Wow, I'm really far behind. Sorry about that, its been crazy here! I am sad to say that we are heading into our final weeks here. This upcoming week we have all of our finals. Then we are going up north for a week, then we come home.
I have been keeping note of everything we do on my phone so hopefully if i dont get it write it all out before i leave i will when i get home (yes that includes a real Poland blog and Yam l Yam). I guess ill see everyone soon!

יום הזיכרון ויום העצמאות

5/4 -Memorial Day

Since some kids had to take the SAT this morning, me and my friend Amit decided we would make them all something to have to brighten their day when they got done. So what better than some cupcakes? We made them during our little breaks during classes in the morning and she handed them out when everyone finished (I had class so I couldn't help but I heard they were a huge hit!). 

All week we've been seeing the Israeli flags everywhere. They are on every store, every house, every car, even all over the kibbutz. 

We had the amazing opportunity to go to the national ceremony at the Kotel tonight. 

We heard the president speak, and the chief of the army speak. We also got to stand as the siren went off, but this was different than last week. This time it wasn't just us watching as the cars stopped, this time it was the entire county standing at attention, and you could tell. 

Although we couldn't understand everything that was being said, we stood by people who could translate. The speeches were very moving but maybe the most amazing part was that the mood was not just within one group, but it was everyone. In Israel Memorial Day is much different than in the US. Everyone here has been affected by the army and by war. Whether they lost someone or whether they know someone who lost someone. 

5/5

The full name of this day is the Day of Remembrance for the Fallen Soldiers of Israel and Victims of Terrorism (יום הזיכרון לחללי מערכות ישראל ולנפגעי פעולות האיבה)

This morning we went to the kibbutz memorial service in the cemetery. It is amazing to think that Tzuba has been around since 1948 but has only lost 2 sons to fighting. But even two is more than should be. 

I didn't understand most of the service but nevertheless it was very emotional. One of the things that struck me was as a girl was singing a song, she broke down crying. 

This evening the entire mood changed. We went to another ceremony. This one to end Memorial Day and start Independence Day. This is something we've been taking a lot about lately in classes, why these 2 days are right next to each other. 

We arrived at the ceremony last night right as they were lowering the flag to half mast. Tonight, we watched as the flags were lifted and as the shadow which had been cast over the country was also lifted off. 

After the ceremony we did some Israeli dancing with the people on the kibbutz. It was so much fun! Obviously they were a lot better than us but we also learned the dances quickly. 

At 10:30 we left for Ben-Yehuda street. If you know how packed it normally is, all you have to do is imagine that times 30. It was crazy! בלגן! There were people everywhere. Spraying silly string and other things, dancing, screaming, and of course plenty of loud music. 

We finally got back to the kibbutz at around 1 am. 

5/6- Independence Day- יום העצמאות

We slept In and went to the beach. This is the day of the year where everyone in Israel is out and about, even in an overcast day like today. 

We did an EIE color war. We split into 4 teams, green, yellow, white and pink. The first challenge was to make a team name, cheer, and logo (to be drawn in the sand). We named ourselves the Pink Panthers. The next challenge was a wheelbarrow race relay. Then we did one where we had to fill a bucket up with a sponge and anything else we could think about. It was funny because the Israelis started watching us and were bringing us bags and bowls and things to try and help (that's called cheating). Then we took a break for lunch and had our little barbecue on the beach. After lunch the games continued with some tug of war. First pink beat green. Yellow beat white. Green beat white. Pink beat yellow. Then pink beat the madraheem and some other Israelis that we found on the beach hahaha. 

