JFSV Am Yisrael Chai Mission '08

We traveled up to Har Herzl and paid homage to Herzl and all the deceased prime ministers and fallen soldiers from the independence war.  From there we went to caucus.  It was very moving to share our feelings about the trip with each other.  We have become a family, a community of shared experiences.  We shared our hopes for the outcomes from our mission, too.  May they all come true!  From there we traveled to Machane Yehuda, an open air market.  What a balagan!  There were wall to wall people – a good sign for Israel and Jerusalem.  If it's busy, people are feeling safer.  I was thrilled to meet up with my family from a suburb of Jerusalem for their Shabbat shopping.  They maneuver the market like old friends, knowing which stall has the best melons and which has the best price for tomatoes.  After a coffee and a visit, (of course, we had to eat!) – I said my goodbyes and quite determinedly set out to walk about a hour to the hotel.  In my first 10 minutes I came upon a soldier who told me turn back because of a suspicious package.  Well, I decided to get into a cab then.  It was going to be a long walk and well, the drive was interesting too.  I rarely drive in Jerusalem – they are many new roads and tunnels.  I arrived quite safely to my hotel.

Tomorrow we split up and  go to synagogue, Masada or Caesarea; then back to the hotel to pack and leave to go home.  I am looking forward to seeing my family.  I wish they were joining me here.

We walked and walked and climbed more stairs than I can ever remember in one day.  We walked the ramparts from the Tower of David to the Jewish quarter and then folks had a choice of either Ir David (the City of  David) or the tunnel along the Wall.  I chose Ir David and well, let’s just say it was more than 300 steps down which means – you got it, more than 300 steps back up again.  Everyone was a trooper who trekked this archaeological dig!  The tunnels which go under then city were cool (in temperature and stature.)  But after having walked all over the city, the steps were quite a work out.  After all we ate, it couldn’t hurt.  And, it was cool to see a working archaeological dig.  They were also taping some kind of famous Israeli movie star there – too bad we did not know who she was; people were obviously excited by her presence.  And, there was a bar mitzvah party, too – crazy huge party.  All I could think about was how were those ‘fapitzed’ women going to make it up that hill again in heels?  More power to them.  I hobbled home with blisters but otherwise not much worse for wear.

Off to Kiryat Malachi to visit our sister city, from the Partnership 2000 program. There we observed the memorial service at the high school.  The connectivity of these teens to this service was unfortunately evident.  Many have been personally touched by the community losses; many of the students were visibly shaken while others were acting out their angst.  After this moving ceremony, we met with five students participating in the Net@ program.  Mor and David were the  two boys who were most talkative and friendly.  Mor, with his freckles and strawberry blonde hair and David with his dark brown eyes and skin told us about their budding computer (side) business.  Here is the future of our people – kids who see no color lines but friendship and camaraderie.  What a pleasure! Of course, we had to eat and they fed us a typical Israeli meal of salads and meats for lunch.  We were joined by folks from Kiryat Malachi and Hof Ashkelon.  Hana Gan even came to say hello!  How lovely to see a good friend among new ones.   We then continued on to the Burma Pass.  We covered the rough terrain in covered jeeps stopping along the ridges to take in the spectacular views and strategic points of interest.  In the US, we see ridges differently – here they are points of strategy with several battles having been fought on them – in the US we see ridges to be claimed for best views with no concern for security.  A constant reminder of the vulnerability of our little country.  We returned in time to shop and celebrate Yom HaAtzmeut in true Israeli style with boppers and throngs of people.  Everyone enjoyed the raucous celebration including fireworks!

