Yesterday, we commemorated Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day. For the past 15 years, Israeli and Palestinian families who have lost someone to the ongoing violence have created a joint memorial service, acknowledging their shared pain, which you can watch here. In the words of the memorial service founders, “When Palestinians and Israelis challenge the status quo of accepting the inevitability of violence and hatred, and come together to acknowledge each other and remember – together, we start to build a new reality based on mutual respect, dignity, equality, freedom and peace.”

Today we celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day and we invite you to join for a virtual celebration, IsraPalooza, brought to you by our friends at Israel Story, the world’s most popular Jewish podcast. This is a day full of intimate conversations, interviews, family-friendly workshops, cooking classes and concerts featuring some of the most interesting Israelis around. Check out the full line-up here and be sure to use our very special promo code: mishkan72