We are living through difficult times. Everything feels heavy all the time. I doubt that I am alone. This comes into focus today with Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s memorial day. Enacted into law in 1963, Yom HaZikaron has been traditionally dedicated to fallen soldiers, commemoration has also been extended to civilian victims of terrorism. This year still amidst this ongoing war in Gaza, this Yom HaZikaron hits differently.
In Chris Hayes’s Siren’s Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource, he argues that the American Dream has been undermined by a set of powerful and seductive “siren songs” that have lured the nation towards inequality and instability. Hayes argues that these “siren songs” have masked the reality of increasing inequality, declining social mobility, and a fraying social fabric. There he write:
Information is abundant; attention is scarce. Information is theoretically infinite, while attention is constrained. This is why information is cheap and attention is expensive.
(The Sirens’ Call)
Today I have been thinking about this war on our attention. While Hayes’s Sirens lure us to our death and away from the American dream, the siren on Yom HaZikaron reminds of the death of those who made the Israeli dream a reality. For thousands of years we have been on the run, but today, due to their sacrifice, we have a Jewish homeland. Remembering those who have died is our way of winning the war of attention.
May their memory be for a blessing. And have a very meaningful Yom HaAtzmaut tomorrow. In our curating the collective memory of those we have lost we make space for our collective expression of joy and celebrate the miracle of the State of Israel. As we say, “They who sow in tears, shall reap with songs of joy.” ( Psalms 126:5)
Said to Myself 
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