Programs

5/3- Saturday

Emma and Danielle led an amazing program after Havdallah. They did what I know as friendship circle, something we do at the end of every Kallah. We all walked together to a grassy spot by the Hader Ochel and sat in a circle with our backs facing in and eyes closed. Each person had a number 1-9 and when your number was called you got up. They would tell you to tap some one who...and you could go tap as many people as you wanted and they don't know who tapped them. Some of the questions they used were:

Tap someone who made you laugh

Tap someone who your first impression was wrong

Tap someone who has dreams that you think they are capable of fulfilling

Tap someone who you would go to for advice

Even though I've done this before, it was completely different. This time I knew everyone in the circle and have had a connection with everyone. This made it special. The entire time I was tearing up but also I noticed that i couldn't stop smiling every time I heard a new question and everyone I felt someone tap me. 

It put us all in a sad mood to realize that we only have a short time left together in this place. But it also made us realize that we have to make the best of it.

After that activity I ended up with some of my friends in a circle on the pavement singing songs with a guitar. It just added to the night. 

4/29

We had a half day Tiyul to Ammunition hill. It used to be a Jordanian "police station" (it was used for the army) but was captured during the Six Day War. It was a short Tiyul but before we left we got to walk through the trenches. 

4/30- Wednesday

After a normal school day, we went out to Jerusalem for a private Coby Oz concert with the URJ board. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJsntrAx7TE

5/1

We woke up early to join Women of the Wall at the Kotel for their Rosh Chodesh service this morning. Although we missed a lot of the service we got there in time to join them in singing HaTikvah. 

Then we went back and had J-Hist until lunch. About 3 and a half hours. 

The rest of the day was normal. We had classes and stayed on the kibbutz. 

5/2 

For our Tzadakah project today we went to a beach in Ashdod and picked up all the trash we could find in the sand. Then we got to hang out on the beach and swim for an hourish. After that we went to a mall not far away for lunch and then back to Tzuba to get ready for Shabbat

יום השואה

4/27 Sunday

ToDay was a regular school day. After dinner we joined the entire kibbutz for their Yom HaShoah memorial service. The whole thing was in Hebrew but they gave us translation packets so we could follow along. It was really nice and that was the first time we were together with the entire kibbutz. They sang 2 songs which we had sang during our services in camps in Poland. It brought back those memories but this time we weren't in Poland, we were here, at Tzuba with all these people who had also lost family in the Holocaust. We heard a few testimonies and sang HaTikvah. It was a lot shorter than I think most of us expected it to be but it was good because it kept everyone's full focus.

After the service we walked down to the Belmont (the lobby of the hotel) and heard one of the girls on the trip grandparents speak. He had only been a baby during the Holocaust but he still had memories of seeing things and still had a story of how he survived. 

It's sad to think that soon there will be no more survivors who can personally tell their stories. 

The rest if the night I spent finishing up my Jewish history presentation for tomorrow and had some bonding time with my roommates. 

4/28 

יום השואה- Holocaust Remembrance Day. Having recently gone to Poland and having been in Israel for 3 months, I have a much different feeling about this day than I have in the past. 

We learned in Jewish history the full name of this day. It's a day not only to remember the atrocities if the Holocaust, but to also remember the heroism.  In Israel, there is a siren that goes off for 2 minutes. We went to a spot on the Kibbutz where you could see the highway and see the cars stop in the middle of the road for that time. It was interesting to see this even though not every car stopped. 

In global we went to the Zula and watched a video in which the son of a Nazi talked about his life and his choices. He grew up in Germany in a house with many secrets. He did not learn about the truth of his family until he was older. When he learned he did not approve. He ended up going to live with a community of Jews and converting. He even made Aliya to Israel and served in the IDF. For most of his life he kept his past a secret until finally he decided to come out and share it and the burden was lifted off his shoulders.

For our evening activity we watched another little movie. This one was about the Israeli Air Force and also about the allied powers lack of action towards the Shoah. 

Oops, it's been a while

4/24

Today was our last full day Jewish History Tiyul :(. We started at an old police station in Latrun. There we learned about the war of Independence and also got to climb on some tanks. 

Afterwards we went to the secret bullet factory in Rehovot. I remember going there when we came to Israel but it was cool to have our J-Hist teachers give us some more background. 

