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Feb. 2nd, 2003 12:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penmageIlan Ramon, you will be missed.
I...I...I don't even know what to say. I suppose you all know by now about the Columbia, destroyed upon re-entry this morning. What you may not know is that the first Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon, was aboard. I mourn the deaths of the other astronauts no less than I mourn him, but I was emotionally invested in Ilan Ramon, along with the rest of the the country. I was in Israel when the Columbia took off, and up until and through the takeoff, the excitement in the country was palpable. Newspapers had another article about him every day, if only to mention his name. His name was on everybody's lips: an Israeli is going into space! At a time like this, especially at a time like this, when moral is low, terrorism and the threat of war hung over all of our heads, here was something positive to hold on to, something good! Here was something to read about in the papers and smile, and think "Finally, a piece of good news."
I never met Ilan Ramon; I can't tell you what he was like as a person. What I can tell you is what I've heard about him. He was a nonreligious Jew, never was observant before in his life, but he decided, that as the first Israeli in space, he was representing his people, and he was going to do his best to observe the Torah and keep the mitzvot. He asked questions for complicated issues like how to keep Shabbat in space (when it becomes Saturday) and how to keep kosher, and other techincal issues. Keeping the Torah and being observant is tricky enough on earth; in space, with all the extra complications involved, observance takes on a whole new level of complicated. But Ilan Ramon wanted to represent his people, and so he did. He took with him a microfiche of the Bible, given to him by Moshe Katsav, president of Israel. The papers managed to get this piece of information into every single article mentioning Ilan Ramon, until it became almost a joke, but it was serious. Ilan Ramon was a living, breathing piece of Israeli pride at a time when Israel desperatly needed something to be proud of.
And we are still proud of him, even as we mourn his loss. I personally am devestated by the loss. I know what he meant to Israel, and to me. The news hit me hard; it is still hitting me hard. I barely know what to say, how to react. Only two weeks ago we were eagerly tracking his progress, hearing his reports on a school science project growing blue and white crystals in space, crystals in the national colours of Israel. We were so excited, and so proud.
Ilan Ramon, you will be missed. Along with the state of Israel, I grieve for you.
I...I...I don't even know what to say. I suppose you all know by now about the Columbia, destroyed upon re-entry this morning. What you may not know is that the first Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon, was aboard. I mourn the deaths of the other astronauts no less than I mourn him, but I was emotionally invested in Ilan Ramon, along with the rest of the the country. I was in Israel when the Columbia took off, and up until and through the takeoff, the excitement in the country was palpable. Newspapers had another article about him every day, if only to mention his name. His name was on everybody's lips: an Israeli is going into space! At a time like this, especially at a time like this, when moral is low, terrorism and the threat of war hung over all of our heads, here was something positive to hold on to, something good! Here was something to read about in the papers and smile, and think "Finally, a piece of good news."
I never met Ilan Ramon; I can't tell you what he was like as a person. What I can tell you is what I've heard about him. He was a nonreligious Jew, never was observant before in his life, but he decided, that as the first Israeli in space, he was representing his people, and he was going to do his best to observe the Torah and keep the mitzvot. He asked questions for complicated issues like how to keep Shabbat in space (when it becomes Saturday) and how to keep kosher, and other techincal issues. Keeping the Torah and being observant is tricky enough on earth; in space, with all the extra complications involved, observance takes on a whole new level of complicated. But Ilan Ramon wanted to represent his people, and so he did. He took with him a microfiche of the Bible, given to him by Moshe Katsav, president of Israel. The papers managed to get this piece of information into every single article mentioning Ilan Ramon, until it became almost a joke, but it was serious. Ilan Ramon was a living, breathing piece of Israeli pride at a time when Israel desperatly needed something to be proud of.
And we are still proud of him, even as we mourn his loss. I personally am devestated by the loss. I know what he meant to Israel, and to me. The news hit me hard; it is still hitting me hard. I barely know what to say, how to react. Only two weeks ago we were eagerly tracking his progress, hearing his reports on a school science project growing blue and white crystals in space, crystals in the national colours of Israel. We were so excited, and so proud.
Ilan Ramon, you will be missed. Along with the state of Israel, I grieve for you.
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outer spaaaaaaaaace
Date: 2003-02-02 07:56 am (UTC)