19 October 2001

Eulogy

Rehavam was born in the Yemin Moshe neighborhood of Jerusalem and fought for Jerusalem for 60 years. His blood was spilled on the earth of Jerusalem, near Metzudat Kfir, near Mount Scopus, near the Shimon Hatzadik neighborhood, near the Old City, near the Temple Mount (Mount Moriah). Mother Earth will look at you like a son coming home. She will hold you, and when you call her name, she will say: "You are tired from the journey." Don't worry, she will tend your wounds. She will hug you and give you a warm kiss.

-- Eulogy for Rehavam Ze'evi

I was particularly moved by the eulogy given by Israeli President Moshe Katsav yesterday for Rehavam Ze'evi, the Israeli minister brutally assassinated by Palestinian terrorists.

I was also struck by just how distinctly "western" such eulogies are. In the West, we celebrate the positive accomplishments of our lost ones upon their deaths, their essential humanity and goodness. And so it has been, at least since the famous funeral oration given by Pericles at the beginning of another terrible war.

Contrast that with cultures that create martyrs of their dead, or that dispense with their dead casually because they are simply dispoable elements in a "greater" cause (be it religious or otherwise). Further note the anti-individualist orientation of such thinking.

[Posted @ 11:41 AM CST]