Then we drove to Tel-Aviv and had a small presentation at the Independence Hall/art museums a a little free time. 

For out Thursday night outing we went to a mall for a few hours. 

4/25- Friday

Since we are all still tired out from yam l'Yam, for our Tzdakah project this morning we watched a movie called "Pay it Forward" to give us some rest. (If you haven't seen it, you should!)

After lunch I worked on my J-Hist project for most of the day until services. 

Tonight they did a different service than usual. Mitch, Andrew, and Justin decided to make it blindfolded. We all brought a shirt and blindfolded our selves then walked in a line to where we were having services. They kept the service to minimum English and everyone was sitting in his own space. The idea was that by taking away our sense of sight it would strengthen our other senses and allow us to focus more. I really liked it because all you could here was the guitar and everyone's voices singing together and you could really only here the individual voices of the 2 or 3 people sitting around you. 

Towards the end we were told to take off our blindfolds and look at the people around us. 

For oneg Shabbat, we had kickboxing in the Goren. 

After rooms in I went over to Shoshana, Tessa, and Chloe's room and we watched a movie then I slept over in their extra bed. :)

Happy Passover!

4/14

For Passover I went with Tessa, Kayla, and Ophir to his grandparents house In Rishon Lezion (which is not far from Tel Aviv). We got on the bus at Chabat Hanoar around 9 and started our drive. As we went we dropped of people along the way. The bus ride was fun but also kind of sad. Even though it's only for a few days it was sad to say goodbye to our friends. 

We got dropped of at the train station and managed to make the second train with minimal problems. Once we got to Rishon Lezion we got picked up and dropped our stuff at Ophir's grandparents house then went out to get some snacks for Yam l'Yam. Then we came back to their apartment and slept pretty much until it was time for the Seder. 

It was so cool to actually be in Israel for the Seder this year since every year we say "next year In Jerusalem." Our Seder was very small, just us 4 and the four grandparents but it was a lot of fun. It was really cool to hear the same things we say every year in Hebrew. The blessings, the explanations, and of course the songs. Now I have some new tunes and words to teach everyone at home for next year! It was also cool because being the youngest at the table i got the job of saying the four questions but I managed to get everyone to say them :).

One of the biggest differences you notice being in Israel is that almost everyone is celebrating. It is not just a family Seder, but a Seder throughout the country. Even when we were going to sleep you could look out the window and see and hear all the other families around singing the same songs and eating their meals and everything. 

Jewish holidays: "someone tried to kill us, we escaped, so we celebrate by eating!"

חג שמח! 

Last trip!

4/10

This morning we got up and left Tzuba :(. We drove to the north by the Kineret to learn about the חלוצים. We started at a restored version of what used to be one of the farming towns. Then we went to a beautiful look out over the Kineret and the mountains and fields and are lunch there. Then we stopped at a date farm then got on the busses and headed back to Jerusalem to the place where we would be staying. Once we dropped off our things, we walked to the German Colony for dinner. I went with a few of my friends and we ate some delicious pasta and ice cream from (of course) Aldo's. 

4/11

Today we had a full day Tiyul to Tel Aviv! 

We got off the bus in the morning and started our class. דוד led us around to the old neighborhood where we learned about the חלוצים and Zionism. We got a mini graffiti tour and got some delicious ice cream. 

After our classes we went to the beach for a few hours to hang out before services.

For services we went to a secular synagogue. It was a little room and very crowded! There were the regulars, and us, and also a group of people from South America. We were sitting on the floor practically at the Rabbis feet. But all in all, it was one of the funniest services I've ever been to. There was a lot of energy and everyone was singing and dancing the whole time!

