We began our third day of the tour with a huge change in mood as we experienced Yad Vashem, the Jewish National Memorial to the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. There are truly no words to describe this experience except to say that one leaves this complex changed forever because of the experience. Having been here before, I was trying to anticipate what would impact me during this visit... I will try to explain because in many ways I was more moved by this experience than I was two years ago during my first visit to the memorial and museum. This is mainly because I was here with my family, and I was especially tuned in to how Carly and the other young adults were impacted by what they saw. I have to say that I am so proud of each and every one of these young adults. They were so present today, ready to dive into the darkest of places in our history.
The first thing you notice about the complex is the amazing architecture of the building, a building that actually cuts through the mountain.
Our four youngest travelers had a special program designed just for them, entitled Stars Without a Heaven, focusing on the mementos left behind by children lost at the hands of the Nazis. They would join us later for the Children's Memorial.
For the rest of us we began our visit with a walk through the Garden of the Righteous.
Here, Uri told us about some of the non-Jewish people who risked their lives to help Jews. There were trees planted for each of these people. He shared that during the Holocaust there were about 20,000 people who chose to help us. He challenged us to ask ourselves, would WE chose to help others? And then came a really honest moment where he shared that until 15 years ago he knew how to answer this question. Of course he would help. 15 years ago he became a parent. Would he be willing to risk not just his life, but the lives of his family to help a stranger? It brought a whole new level to these most generous people who, in spite of what would have been certain death for them and perhaps their children, chose to help Jews during the war.
This is the tree planted for Oscar Schindler.
The question is, why does our experience at Yad Vashem start with this walk? Why not start with Hitler or the death camps? The sacrifices these people made are so significant that it was felt that this celebration of the preservation of life was a key focus. The mountain is covered with trees for these people, and I wish we could have walked and acknowledged each and every one of them.
We were not allowed to bring cameras into the museum. I will share some meaningful moments with you so that you can get a sense of what moved me most during our visit. The achitecture of the building is really stunning and powerful. You start looking down a long corridor to the exit and you naturally want to walk down the center of the building towards the light at the end of this solid concrete structure. The trouble is, the only way to get to the exit is to follow the path that tells the entire story, no matter how difficult the story may be. You simply cannot walk straight; the path is obstructed and you are forced into these different rooms.
Our group was silent during the tour. Uri guided us with his words with such care. I have to say something about Uri. It is obvious by his depth of knowledge that he has done this many times before. And with tour guides you often can tell when they have been giving the same tour over and over again... The passion and intensity that he led us through the museum with was inspiring, and we all wanted to truly take in and absorb all he was sharing. Indeed we could have stayed there all day long.
I recall being in the room where the different types of stars of David that Jews were forced to wear were on display. From where I was standing, I could see Carly as she took in this display. What struck me was the coat she was wearing. In front of her were these yellow stars, meant to single out and shame the Jews. On her back she was proudly wearing a jacket covered with Jewish stars from her summer camp, camp Alonim. And I thought of the hat I was wearing proudly stating that this was a TAE tour, and the shirts we had made for the trip with the TAE logo on it, and the Kippah I wear, these are all identifying markers that we are choosing to wear. I felt this sense of gratitude that my daughter was living in a world where she could wear her Alonim jacket with such pride, and seeing that pride against the backdrop of such deep hatred makes me want to try to remember to wear my Jewish badges with even more pride.
I was also taken by the fact that when someone in our tour group would breakdown at the reality facing them, another person from our group would be there to embrace them, to help support them as if to say, let's do this together. This happened again and again during our visit. Looking back at the Holocaust, Jews were alone, with no support from others. Seeing these moments of true support and love for others made me want to try to be more present for others in my life. To be that support for someone when perhaps no one else will rise up to show support. How I wish there were these types of people who were there for our brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers and sons and daughters during the Holocaust. And I am reminded of the 20,000 righteous people who WERE there, and wish that there were more who would have helped.