What a thrill!  We reached Jerusalem and welcomed 7 of our members to Jerusalem for the first time.  I cannot express how lucky I feel to have been part of their first visit to Jerusalem – the heart and soul of this country.  Tel Aviv is exciting and other places are beautiful, but Jews everywhere say "next year in Jerusalem" and now we can say that last year we meant it.  We are here.  The weather cooperated and the sites could be seen for miles.  We then left to meet with Erel Margalit the funder and founder of HaMaaaBabada – the Laboratory.  The Lab is known for providing a creative stage for all kinds of artists.  They also have developed a interdisciplinary after school program for kids from Jerusalem which is staffed by volunteers who live in the communities they serve.  Erel serves as a brilliant example of Israel's entrepreneurial spirit.  After the visit we walked a few blocks to the hotel – mighty funky hotel  It was once a hotel for the blind – hard to believe since we can hardly find our rooms and we are not blind.  The halls twist and turn much like the old city streets and many rooms face the old city, offering a spectacular view.  In the evening, we left for the Russian Compound for a Memorial Day service (in English).  Words cannot describe the sadness of that ceremony.  All I wanted to do was hug the Canadian mother who lost her first born son in Nablus and say thank you for her massive sacrifice.  I couldn’t though and cannot express the deep sorrow I feel that we continue to pay such a high price for our State and our freedom.

Today started like the others with a briefing from (this time) Aluf Benn, reporter for HaAretz.  Benn discussed Israeli and American politics as well as some interesting anecdotes about Israeli life.  After another potty break (yes we need a lot of those!), we left for Project Leket to pick strawberries for the local poor and food banks.  It was rewarding but hard to pick strawberries in the heat.  We picked about 260 kilos of berries which almost cleared half of the field donated for this purpose. 

We then proceeded to the Kfar Saba Absorption center for, you guessed it, another meal – this time the Israeli version of the Subway sandwich.  We also met with about six kids from the absorption center – several from Ethiopia and some from the Former Soviet Union.  They were delightful if not a bit shy.  But it is clear that these kids are learning Hebrew and Israeli culture.  But meeting these teens face to face puts a human touch to our donations.  The young lady who ate with us was 19, here without her family but dating a lone soldier also from the Former Soviet Union.

Today must have been the day of teens – we met fantastic ones!  In Ir Carmel, in a Druze village we met with 10 young women from the village who are volunteers to their community and some are studying, too.  My group met with Munya and another.  Munya was spirited, funny, honest and delightful.  She answered all our questions with candor and grace.  The Druze religion originally split from the Muslims many (read thousand) years ago.  They believe that no one can convert into the Druze community.  The Druze believe that there is a finite amount of souls and that they are reincarnated through many lives.  Some Druze claim to remember their past lives – but Munya did not.  We discussed their position on women, women at work and in school, divorce, marriage, gays and social life.  They are like any other teens but with a different set of beliefs.  Munya reminded me in spirit of Kasha who we met in Warsaw – I would love to follow up on their progress through life.  I think they are both remarkable young ladies with loads of potential.  We left Ir Carmel for Zichron Yaakov – what a beautiful quaint town.  They have a shopping promenade which was easy to maneuver and way too easy to leave your money in!  I was very successful there.  Israeli fashion beats the US hands down.  They seem to have taken shapes and sizes of women into consideration when making fun and funky clothes.  Now you can still get your middle eastern wear --  not to worry but the Israeli fashion industry is completely on par with the rest of the world.

We landed in eretz Israel and what a relief.  A fairly large group left almost immediately to a Tashlich service where we cast off the sad feelings of Poland and moved to the excitement of Israel.  Then we headed off to rooms for much needed naps!  After a few hours of shut eye we brunched and listened to Paul Liptz.  Paul was both entertaining and informative – oy vey!  Then off to the buses to Givat Hakibbutzim  This is where they made bullets under the bakery and laundry.  The bunker was fascinating as was the ingenuity of these fighters during the early years of Israel.  We returned to Tel Aviv to the home of the first mayor of Tel Aviv –Dizengoff House also known as Independence Hall.  This is the very house and we sat in the very room where Israel was declared a state,  Singing HaTikvah together was a highlight of the day!  This was only topped by the delicious meal at Carlton on the Beach during sunset over the water.

