ABSTRACT
Like many nation-states of the modem era, Israel designated a particular date to remember those who sacrificed their lives for the existence of the state, and another to commemorate its coming into being. The first is named Remembrance Day, and the second, Independence Day. Each is opened by a central state occasion, referred to as a 'ceremony', which is televised in its entirety. The chapter addresses why it is that these two opening ceremonies demand discussion in common. This is followed, first by an interpretation of the ceremony that opens Remembrance Day, and then of that which opens Independence Day, in order to delineate their respective versions of moral and social order. Israel is unusual among modem nation-states in that its Remembrance day is scheduled for the twenty-four hour period that immediately precedes Independence Day. The opening ceremony of Remembrance day has something of the singular and monotonic qualities of the siren's keen, and of the stillness of the land.