For me, one of the most powerful rooms on this campus is the Hall of Names, a large circular room with a circular platform in the middle that overlooks a dark pond below and about 450 pictures of victims above. And we are right in the middle, between the darkness of the Holocaust and the light that each victim represents. As I looked at the faces of the pictures above me I recognized myself in these pictures. And I recognized Leasa there, and my children, parents, siblings. I saw each person traveling with me in these faces. And I saw you there, too. These victims ARE us and we are them. There were not six million Jews who died during the Holocaust, there was just one Jew who died, six million times. On the outside of the rooms were bookcases from floor to ceiling, more than 20 feet high. These cases were filled with binders. Binder after binder that hold the names of more than four million victims within them. There were too many binders to count. Some of the cases were empty, because with four million names written on the pages means that there are still two million more that need to be added, names that, as Uri shared, probably will never be documented because entire families were destroyed and there is no left to document these lost souls. Seeing those binders always brings me to tears. Seeing the empty spaces in the cases makes me weep.
After leaving this difficult and sobering room we are led outside, with a view that overlooks the beautiful landscape that is Israel. Many people believe that Israel was granted statehood as a result of the Holocaust. Uri shared that Israel was granted statehood DESPITE the Holocaust. And he said that most every Israeli would say this, for the yearning for statehood goes back to the late 19th century.
As Uri was talking with us I was, once again, struck by the support that was given to others so openly.
Sometimes it was parent hugging child or child hugging a parent, and sometimes it was friends, who were only strangers days ago, offering love and support for each other. It was beautiful. As we made our way to the Children's Memorial, our four youngest travelers were reunited with their parents and siblings. The hugs shared were some of the deepest imaginable. I know I hugged Hayley so tightly she could hardly breathe. The reason the children came back to be with us was that we decided that they could accompany their parents through the Children's Memorial. At the entrance to this memorial are these pillars in the picture below.
They are broken and of different heights, representing the lives cut short before their completion, of various ages. Each pillar representing the potential held by each of the more than 1.5 million children victims of the Holocaust.
There are no words to describe the Children's Memorial, so I won't even try. All I can say is that every Jew, no, every human being must visit this memorial. As I said earlier, you will be changed after your visit is over.
Following this, we, as a group gathered for a short yizkor service. As we prepared to read Kaddish, our memorial prayer, I invited all of the post bar and bat mitzvah kids to share the names of their Holocaust Twins that they were given as a part of the Remember Us Program. Name after name was spoken aloud, again putting the focus on the individual rather than the total. I paid close attention to each name, thinking of those pillars broken before they could be finished. I was especially moved when Carly spoke the name, Sophia van Hasselt. In about a week we will be off to Amsterdam to meet Sara, Sophia's cousin who, through this twinning program, has become a part of our family. As we read the Kaddish I tried to hold onto the notion that we were not acknowledging the death of these victims, but rather praising God for their lives, even if they were far too short.
The question is, how do we go from this dark place and move to a more fun part of our itinerary? That is the challenge with the Holocaust. It becomes so easy to bog ourselves down with the despair that comes with this that we forget that WE are still living. Indeed, in honor of these victims we should work for moments of joy and excitement. We need to bring the memories of these precious souls with us and honor them by living our lives to the fullest. And that is exactly what we did.
Our next stop was a visit to Machaneh Yehudah, an open air market. Here we went on a multi-cultural tasting journey through this market where Jewish Jerusalem shops. We had such a great time wandering the many streets finding our way to six stops where we were greeted with tastes of unique Israeli foods.
It seemed at every store were tons and TONS of olives. Black olives, green olives, you name the olive, they had that type of olive and more.
And for me, besides the iced coffee I bought from Aroma (possibly the worlds greatest coffee house) and my visit with the Kipah Man was our visit to Marzipan, where the best rugalah, hands down is created. How wonderful to share this sweet moment with my three girls.
With full tummies we were off to our next adventure, an activity I knew would be a highlight of the trip for many. We took part in an archeological dig at the Beit Guvrin Caves, where we uncovered pottery and other finds from the Hellenistic period about 2300 years ago.
Descending in to the caves where we would be digging...
After our resident archeologist gave us the rules for digging and our tools, we were off to be the first hands to touch these ancient pieces of pottery in 2300 years.
We got really dirty and found so many pieces of pottery and some bones (from the dinner they ate, not from people). If that wasn't dirty enough we then had the chance to crawl through an unexcavated cave, the Maresha Cave. Lit by candlelight it was quite the adventure to crawl through this wonder. We were able to being some pieces of ancient pottery home with us to help us remember our dig.
Another emotional and exhausting day is done, and another is set to begin. As I always say at the end of posts, words do. Not adequately describe what we are doing. You simply must come here with an Adat Elohim trip in the future. I am so excited to bring 28 people to Poland and Israel in October of this year and, bythe way, we have already begun planning for summer, 2017!
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