We started our day with a delicious breakfast in the hotel – and they said we wouldn’t eat well.  Don’t listen to them.  We will come back heavier with memories and bellies!  To see the rich history of the Warsaw Jewish community we went to the Warsaw Jewish Cemetery. The cemetery has memorial monuments and headstones telling the story of the writers, doctors, young children, families and allegiances.  It also includes a large area for a mass grave from the Holocaust.  An eerie reminder of the many lives lost.  The contrast of the spring buds and the dark tombstones made me mindful that I wouldn’t have wanted to be there at night.  But during the day, the stories of the community came to life.  Among the memorials were tributes to the Perez and other writers, actors, doctors, a children’s memorial and one to a man who instead of saving himself joined his orphans on their final voyage to Treblinka.  There is still an orphanage we saw in Warsaw in his name.  We then traveled onto Majdanek – It’s hard to describe the depth of depravity. While planned as a work camp, in the end all prisoners were either worked to death – the inmates did not usually last in this camp more than 2 months and they worked under the most disgusting conditions. The camp was set up as an agricultural experimental camp experimenting with alternative fuel sources.  In 1945 the prisoners were lined up during the course of one week and shot.  I cannot really describe the sickening feeling of seeing the dissection table and gas chamber and ovens. While the camp was not as large as Auschwitz, it is not as well preserved and it is easier to imagine the hardships that prisoners endured here.  The weather was cloudy and raining.  The camp covers a large expanse of fields.  At the top of the camp, there is a memorial which houses the ashes of the inmates.  A silent sickening scream from the past.  Two things happened however that broken the sadness.  A Holocaust survivor traveling with the Boca Raton group approached our group and we started to talk.  He got very excited when he found out we were from California and asked if the Metzes were traveling with us.  Right there, beside the lower gas chamber, a reunion of old friends took place.  And, then near the memorial, we ran into our Youth Trip participants including Abby Gavens, Devorah Fine, Janine Adelberg, Rabbi Eitan Julius and others.  These two coincidences proved that the Nazis hadn’t won – they hadn’t annihilated us and in fact, we had a future. 

After this difficult journey, we traveled onto Lublin – the the Old Yeshiva which was recently purchased and refurbished by the Warsaw community.  We sang as we waited for a briefing.  This yeshiva educated many orthodox rabbis including some 500 which kept orthodoxy alive, proving once again that Judaism is surviving and even thriving in Poland. 

On Shabbat we split into two groups: one went to the Novizc synagogue in Warsaw.  There was a bar mitzvah and over 500 people in attendance at the shul.  The second group walked through the ghetto seeing one of the only intake streets in Warsaw.  We proceeded to the only two portions of the remaining ghetto wall.  We met at the Umshlatplatz which was the ‘sorting’ area for the Warsaw ghetto. 

I cannot describe the conflicting feelings of  Poland.  It houses one of the darkest times in our history and is also the keeper of an amazing cultural history.  It had been a center for Jewish life in Eastern Europe for centuries which developed language, music, literature, arts and culture.

We proceeded to the Old town of Warsaw – a bucolic recreation of the old town destroyed during the second world wall.  The square was full of cafes, a fountain, shops on the banks of the Vestula across from the (now famous) Warsaw Zoo.  After a dinner at the hotel we left for Israel.  Dinner was punctuated by a moving poem by mission participant, Diane Rauchwerger.  But did I mention we LEFT for ISRAEL!~  So exciting!

I am writing this late at night in Poland.  We are now at the hotel in Warsaw.  In my opinion, it is not as nice as the one in Krakow because it is a refurbished old place instead of a new contemporary one (Remember Kempinski inn Berlin???).

This was a quite amazing day in terms of two things.  In the morning we went into the Jewish Quarter of Krakow to learn the proud history of Jews there over many generations.  They have refurbished the area, a synagogue is open and it is cute and welcoming like Prague.  I found a Yad in an outdoor maket and the community bought it for the Torah brought back on the last March.

 I saw the synagogue where the Rama (Moses Isserlesin the Shulchan Aruch) taught. It was great.  We did the March of the Living and there must have been at least 12 thousand people there- Jews from all over the world like France, Turkey, Argentina, South Africa, Australia, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Israel and of course, the good ol' USA and non Jews as well- alot of young Poles.  There were people for MILES! 

It was very crowded, but there was a great feeling of AM YISRAEL CHAI there.

We had a lovely dinner in a restaurant on the way to Warsaw. Everyone we have encountered is nice- no outward anti semitism at all so far.  Several on the trip had profound positive experiences with non-Jewish Polish 'marchers'.  Some traded scarves and pins.  A group was there handing out a written apology from the Christian community.  Yes, a written apology!  We will try to remember to send along the email adress for anyone interested in reading the actual official letter.  Sylvia Metz stood by the marchers and said thank you in Polish to them.  One woman hugged her, apologized for what happened here.  These incidents once again catch us off guard.  More later...it's really late here.

