Today we went to the Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Israel’s central memorial to the victim’s of the Holocaust. The younger children went with Sruli to the Children’s Memorial. Before going into the historical Museum, we walked along the Avenue of the Righteous Gentiles, honoring Christians who risked their lives to help Jews. The exhibits in the Museum were especially moving because they included actual movie footage, photography, videos of interviews with survivors, and diaries of victims and survivors. We went from room to room, recalling the historical events leading up to Hitler’s rise to power, and how the Nazis, step by step, increasingly persecuted the Jews, until the final solution of the death camps. We were moved to tears several times during the visit. Outside, we all gathered together and Rabbi Caruso led us in the Kaddish prayer for the six million Jews who were murdered.
[Editor's Note: By happenstance, the group ran into Jennifer Gertman, Cantor Sager's daughter, at Yad Va-Shem. Rabbi Gertman (Jennifer was ordained this past May) was leading a group of teenagers through Israel What a treat!]
After such a down feeling of the Yad Vashem, we went to the open-air Machane Yehuda market, where bustling crowds were eating, shopping and hurrying to get ready for Shabbat. We had lunch there on our own and enjoyed seeing the vibrancy of life in Israel, which was a strong demonstration that “Am Yisrael Chai,” The Nation of Israel Lives.
In the early evening, we went to Shabbat services at Kehilat Kol HaNeshamah, one of the few Reform Synagogues in Israel. In Reform Synagogues, services are in the vernacular, the native language. In the U.S., we pray mostly in English, but in Israel, the native language is Hebrew, so all of the Service was in Hebrew. The synagogue was packed and they did a lot of singing.
[Editor's Note: We were fortunate enough to meet up with Fairmount Temple's own Edith Paller, who recently made aliyah to Israel. It was wonderful to pray with her, and top share dinner with her back at the hotel].
After services, we walked back to the hotel and had a delicious Shabbat dinner.
This trip to Israel was so special for us because we experienced it with our son, daughter-in-law and our three beautiful grandchildren.
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