Shalom, again, from Yerushalayim!
Today was probably the most emotional day we will have on our tour -- both in terms of the depths of the emotions we experienced, and their variety. At various points in the day we felt elated, thrilled, proud, exhilarated, moved, sad, and deeply grief-struck. Allow me to
explain:
Our day began at what I consider to be another one of the "must do"
experiences in Jerusalem: a visit to Yad LaKashish, the Lifeline for the Old. As those who have been to Israel with me in the past can attest, and those who remember some of my post-Israel sermons may recall, Yad LaKashish was started in the 1960s by an amazing woman named Miriam Mendelow, a kindergarten teacher who was deeply upset by the many poor, aimless, elderly people she saw on the Jerusalem streets and by her students' negative reaction to them. Miriam initiated a series of workshops at which she trained these senior citizens in various crafts and paid them for the productive work they performed. Today Yad LaKashish includes over 20 workshops, many of which we visited, in which over 100 elderly make beautiful objects, are paid for their work, receive a hot lunch everyday, in addition to receiving medical care. We marveled at the magnificant items produced by these mostly fairly recent immigrants to Israel from the Former Soviet Union, Iran, Iraq, Ethiopia, and other countries. I told the group to make the gift shop at Yad LaKashish their first stop for gift buying because purchasing items here is a real mitzvah. We found many beautiful objects to purchase -- tallitot, jewelry, chalah and matzah covers, hamsas, scarves, and more -- all made by the seniors at Yad LaKashish.
Next we went to the Conservative Movement's center in Jerusalem where, after a tour of the facilities, we were taught by my dear friend and colleague, Rabbi Mitchell (Mordecai) Silverstein, who taught a very interesting session in which we studied two "radical" midrashim about Abraham's discovery of God. We discussed what our role is, as
Abraham's descendents, in bringing God into the world. It was a
fascinating conversation.
Afterwards, we went to the Menachem Begin Center. I had never been here before, but all of us were glad this was a point on our itinerary. Basically, the Center traces the life of Menachem Begin and his contributions to the Jewish people and Israel. Through vintage film footage, Begin's own words, readings from his autobiography, and much more, we explored Menachem Begin through four periods in his
life: his youth through his release from a Soviet gulag, his career as the leader of the Irgun (for which he was most proud), his years as leader of the opposition party in the Knesset, and his years as Israel's prime minister. Whether one agrees with Begin's actions and his politics or not, all of us came away from the experience with a deeper appreciation for his love of the Jewish people, his determination to defend and protect the State of Israel, and the many difficult decisions he made (including the bombing of the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirik, for which the world condemned him at the time, but for which we are all thankful today; and the first Lebanon War).
Our next stop was another Jerusalem "must see": Ammunition Hill,the site of a major and very costly battle at the beginning of the Six Day War. Ammunition Hill was one of the first sites the Israeli Army had to overcome before it could liberate the Old City; it was heavily fortified by the Jordanians. But with incredible and selfless courage, the Israeli paratroopers broke through, "unlocking" the way to the Old City. Incidenatlly, our guide, Itzik, is a member of that same paratroop unit that fought at Ammunition Hill.
I must digress for a moment to mention how impressed I am at how Israel keeps on updating and upgrading the presentations at places of historical interest. I have been to Ammunition Hill many times. The presentation the 2007 EMJC group saw there was different from that of 1986, 1991-92, and 2005. The new presentation we saw today was different from that of 2007. Today's really allowed us to understand the battle to capture East Jerusalem during the Six Day War. It combined footage from the battles with a scale model of Jerusalem in 1967, parts of which were lit as we followed the three days of fighting that culminated in the famous scene of Israel's capture of the Old City and Israeli soldiers and leaders standing in awe at the Western Wall. Very powerful! I must also mention that we have seen several groups of Israeli soldiers at the same places we have visited:
education is an important part of an Israeli soldier's training.
Our final stop of the day (actually evening) was Yad Vashem, the most
important Holocaust memorial and museum in the world. We spent close
to three hours traversing the history of the Holocaust through pictures, artifacts, reports, and most interestingly in my opinion, first-hand accounts and testimony by those who experienced the hell of the Holocaust. Need I say that the visit to Yad Vashem left us emotionally drained after an incredibly emotional day?
Tomorrow we have a shortened, but full, day (Shabbos begins here around the same time it does in East Meadow), that will include davening at the Wall on Friday night.
Shabbat shalom to everyone!
I hope you will join us on our next EMJC pilgrimage to Israel.
