Mount Herzl is the site of Israel’s national cemetery where Israel’s fallen soldiers are put to rest. Many of the Jewish state’s leaders are also buried here.
This site of major national importance. It is where the families of the fallen file in crowds through the gates of Mount Herzl to attend the state Remembrance Day ceremony.
It is named after Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, whose remains were moved to the cemetery in 1949.
This was done to honor a request he made a year before his death: “I wish to be buried in a metal coffin next to my father, and to remain there until the Jewish people will transfer my remains to Eretz Israel.”
At the entrance to the Mount Herzl is the Herzl Museum which gives insight into his influence on the creation of the State of Israel.
Near by is Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum.
Mount Herzl cemetery and Yad Vashem are seen as dedicated to two different, yet connected, sorrows.
One, to the incomprehensible loss of the Holocaust which lead to the creation of the State.
The other, open wound of Israel’s sons who perished in combat, making the ultimate sacrifice for their country and people.