Our group is now back at our hotel preparing for our one Shabbat in Israel. We just returned from an outdoor shopping area in the Beit Hakerem neighborhood of Jerusalem. It is clear that the upcoming specialness if Shabbat is in the air.
After lunch at Big Apple Pizza, we had a chance to go into various stores and experience Shabbat operations in action. Some people bought snacks and other essentials at the grocery store and pharmacy; some bought ice coffee and jelly donuts from a wonderful bakery, ice cream from a great store and books from Steinmatzky’s bookstore. This gave us a chance to experience Israel in a different kind away through interacting with merchants, and navigating a new money system and language.
The very ordinary act of eating lunch in an outdoor shopping area was the perfect counterweight to a heavy morning at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Museum. The museum was extremely crowded with tourists from all over the world, and Israel alike. In fact, our guide Dan said it was perhaps the most crowded he has ever seen it. It is a tribute to our group that they were able to walk through a very crowded museum and deal with very difficult material without incident.
As we started our journey to the museum, our guide asked us. number of questions to see what we knew about the Holocaust. He asked, “Why is it important to study the Holocaust?” A member of the group replied, “So it won’t happen again.” Another added, “To honor and respect all the people who died.” A third person said, “To have a better understanding of how bad things can get and so we can make them better.”
In the actual museum, we walked through rooms, tracing the rise of Nazism, learning about deportation, Auschwitz, DP camps and so much more. While many participants knew a great deal about the Holocaust, it was difficult to anticipate emotional reactions. Along with some tears were some profound comments. When one participant saw bins filled with Torah mantles and crowns and Chanukiot, he commented, “I feel a visceral sense of revulsion seeing the Torah on the floor. I was always taught to respect the torah and not put it on the floor.” Another, observing displays and descriptions of many ghettos, labor camps and death camps asked, “Why is Auschwitz unique?” One young man commented, “I was so close to crying—I bit my lip instead.”
We ended our visit with the moving Hall of Names, and the dark room with mirrors, lit by 5 candles, which pays tribute to the children killed in the Holocaust.
We are very proud of the participants! This trip is demanding. Days are long, and so much is new and different from home. Participants are far from parents and friends, they share rooms with strangers, and the food, while plentiful, differs from what they are used to. Participants are connecting—having conversations about common interests. We can’t wait for Shabbat.
There is a range of Shabbat experience in our group. Some experience Shabbat each week, others while in summer camp, and others have never experienced Shabbat. Tonight (in under an hour!), we will light Chanukah and Shabbat candles, discuss what Shabbat means to each person, and sing some Shabbat prayers. Following a delicious Shabbat dinner—with Kiddush and hamotzi—we will have a fun activity run by the three Israeli female soldiers on our trip—Maayan, Amit and Yaara.
Tomorrow will be a later wake up, some Shabbat torah learning, an optional free swim in an indoor pool, lunch, visiting with families, free time and prep for our first experience at the Kotel, the Western Wall.
Shabbat Shalom, Happy Chanukah and Best Wishs for a Good Month/Chodesh Tov!