We started the day at Birkenau and walked the camp which is huge.

Pictures don't really give the perpective of the enormity of the camp.There were between 10,000 - 20,000 people "processed "at the camp each day.  We walked through the disinfection room which looked more like a barn than a place for people. We then went to the area for selection where families were separated into three camps: women's, men's and death.  We also saw the women's barracks which was profound.  The barracks were basic bunks with brick and cement walls with wooden pallets stacked two up.  Women would sleep on the cement floor, and the two pallets -- several people to the pallet and we asked the question about which one you would choose to sleep on?  Many of us chose the top to avoid the personal fluids falling on us.

We walked past the ruins of the crematoria and also people setting up for the March of the Living the next day.  Finally, we toured the Sauna and "Canada" (the place for sorting through prisoners' belongings).  The Sauna was reconstructed to show the process of dehumanization through shaving, showering (often with icy or scalding water) and marching naked to get ill fitting and shabby prison garb.  We held a memorial service in "Canada" where Rabbi Leslie Alexander also shared her mother-in-law's experience in this camp during the war. On the way out of Birkenau we saw Israeli soldiers who were preparing for the March of the Living on May 1st -- this was the first time I breathed and relaxed for a moment -- and actually felt safe.  Our guardians -- albeit the ages of our sons and grandsons were right there in the flesh ready to protect us and a symbol of our strength.

After a mundane box lunch, we went to visit Auschwitz I.  While much of the camp is preserved and intact.  The gate still says Arbeit Mach Frei -- giving us an eerie feeling walking through. We saw vats of hair, suitcases, brushes, pots, shoes, prosthetics, baby clothes, family photos and personal belongings of the inmates.  But nothing could prepare me for the gas chamber in this camp.  You can see the scratches on the walls.  You walk into the building -- the ceiling is low and snakes around without seeing the exit.  I couldn't have gotten out of there fast enough and actually had a hard time breathing for several minutes.  This gas chamber is built into a mound -- prisoners were forced to undress before entering the building and the Nazis 'tested' their methods. The gas chamber was right in front of the officers' quarters and was therefore moved to Auschwitz II

(Birkenau) fairly quickly. The company that made the ovens for the camps is still in existence today making kitchen ovens-- ew!

Joining us today we had several college and university students from the local Krakow University.  For one, Magda, her  personal history was similar to ours.  Her grandfather and great uncle were imprisoned in Auschwitz and Ravenbrook (and several other concentration camps).  She is Polish and not Jewish.  Other students also shared their family experiences from the war.

Surprisingly, these non-Jewish students opened our eyes to a spark which really "got going" when we heard from a panel of Polish professionals about anti-semitism in Poland today.  These three remakable non-Jews are preserving the history and culture of Jewish  Poland and as one mentioned, "if we don't understand your history we cannot understand ours."  While about 30% of the population is anti-semitic these folks are teaching their students and museum guests about Jewish culture and Judaism in Poland and preserving the history through their teaching.  They were rays of hope for us which was reiterated again at the March of the Living on May 1st.

I am having trouble processing my thoughts --Krakow is a quaint European town, the Poles have been lovely, our hotel is modern with every amenity.

I came prepared to hate the Poles, hate Poland and feel bitter.  I am feeling imbalance.  The countryside is beautifully in bloom for spring with cherry trees and tulips and lush green hills -- Birkenau and Aushwitz are the lowest humans can sink.  While we are created in G-d's image and have free will -- what makes humans repeat this kind of genocide?  Why have we not evolved?  As my thinking emerges and with Pesach just recent -- I think that maybe we need two generations of people between us and this traumatic event to develop a collective memory which honors the victims and doesn't betray their memory but also reconciliates with the descendants of the perpetrators.  It took us two generations to get from the exodus of Egypt to Israel -- maybe two generations will take us from the Exodus (ship) to reconciliation.

Hey everyone.  This is where our band of travelers will be posting their thoughts and comments from the Silicon Valley Am Yisrael Chai Mission, scheduled to depart from San Jose for Poland and Israel early next week.  Be sure to check back, as there will be daily updates and pictures.