The Meaning of Freedom
Though Friday is a short day in Israel, our group manages to fill it with one of the most powerful days of their trip. This morning the group went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Heroes and Martyrs' Memorial http://www.yadvashem.org/. It was an intense experience for everyone.
The whole group began with a walking tour of the outside grounds, with a terrific guide who engaged them experientially. Those who were comfortable toured the inside of the museum, styled like a mountain top which they enter at the dark base and ascend to light and freedom.
Our group has a Yad Vashem experience unlike any other -- they also visit the art gallery, which holds works created by Dr. Bruce Sharon's father. Participants listened with rapt attention as Bruce described his father's experiences and explained each piece of art just for them.
Walking through the darkened hall of the Children's Memorial, one million points of light shining in the darkness as the names and ages of every child victim announced in somber tones, our group held hands to help each other get through.
When their visit to Yad Vashem was all but complete, they sat down to write about the experience of being there. Rose read some of the poetry to me and it brought tears to my eyes. The group was very clearly touched and had a powerful sense of their role as young Jews in keeping their culture and traditions alive.
Tonight they'll take a deep breath as Shabbat begins, coming together for Kabbalat Shabbat services, to welcome Shabbat and enjoying another festive Shabbat dinner. After dinner, two of the soldiers will talk about what freedom means to them, drawing connections with their experiences at Yad Vashem today and linking the conversation to the free Jewish life we have in the US, with no need for a military to defend our right to live as Jews.
It is a very intense journey and our travelers are fortunate to share it together.
Tomorrow night they'll be tourists like any others, unburdened from the weight of today, as they enjoy the Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall, shopping and snacking their way downtown. They are excited to do this; so many of them have heard about this heart of downtown and they are all looking to get in on the party.
We'll check in with them again on Sunday, since it's so late in Israel when Shabbat ends here. Til then, wishing you a restful, warm and dry Shabbat, tinged with the glow of Jerusalem, from afar.
Rabbi Elyse Winick