4/13

Today is Sunday and although we are not at the kibbutz, we still have classes....sort of. For Hebrew we got up early and drove to Har Hertzl. There we were split up in groups and given a list of things we would need to buy for our picnic later on and directions on where to meet. Then we were on our own. It was like NFTY-EIE amazing race. We ran to the airtrain platform and bought tickets then hopped on the train. We got off at the Shuk and bought our stuff. When we got off the train out Hebrew teachers were there to help us out and to say hi. My group was in charge of 40 pitas, 40 of the cheese filled pastries, 4 (containers) of green olives, and 5 (containers) of sour pickles. Once we were done with that we walked about 15 minute to a nearby park for Jewish history and lunch. There we had a mini class with our JH teachers. After lunch and some free time to play around in the park we got back on the bus and went back to where we were staying for general studies. 

For dinner (since the food where we are is so bad), after we had our meetings we walked to a falafel place about a block away. Last pita for a while!

Currently Waiting in the Belmont for breakfast before we leave for our next and last trip! We will be statig at a hostel for the next few nights before going to host family's for the Passover Seder. Then we will get started on our sea to sea hike!

HUC

Thursday 4/3

Today we had a full day Tiyul to Hebrew Union College. We watched "Walk on Water" for Hebrew and had speakers from different movements as our Jewish History class. Then we walked to lunch at the same pizza place we ate at a few months ago. After lunch we walked back to HUC and got a tour of the campus from a few students. 

Once we left the campus we got some free time at Mamilla, the outside mall right outside of the old city. Once we finished there we walked to the old city. There was a music festival thing that they gave us time to walk though. It was really cool and tons of fun! 

Poland Overview (not written by me)

Immediately on our arrival in Warsaw last Sunday morning, we went to the 200-year-old Warsaw Jewish cemetery with 150,000 visible tombs. Here we felt the visual impact of the capital of “Yiddishkeit” prior to WWII as we paid tribute to the great creators of Jewish culture buried in this cemetery. We visited the tombs of the Brisker Rabbis of the Soloveichik family, Ansky, the author of The Dybbuk, Y.L.G. Peretz, the Hebrew and Yiddish writer, Zamenhoff, the inventor of Esperanto, Dr. Mayer Balaban, the first head of a faculty for Jewish studies at the University of Warsaw, Ida Kaminska the “Mother of Yiddish Theater,” and many others who died before the Holocaust. Here we saw and felt the loss not only of Jewish art, scholarship, and leadership, but the loss of a community that was multifaceted in its range of Jewish pluralism: from Yiddishist socialists through writers, actors, playwrights, Reform rabbis, Orthodox and Chasidic leaders.  From there it was off to the nearby mall for a fast food lunch. After this we went to see the remains of the wall of the ghetto and then took the “Memorial Walk,” from the Umshlagplatz (the site of the deportation from where we were sent to the death camps) to the hospital of the Ghetto, where Jews fought heroically against disease. From there we continued along the route, hearing the stories of Janus Korcak and the heroic young women who served as couriers and messengers between the ghettoes, to Mila 18, the site of the headquarters of Mordechai Anilevitch and the Jewish armed resistance, and from there to the memorial for Shmuel Zygelblum, one of the leaders of the Warsaw ghetto, who tried to convince the others that civil disobedience and lack of compliance to the Nazis was the way to fight back. The lives of these two individuals paved the way for a short discussion on the different types of resistance in the camps and in the ghettos. Our next stop was at the Rappaport monument in Warsaw. Following dinner at the local Chabad center, we checked into the hotel and had short class meetings to wrap up the day and brief the students about the following day. Monday morning we departed for Tikochin, near the Belarus border. Tikochin was our visit to a shtetl. From the square we walked through the town off the paved streets and felt the ambiance of shtetl life. Our final stop was at the 17th-century main synagogue built in Baroque style where we saw the Tzedaka (social welfare ) institutions in the town and learned why the Jewish communities of Europe called themselves Kehilot Kodesh; Holy communities. Here we, too, prayed Mincha, led by the students. We ended our Tfillah with song dance and joy, bringing back sounds long lost between these walls. We then traveled by bus for fifteen minutes in silence as we approached the Lepochova Forest. It was here that in August 1941 the Einzatsengruppen of the SS shot 1400 Jews of Tikochin into open ditches and buried them. After a very moving memorial service we headed south for the town of Lublin. After dinner in the hotel, we broke up into small groups to help the students process what they had seen prepare emotionally for the next day. Our first stop on Tuesday was the Old Town of Lublin, where the students were given the chance to wander around the town, getting a feel for what a Renaissance city looked like.  From there it was on to Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin, which produced leaders of Polish and world Jewry until 1939. In the Yeshiva’s main study hall we studied a section of Talmud.   Following an early lunch, a fifteen-minute ride brought us to Maidanek, which borders on the outskirts of Lublin. For three hours we walked from one wooden structure to the next, each structure housing exhibitions of the death process that took place here from July 1941 to July 1944. Our last station was the gas chambers and crematoria where we had a moving memorial service prepared by the students. We then made our way to Krakow.

