemetery that November. Parallel to the coincidence of these two dates is the Israeli practice of holding memorial ceremonies for those who gave their lives in its wars on the day before its own Independence Day. Meir Soloveichik remarks:

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