Family Focus

I Live Through You'

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Michael Myer, 13, of West Bloomfield carries some of the 500 flags to be placed.

Rob Bardach

Special to the Jewish News

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n May 27, I was afforded the
opportunity to join a group
of seventh- and eighth-grade
Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit
students on a trip to the Clover Hill Park
Cemetery in Birmingham. The purpose of
this visit was to place flags on the graves of
those who had served as members of the
U.S. Armed Forces. The reality that many
of those buried here had made the ulti-
mate sacrifice, giving their lives in defense
of our country, was a point of discussion
prior to our departure and ran through all
of our minds as we traveled down the road
away from our Farmington Hills school.
There was a somber mood among the
students as we stepped off of the bus and
found ourselves in the quiet surroundings
of the cemetery. After a brief introduction to
the task at hand, the students were divided
into groups and set out with arms full of
American flags in search of our nation's fin-
est. I stood alone and watched each group
depart in a different direction, each led by a
map of graves marked with the final resting
place of an American hero. There were more
than 500 flags to place.
The often heroic image of military ser-
vice cannot be denied. Depictions of brav-
ery and the glory of war cover the walls
of human history. Valor, courage and the
violent charge forward through the unwav-
ering enemy have crashed like a wave
across battlefields of humanity throughout
time. Kinetic and very true depictions of
these aspects of military service are pieces
of what Memorial Day signifies to many.
Images such as these cannot be forgotten.
However, my thoughts for Memorial Day
this year were reshaped by a more tranquil
vision of a morning shared with several of

our seventh- and eighth-grade students.
A Hillel student, not knowing that any-
one was close enough to hear him, kneels
gently next to the grave of a man he never
met and quietly whispers, "Thank you for
everything you did."
A different student in a different part of
the cemetery, a young woman this time,
looks down at the date on a grave marker
and sadly utters to her friend, "This man was
only 18 years old. Only five years after a bar
mitzvah. It's so sad that he died so young"
Students alone. Students with friends.
All wandering through a cemetery on a
bright and sunny day, in search of those
they consider heroes; they offer their
honor and respect. Each quietly or even
silently holding conversations with their
friends and those they stop to visit.
I think back to my own service in the U.S.
military and with ultimate humility I move
amongst these students as a humble repre-
sentative of all of those soldiers, sailors, air-
men and Marines that no longer have their
own voices. And I speak the words which
these fallen can no longer utter: "Thank
you, students of Hillel. Thank you for taking
the time to walk through the trees, under
a clear blue sky; for listening to the song
of the birds and feeling the soft breeze on
your faces. Thank you for visiting a fellow
Jew. Thank you for placing a flag next to
my resting place and remembering me as a
part of your community. I live through you.
My sacrifices were for you. I am proud of
you, and I love you:'
And I thank those seventh- and eighth-
grade students for making this the most
powerful Memorial Day I have ever expe-
rienced.

Sara Weinfeld, 12, of Farmington Hills

Leah Reed, 12, of Bloomfield Hills

Students could reflect on the sacrifices of those who came before.

❑

Rob Bardach is Seventh-Eighth Grade Division

head at Hillel Day School of Metropolitan

Ralph Zuckman, executive director of Clover Hill, addresses the students.

Detroit in Farmington Hills.

June 4 2009

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