The Friedberg JCC partnered with the Oceanside Jewish War Veterans Post 717 on Sunday to present this year’s Yom HaZikaron — Israeli Memorial Day — ceremony, in which a young Lone Soldier’s narrative captivated attendees and illuminated the profound sacrifices of Israel’s defenders.
Yom HaZikaron is the day of national remembrance in Israel to commemorate all the soldiers and others who have lost their lives during the struggle to defend the State of Israel. Nearly 100 community members gathered in the JCC auditorium for two hours of prayer, song, personal testimony and candid dialogue — honoring fallen soldiers, victims of terror, and the 59 Israeli hostages still held in Gaza a year and a half after Hamas attacked Israel.
Commander John Robbins, of the Jewish War Veterans post, opened the program, thanking JCC staff and veterans for their collaboration. JCC Junior Emissary Maya Braverman, 22, lead organizer for the program, explained the dual nature of Israeli Memorial Day: two evenings of mourning followed by Independence Day celebrations.
“I think it was a good opportunity to bring it together,” Braverman said. “You have Memorial Day, but we have Memorial Day, too, so I think it was a nice way to bring it together, as those who have fallen have fallen for a greater good. They sacrifice their lives so we can have our own lives.”
Braverman described Israel’s nationwide two-minute siren at 11 a.m., when the country stands still in collective remembrance on Holocaust Remembrance Day, also known as Yom HaShoah, as a moment of silence to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
This year, Yom HaShoah — Holocaust Remembrance Day — was observed from the evening of April 23 to the evening of April 24. Yom HaZikaron was observed from the evening of April 29 to the nightfall of April 30.
This siren marks the beginning of official remembrance ceremonies and serves as a unified call for Israelis to stand still and reflect. Onstage readings included a traditional Israeli memorial poem about the “map of remembrance” that binds past, present and future generations.
The highlight of the morning was the testimony of Yoni Asayag, a 23-year-old former IDF soldier who served in one of its elite reconnaissance units. Born in New York to Israeli parents, Asayag felt compelled to defend Israel after learning as a child why soldiers patrol its streets. In 2019, after finishing high school at age 17, he flew to Israel and, out of roughly 600 candidates, earned one of 92 slots in the recon unit. After 15 months of grueling training, only 18 remained, and Asayag was among them.
He carried out high-risk raids in the West Bank for the Israeli Security Agency, Shin Bet, and fought Hamas in Operation Guardian of the Walls in 2021. While home in New York on Oct. 7, 2023, he learned of Hamas’s massacre, and was mobilized two hours later. Back in uniform within days, he entered Gaza on October 26, participating in building-clearing missions under missile fire.
“I told my mom hours before I left, ‘I never told you this, but I got called back, and I’m going,’” Asayag recounted. “Imagine how a mom would react to her son with such a fresh thing that just happened — imagine going straight over there. And that’s exactly what I did.”
In late February 2024, an anti-tank blast shattered his right leg while he was riding in an armored Humvee during a Hamas attack.
“I found myself 15 feet in the air,” he said. “The Hummer flew up, and after that boom everything went black.”
Bedridden for more than four months, he relearned how to walk and run — insisting he could not abandon his “puzzle” of comrades — and returned to frontline duty by mid summer.
“I did not give up,” he told the audience. “I said, ‘I cannot let my team fight alone. We are a puzzle, and if you take a little piece out, that puzzle is incomplete.”
Asayag took questions from members of the Jewish War Veterans Post. He acknowledged that Israel’s public-diplomacy effort has lagged, and predicted that forthcoming statistical data, GoPro footage and detailed case files would ultimately refute critics’ claims of genocide.
“Hamas is tossing out propaganda, presenting lies,” said Post 717 member James Brick, of Long Beach, “and that has to be countered with facts, and the only way to do that is in the media, both social and in any other media.”
When asked about the battlefield challenge of militants disguised as civilians, Asayag described IDF checkpoints that screen tens of thousands of people daily, and identify hundreds of combatants in civilian dress. He emphasized that rules of engagement require positive weapon identification — whether an AK-47, RPG or machine gun — before an enemy can be fired at, and that the IDF’s proficiency in distinguishing fighters from noncombatants is steadily improving.
The ceremony provoked discussions about military service and the complex geopolitical landscape in Israel, but the Yom HaZikaron observance not only commemorated lives lost, but also renewed the Oceanside Jewish community’s commitment to preserving memory, standing in solidarity with Israel and pursuing peace through resilience and truth.
“As a veteran, you honor fallen veterans,” Brick said. “It is a very emotional thing, because men in the military have that bond that joins you forever. How do we honor the fallen? You look at them as our fallen brothers who fought for a righteous cause.”