On Wednesday morning we visited Cracow castle and and then went on to Old Town Square, which provided an insight into medieval and middle age city life in Europe. After lunch our focus was on the richness of Jewish life in pre-War Europe. The first part of the afternoon was spent in Kazmierz, where visited the synagogue of Moshe Isserlis (known as the RAMA), who wrote the Mapa (tablecloth), which came as a supplement to the Shulchan Aruch Code of Jewish Law, written by his contemporary, Joseph Caro in Safed, Israel. This provided us with another strong example of the similarities between Jewish communities, regardless of their location. Next was the Kupa (Community Chest) Synagogue, where we saw how Jewish life and communal responsibility went hand and hand. We then entered the Temple, a 19th century Reform synagogue, exemplifying the diversity of the vibrant Jewish community in Cracow. The last synagogue that we saw on this side of the river was the Isaacs Synagogue. No longer serving as a synagogue, it is a memorial to the Holocaust dedicated to the Jews of Cracow who were forced to move out of their homes and transferred across the river until their ultimate destruction at the hands of the Nazis. We then went to the local JCC, where we met with a representative who spoke to us about the activities of the center and the revival that is going on in the local Jewish community, with many young Poles discovering their Jewish roots, and also about what it like to live as a Jew in Poland today. Late afternoon we walked the route that the Jews of Kazmierz took on their way to the Nazi ghetto in 1940. We walked to the main square and sat on the steps of the “Pharmacy” run by Thadius Pankievitch, a Christian man who decided to stay and help the Jews any way he and his staff could. It was there that we read poetry about starvation, humiliation, and brutal death at the hands of the Nazis. We then visited Oscar Schindler’s factory, where we learned the importance of remembering all those 6,000 people – and more that we do not know about, few though they were – who risked their own lives to save ours: The Righteous Gentiles.  We then went to a kosher restaurant for dinner and back to the hotel for class meetings to prepare for the visit to Auschwitz. Thursday began early as we left for a one-hour drive southwest of Krakow towards Auschwitz-Birkenau. We started our visit at Birkenau (Auschwitz II).  We followed in the footsteps of the Jews who disembarked from the trains and were then told by Dr. Mengele to go to the right. The gloomy day seemed appropriate for what we were witnessing as we walked for several hours trying to understand the Nazi death machine. Before we walked out, on the same tracks that had brought our families in to their deaths, we had a memorial service prepared by the students. We ate lunch before starting our guided tour of Auschwitz I.  Here, Polish guides supplied by the museum walked your children through Auschwitz I. Walking through the pathways, barracks and courtyards where prisoners were housed, tortured and forced to stand at attention preceded our chilling walk through the first experimental gas chamber and crematorium. We again took a fifteen minute ride to the town of Oswiecem (Auschwitz in German), where we stopped for a summing-up discussion and a very meaningful Mincha service in the Beit Midrash Lomdei Mishnayot (Society for Mishnaic learning). Then with gusto and much joy we sang and danced in this synagogue – study hall, Am Yisrael Chai. We landed in Israel just before 6am and got back to Tzuba at about7:30.

