Posted by Leonard Borman
During a routine, a comedian pleaded with the audience, “Take me to my people, take me to my people.” The stooge replies, “Where, to Israel?” “No,” replies the comedian. “To Miami Beach.” The stooge’s reply was a set up, but true.
All types of Jewish people of Jewish faith were in the Jerusalem I saw. Sitting in a hotel lobby, I overheard a heavily accented 50ish New York couple snipe about everything: the hotel room, the restaurants, and walking in the heat. On erev Shabbat, the hotel was filled with men and women across the religious spectrum. Hassidim together with men in khakis, probably conservative or reform Jews.
It’s easier being Jewish in Israel. No questions are asked—the food is kosher. With shuls everywhere, not finding one was impossible. Everything closed down on Shabbat eliminating distractions. We say we have it easy in America. Yes, many things are easy. Not all, though.
Posted by Jules Olsman
The past twenty four hours have been an astonishing contrast. They truly represented the transition from darkness to light. More appropriately, from the depths of darkness to the heights of hope and renewal.
Our last day in Poland was Thursday, May 3. We began the day at what was the Placzow concentration camp in Krakow. The Germans destroyed the camp at which tens of thousands of people were shot or worked to death. All that exists are a few monuments in a large open area..
A monument at the camp, written in Hebrew declares that “humanity has no words for what happened here.” In my opinion, this is not quite accurate. Later in the day we visited a neglected and weed infested 200 year old Jewish cemetery in the town of Sidlowitz. In the cemetery of this town that now has no Jews, a monument was erected in 1967 to memorialize the victims of the Holocaust. On the back of the monument which stood 10 feet height, someone has written in chalk the words “Juden Rause,” which in Polish means “Jews Out.” These words were written underneath a carefully drawn swasitka within days of our visit.
The "words" that the monument at Placzow said do not exist were written right in front of all of us. They were addressed to us. Who else would ever see them. These words confirmed my father’s smouldering hatred for the Poles which he repeatedly expressed to me before his death in 1966. Now I understood what he was talking about. It was as if he was there pointing out how “nothing changes.”
Lot flight 151 left Warsaw at 11:55 PM and landed in Tel Aviv at 4:30 AM. The transition was immediate. It was almost (I emphasize the term “almost”) an antidote to the profound distress we all had been feeling for days. As the plane was in its glide path, Rabbi Berkun passed me a set of head phones so I could listen to Cantor Finkelstein sing the Prayer for Israel which he had on his computer as the lights of Tel Aviv came into view. It was truly a mystical moment.
We went straight from the airport to a magnificent vista overlooking Jerusalem. We were all so tired we could barely stand up. Rabbi Berkun led a wonderful service, during which he read a letter written by a young man who had been imprisoned and died at Auschwitz. In the letter, he expressed a hope to someday see Jerusalem. After our time at Poland, we could truly feel his presence. We were the eyes to his soul.
Posted by Linda & Steve Jacobson
Mincha and Kabbalat Shabbat were at Shira Chadasha. For those of you who are unfamiliar, easiest described as modern orthodox, semi-egalitarian, beautiful singing. For those who have ever been a wear traveler, imagine your head weighing 50 pounds sinking ever so slowly to the floor from being awake almost two days. Imagine, afterwards, the sudden re-awakening of your body with the sight of a ridiculously full, never-ending Shabbat dinner buffet. Suffice it to say that food was ample, delicious, and filling.
Flash forward to Shabbat morning . . . too lazy and tired to hit the breakfast buffet until closing time, 10:30 a.m., which, for you seasoned Israel travelers will know, is WAY too late to get to a shacharit service. Oh well . . . took a short walk with Steve through Yemin Moshe instead.
Shabbat lunch . . . did I mention there's a lot of food on the trip???? Shabbat lunch was soon after breakfast for us, 1:30. Nice buffet, lots of good stuff, followed by a much-needed nap. We left the hotel around 5 p.m. to walk through some of the Jerusalem neighborhoods using the poetry of Yehuda Amichai as our road map. Words were as appropriate today as the day they were written.
We davened mincha at the Conservative Yeshiva. Had my first (and probably last) ever aliyah in Jerusalem. Nice, followed by Steve as hagbah. Nice honors, the check is probably in the mail! :) We went looking for Lag Ba'Omer bonfires, were too early, had no trouble smelling them, however, in the night air an hour later. Hillel Kessler, guide and friend, met us on Ben Yehuda, came back to our hotel with us for a drink. Don't get too excited all you out there in cyberland, had a diet coke, diet sprite and mineral water on the tab. We handed off a jar of Sanders Hot Fudge for he and his wife to enjoy, then it's off to bed. It's past 12:30 a.m. here, Steve still has work to do, so I need to sign off.