Rabbi Androphy
Today was probably the most emotional day we will have on our tour -- both in terms of the depths of the emotions we experienced, and their variety. At various points in the day we felt elated, thrilled, proud, exhilarated, moved, sad, and deeply grief-struck. Allow me to
explain:
Our day began at what I consider to be another one of the "must do"experiences in Jerusalem: a visit to Yad LaKashish, the Lifeline for the Old. As those who have been to Israel with me in the past can attest, and those who remember some of my post-Israel sermons may recall, Yad LaKashish was started in the 1960s by an amazing woman named Miriam Mendelow, a kindergarten teacher who was deeply upset by the many poor, aimless, elderly people she saw on the Jerusalem streets and by her students' negative reaction to them. Miriam initiated a series of workshops at which she trained these senior citizens in various crafts and paid them for the productive work they performed. Today Yad LaKashish includes over 20 workshops, many of which we visited, in which over 100 elderly make beautiful objects, are paid for their work, receive a hot lunch everyday, in addition to receiving medical care. We marveled at the magnificant items produced by these mostly fairly recent immigrants to Israel from the Former Soviet Union, Iran, Iraq, Ethiopia, and other countries. I told the group to make the gift shop at Yad LaKashish their first stop for gift buying because purchasing items here is a real mitzvah. We found many beautiful objects to purchase -- tallitot, jewelry, chalah and matzah covers, hamsas, scarves, and more -- all made by the seniors at Yad LaKashish.
Next we went to the Conservative Movement's center in Jerusalem where, after a tour of the facilities, we were taught by my dear friend and colleague, Rabbi Mitchell (Mordecai) Silverstein, who taught a very interesting session in which we studied two "radical" midrashim about Abraham's discovery of God. We discussed what our role is, as
Abraham's descendents, in bringing God into the world. It was a
fascinating conversation.
Afterwards, we went to the Menachem Begin Center. I had never been here before, but all of us were glad this was a point on our itinerary. Basically, the Center traces the life of Menachem Begin and his contributions to the Jewish people and Israel. Through vintage film footage, Begin's own words, readings from his autobiography, and much more, we explored Menachem Begin through four periods in his
life: his youth through his release from a Soviet gulag, his career as the leader of the Irgun (for which he was most proud), his years as leader of the opposition party in the Knesset, and his years as Israel's prime minister. Whether one agrees with Begin's actions and his politics or not, all of us came away from the experience with a deeper appreciation for his love of the Jewish people, his determination to defend and protect the State of Israel, and the many difficult decisions he made (including the bombing of the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirik, for which the world condemned him at the time, but for which we are all thankful today; and the first Lebanon War).
Our next stop was another Jerusalem "must see": Ammunition Hill,the site of a major and very costly battle at the beginning of the Six Day War. Ammunition Hill was one of the first sites the Israeli Army had to overcome before it could liberate the Old City; it was heavily fortified by the Jordanians. But with incredible and selfless courage, the Israeli paratroopers broke through, "unlocking" the way to the Old City. Incidenatlly, our guide, Itzik, is a member of that same paratroop unit that fought at Ammunition Hill.
I must digress for a moment to mention how impressed I am at how Israel keeps on updating and upgrading the presentations at places of historical interest. I have been to Ammunition Hill many times. The presentation the 2007 EMJC group saw there was different from that of 1986, 1991-92, and 2005. The new presentation we saw today was different from that of 2007. Today's really allowed us to understand the battle to capture East Jerusalem during the Six Day War. It combined footage from the battles with a scale model of Jerusalem in 1967, parts of which were lit as we followed the three days of fighting that culminated in the famous scene of Israel's capture of the Old City and Israeli soldiers and leaders standing in awe at the Western Wall. Very powerful! I must also mention that we have seen several groups of Israeli soldiers at the same places we have visited:
education is an important part of an Israeli soldier's training.
Our final stop of the day (actually evening) was Yad Vashem, the most
important Holocaust memorial and museum in the world. We spent close
to three hours traversing the history of the Holocaust through pictures, artifacts, reports, and most interestingly in my opinion, first-hand accounts and testimony by those who experienced the hell of the Holocaust. Need I say that the visit to Yad Vashem left us emotionally drained after an incredibly emotional day?
Tomorrow we have a shortened, but full, day (Shabbos begins here around the same time it does in East Meadow), that will include davening at the Wall on Friday night.
Shabbat shalom to everyone!
I hope you will join us on our next EMJC pilgrimage to Israel.
Rabbi Androphy
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment