“If You Are Reading This” event hosted by local Jewish federations remembered the lives of Israelis lost in conflict
What would you say to loved ones if you weren’t sure you would see them again? For many people, it’s a philosophical question. But for some, including soldiers, their position makes it a real possibility they must confront – especially in places like Israel, where the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) regularly put their lives at risk both in battle and during regular operations.
In an April 20th observance of Yom HaZikaron (Israel’s Memorial Day, typically held on 4th of Iyyar in the Hebrew calendar) co-hosted by the Minneapolis and St. Paul Jewish Federations, those present at the Barry Family Campus of the Minnesota Jewish Community Center (JCC) in St. Louis Park were asked not only to remember the dead, but to listen closely to the words they left behind.
Titled If You Are Reading This, the event centered on messages written by Israeli soldiers who died in action since the founding of the State of Israel. Yom HaZikaron commemorates both soldiers killed performing their duties and civilian victims of terror attacks, and many of the soldiers left behind letters and notes meant for loved ones in the event of death; in fact, the IDF encourages soldiers to prepare such messages.
“’If you read this…’ are four very simple words,” said David Kaplan, CEO of the St. Paul Jewish Federation. “Words written by someone who understands that they may not return and yet chooses to reach back toward those they love, to leave something behind. We answer by ensuring that their voices, written in moments of uncertainty, continue to echo in moments of clarity.”
Blending memory and music to create a lasting memorial
The program also included performances created as part of the Soon We Will Become a Song initiative, which has transformed some of those messages into music. Several of the songs were performed during the event, giving the written words a new voice. Around the space, 17 of these stories were displayed on boards, each telling the story of a life cut short through the words they left.
By setting these messages to music, the initiative turns private farewell into shared remembrance and experience. At the ceremony, those performances became a bridge between the written stories on the boards and the audience. The letters were no longer artifacts, but art – to be sung, heard and shared.
A day of remembrance, but also immediacy
Although Yom HaZikaron is a day of remembrance, speakers made clear that this year’s observance was not only about the past. Multiple guests and delegations who had planned to travel from Israel were unable to do so because of the ongoing conflict with Iran and attacks on Israel. Their absence was part of the story: This was not a memorial separate from current events but held in their shadow.
The people featured in the stories and songs included soldiers and terror victims from the early days of the state of Israel, from the late decades of the 20th century, and people lost in the recent conflict triggered by the terror attacks of October 7, 2023. Speakers included local Jewish leaders, an American veteran who had taken part in a program that connected US and Israeli reservists, and a powerful letter from an Israeli mother on reserve duty to her young children at home – one of those who couldn’t travel due to the current conflict – read by one of the event organizers.
The mother noted that the need for protection is eternal: “I ran to the shelter to look at my child,” she wrote, speaking of a missile attack. “My father did the same for me in the Gulf War.” He, in turn, was descended from Holocaust survivors, each generation wanting their child never to need to hold a weapon, but also appreciating that the ability to defend loved ones is the greatest right. Together, they formed “a circle of parents guarding their children at night.”
Forging community across time and distance
The evening closed with a striking moment, as parents in the audience whose children have served or are serving in the IDF were invited forward to light a candle. More than 20 people rose, reinforcing that what might be thought of as history was in fact current, personal, and local – Minnesota parents linked directly to the event’s themes.
The Minneapolis Jewish Federation, St. Paul Jewish Federation and the Minnesota JCC, along with other Jewish community institutions across Minnesota, are a key link in that chain, helping organize events and providing safe places to gather, celebrate, mourn, and maintain ties that span generations and nations.
In that spirit, If You Are Reading This asked attendees to participate alongside millions of others around the world, to sit with words left behind, to hear them sung, and to understand how the stories of the dead still shape the lives of the living.
Looking toward the future with hope
Just days after the Yom HaZikaron event, community members again gathered at the Barry Family Campus. But this time, the atmosphere was not somber. It was joyful.
Left: Noa Rosenzweig (MJF) Right: Andrea Golden (Minnesota JCC)
The day following Yom HaZikaron is known as Yom Ha’atzmaut, or Israel’s Independence Day. The holiday, this year marking 78 years of Israeli Independence, was celebrated on April 26th with programming put on by the two Jewish Federations and the Minnesota JCC.
Israeli culture was visible in every aspect of the event: the food, the music and the decorations showcasing Hebrew language. Blue and white decorations covered every corner of the campus.
The timing of the holiday is no coincidence. It’s meant to give communities, both in Israel and abroad, a sense of hope after looking back at what’s been lost.
“As an Israeli, seeing the blue and white everywhere today and hearing your voices makes me so incredibly proud. It reminds me that we are truly one family, no matter where we are in the world,” Noa Rosenzweig, Israel Center manager at MJF, said to a crowd at the Yom Ha’atzmaut event.
“But today isn’t just about looking across the ocean. It’s about looking at the person standing next to you. It is so important that we stand with Israel, but it is just as important that we stand together, right here, with each other.”
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L-R: David Kaplan (CEO STPJF), Stephanie Chauss (CEO Minnesota JCC), James Cohen (CEO MJF)
