It was an honor to share a few words and a prayer at the Sudbury Memorial Day Parade, to honor those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom we all enjoy and for the blessings that American represents to the world.
Below is the message I shared this morning.
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It is an honor to be standing here together with so many veterans and their families and at a monument where we remember those who served and gave their lives during World War 2, Korea & Vietnam.
Today on Memorial Day we are here to honor those that have served and protected our country and given their lives to uphold the freedom and values of the United States of America.
As we do, I am thinking of my great Uncle who was in the British Army, an ally of the US, who was killed while fighting the Nazis on the beaches of Dunkirk. I am think of own two grandfathers who fought the Nazis in the Second World War, and my wife, Shayna’s Grandfather who escaped Nazi Germany from the clutches of the Nazis and then joined the US Army as part of the famous Richie Boys and helped liberate Europe from the Nazis.
I am thinking of the thousands of American Troops who stormed the beaches of Normandy rushing into walls of lead, and yet kept going forward, since they knew the tyranny they were fighting against and what was at stake.
I also think of so many survivors of the Holocaust who have described in writing or what I have directly heard, about what it was like to be waiting for the American troops to liberate the camps and the love and gratitude that they welcomed them with.
Dr. Edith Eger describes lying in a pile of bodies in a Concentration Camp along with the dead with no strength left, and perhaps a breath away from her last, when a young US Soldier noticed her hand move which she was too weak to even move. She describes the first physical touch of care and compassion that she received from a human being in years, a young US officer who gently placed something sweet in her mouth.
This gentle touch of care, compassion and kindness, that literally lifted her from the dead, was a touch, that she said she can feel the rest of her life.
Today as we remember the bravery and sacrifice of all those who have served this country, we also remember the freedom, equality, and tolerance that were seeking to preserve or that so many gave their lives for.
Today, when tyranny and evil still raises its head in this world, when hate and intolerance has risen in our society, and when antisemitism has risen to levels we have never before seen in this country, their sacrifice is a calling to us, to work even harder to preserve that which they fought for, for a country that continues to be a beacon and force of light, freedom, equality, hope and kindness to its own, and to the world around it.
As we honor those who gave so much and to those that gave it all, we also honor our own Lt. Scott Milley of Sudbury who was killed in Afghanistan in 2010, and his family who are beacons of resilience and the values that our country is all about.
Almighty G-d, Father of all mankind:
It is our duty to ensure that their memory and efforts serve as an inspiration to ourselves, our families and our communities so that we may continue to uphold and strengthen the values they fought for, of bettering of the world and protecting humanity.
We pray Thee, Gracious Father and Merciful King, bestow your Divine blessings upon these heroic veterans and upon their families, and may their devotion and loyalty be an inspiration to us and to all our fellow Americans. Let this Memorial Day stimulate us to be mindful of our responsibilities and duties as conscientious citizens of this great country.
We pray Thee, Merciful Father, sustain and protect the armed forces of the United
States of America wherever they may be, so that they succeed in protecting this country and also in making the world a better place and a place of peace. Help all the nations of our world realize the futility of warfare and tyranny and inspire them to labor with all their might to banish conflict and strife, and to establish world peace.
Hasten the fulfillment of the visions of the Prophets - when the work of righteous shall be peace, and its effect, tranquility and security forever; when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
I will conclude with the prayer which we pray daily, Oseh Shalom Bimromav To He who makes peace on High, may He bring peace upon us and upon all of humanity, and let us say, Amen.