I don't think it should be closed down, period. Those of us who want a break--or to take a day to honor and remember lost loved ones--or to take silence to honor the victims of the Holocaust, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, the Sudanese civilians who died when the United States launched a missile attack on the Al-Shifa pharmeceutical factory, the prisoners and families of prisoners who have been humilated and tortured at Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo, or anything else we want to mourn or memorialize--can take a day of silence at any time we see fit.
I don't like to have other people's politics forced on me.
If I were to take a day of silence to honor and commemorate days when innocent people have been tortured and senselessly murdered, I'd be silent 365 days a year...366 on leap year.
I understand that moderators may want to take a day of silence for issues that are of special concern to them--or holidays celebrated in their culture--but the site is NOT heavily moderated. If someone can use the term "wetback" here and not get booted off, and there are scary pictures and weird, incoherent posts left live, the site can probably survive an unmoderated day.
On a non-political issue--yes, it was good to take a break! I should do it waaayy more often!!