Hope all is well at home. Life in Jerusalem is THE BEST!! Wish you all were here.
Posted by Mark Bello
Today, we spent Shabbat in Jerusalem. The readers may recall that I’ve slept, roughly, three hours in the 40 hours that preceded Shabbat. I had intended to go to services at the Great Synagogue, today. Alas, I wake up at 12:30 PM. I feel rested and ready to go. Lunch is at 1:00 PM and we enjoy it in the hotel dining room with our “trip friends”. This is one of the pleasures of this experience; getting to know congregants who I have know, but not well, and meeting and becoming friendly with people I did not know before. After lunch, we relax at pool side (which is on the roof of the hotel, with a nice view).
At 5:00 PM, we meet Muki in the lobby, for a walking tour of residential Jerusalem. The tour begins in the park that I wandered into on my first day here, at the windmill and neighborhood built by Sir Moses Montifiore (yes, he was a knighted British man). You may recall that this was the first Jerusalem neighborhood built outside the walls of the Old City. The neighborhood buildings have roofs constructed in a similar manner to the walls of the Old City. It seems that the Israeli citizens did not exactly embrace the idea of life outside the city walls, and interest in the project was non-existent. Montifiore was giving the homes away, and had no takers!
We ascend some steps and arrive at a second, very beautiful neighborhood called Yemin Moshe. This is a series of attached homes over looking the Old City. Beautiful trees, gardens and small parks accent the property and Muki advises that these home are very expensive and unoccupied almost 90% of the time. They are used, primarily as second homes to the rich and famous in Israel. The 10% occupation occurs, primarily, during the High Holidays.
We walk to the rear of the homes and encounter a beautiful park where families are relaxing and children are kicking soccer balls around. Muki leads us to what can only be described as a scenic “pit” or sink hole, and we learn that it once was the site of an elaborate tomb. Indeed, there is a stairway that leads underground, and a neighborhood family ventures down the stairs below the rock formations we are reclining upon. I wonder, as we rise to leave, whether anyone was home. We venture further into the city in search of another neighborhood near Ben Yehuda Street. We pass the King David Hotel, on of the older and, perhaps, the finest hotel in Jerusalem. Across the street from the King David is the YMCA. This is not like any YMCA you have ever seen. There is a beautiful church and tower overlooking the city and the structure is magnificent. Muki advises that virtually every religious entity purchased property in Jerusalem, and, at some point or another, built their “monument” to the Holy Land. We walk a bit further and encounter the administrative offices of the JCC. As irony has been a large part of our trip, Muki advises that the director of the JCC swims down the street at the YMCA.
We arrive at the United Synagogue complex and daven the Shabbat evening prayers, ma’ariv and Havdalah. I am honored with the Kohen Aliyah. Between services, we receive a nosh and the local scholar provides an interesting commentary on the 7 relationships for mourning-father, mother, sister, brother, son, daughter, and spouse. Rabbi Berkun reflected on our visit to the camps and the tension between our desire to mourn the 6 Million and the obligation to only mourn the 7 accepted relationships. Rabbi Berkun is then invited to daven ma’ariv and lead Havdalah.
After services, Muki reminds us that because it is Lag Ba’Omer, there will be bonfires all over the city. We went looking for bonfires in the Orthodox neighborhoods. There are people gathered in various groupings, but it is two early for a bonfire. Muki advises that there will be bonfires to be found, if we so desire, and he leads us to Ben Yehuda Street where he says “good night” for the evening.
We venture over to Ben Yehuda Street to shop and munch. The sites and sounds of post-Shabbat Ben Yehuda Street creates a very entertaining evening. We are told by a “local” that the entire town will smell like smoke in the morning from the Lag Ba’Omer bonfires. We return to the hotel and, as we are walking in, a man comes up to me and asks “Do you know where there are any fires”? This struck me as very funny; I was thinking about whether anyone has ever asked such a question in the Detroit area and what would happen to him if he did. Of course, this was Israel on Lag Ba’Omer, and it was a very appropriate question.
In the hotel lobby, Linda Jacobson is chatting with a local friend. She has given him a bag and I discover that the bag contains a bottle of Sanders Hot Fudge. Detroit may not be as old as Jerusalem, but we have some old and delicious traditions at home, as well. This has been a very relaxing day. After several days of non-stop activity and an “all-nighter” the night before, a Shabbat rest is very much appreciated and I took full advantage of it.
Note from Rabbi Berkun: There is no link to any pictures from today, as it was Shabbat.
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