Shimon Peres Tombstone To Be Unveiled
JERUSALEM — A memorial service for Shimon Peres marking the 30-day mourning period, or shloshim, will include the unveiling of the former Israeli president’s tombstone.
The ceremony is scheduled for Friday at the Great Leaders of the Nation’s plot at Mount Herzl, Israel’s national cemetery, in Jerusalem.
At his family’s request, the tombstone will be engraved with a biblical verse; a quote from David Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel, and a selection from a Chaim Nahman Bialik poem.
The biblical quote comes from Isaiah 2: “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”
Describing the spiritual nature of Israel, the Ben-Gurion quote reads: “The continued spiritual nature and inner strength of Israel in the future will be the main factor in maintaining our security and international position.”
The poem selection comes from “After My Death” and says: “One more melody did he have, and now that song is forever lost, forever lost.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin and Peres’ grandchildren will speak at the ceremony.
Peres died on Sept. 28, two weeks after suffering a massive stroke. He retired as president in 2014 after more than half a century in public life, including a stint as prime minister, and won the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the late Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