Poland Essay

I know I know, you're all waiting for my Poland blog but I haven't quite gotten to it yet! In the mean time, here's the essay I wrote for Jewish history on it if you feel like reading it (WARNING: it's long :P' yes i know the Hebrew is backwards, it got messed up when i copied it):

Polanya- Past, Present and Future

On September 1, 1939 Nazi Germany invaded Poland, an act that would spark a Second World War. However, the fate of the Jewish people was unveiled nearly 7 years earlier on January 1 1933 when Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. With the popularity of his Nazi party continuing to grow, Hitler began to rebuild Germany to be what he called “the 3^rd Reich.” This “3^rd Reich” however, did not include the Jews in any way. Upon our pilgrimage, we have seen the fine line between life and death that now exists in Poland. We discussed the term םייחה שודיק (sanctifying life) which emphasizes acts of heroism, survival, and defiance. We saw sites which used to be rich with life, and sites that still crawl with the feeling of death. Now, reflecting on the experience, we look at what is known as the 614^th mitzvot and ways in which one is told to observe it. To understand the prospective future of the Jewish people, it is important to comprehend our most recent oppression: The Holocaust. In order to do this we must also understand life before this atrocity.

Many Jews from the time of the Middle Ages until the rise of the Nazi’s lived in small towns throughout Eastern Europe known as shtetlach. These communities were also called השודק הליהק, or a Holy Community. The people who lived here spoke Yiddish, but this was not just their language, it was their way of life. It included culture, traditions, and showed that they had a strong Jewish identity. A small slice of this way of life could still be seen when we visited the former shtetl of Tykocin. Although no Jews live there today, one must imagine what life was like when it was livelier. As you walk to the central square but the church you can smell all the goods being traded between both Jews and non-Jews on market days. When you walk behind the old homes, you can imagine the barns being filled with cows and horses and chickens. If you pass by the stream, you can see the women washing clothing and sheets as the sun beats down on their backs and if you happen to pass by on a Friday night, you can see the light of the Shabbat candles reflecting in the faces of men, women, and children who could not even imagine what their life would soon be like. But most importantly is the synagogue, the place of meeting and prayer for the entire community. As you walk into the synagogue today, you can read the prayers off of the painted walls as the Jews once did there, and hear the voices of generations bouncing off all sides. It is for this reason that we too sang and danced and prayed in this very same synagogue. By doing so, we breathed life back into community which has been lost. For centuries our ancestors lived and even thrived in this region of the world. Although very few remnants of a once prospering Jewish community remain, they have left behind a legacy that shall never be forgotten.

The vibrant way of life within the shtetl was lost through horrible acts of destruction and murder. Towns such as Tykocin are now merely ghost towns, echoes of a time that once was. But the intent of the Nazi’s could not be more evident than in Majdanek, a death camp near the city of Lublin. This camp is still in its raw state as it was one of the first liberated by the USSR at the end of the war. In a camp like this there is no separation between living and dying; instead there are only two ways to be murdered. After walking through the gate and entering the camp, the first place we were taken to was the Gas chamber. The one at Majdanek is not as big or even as sophisticated as the infamous gas chambers of Auschwitz however nonetheless it was still used to commit these horrible crimes of mass murder. Upon exiting the deadly building, you are surrounded by barbed wire fences as far as you can see. There are also black guard towers ever few yards. In a barrack in the middle of this death camp, there are four wired containers in which are thousands of shoes. Each one of these shoes belonged to someone. A big leather boot for a strong young man. A petit pink heeled shoe for a beautiful woman. A small soled shoe with frills for a child, no older than perhaps a year. If you walk through each row, you can reach your hand out and feel these shoes, feel these lives, feel these people. Each shoe tells a story, a story that was abruptly interrupted and erased except for perhaps a few small unnoticeable details. But all of these details fade away when you step back outside and once again see yourself surrounded by barbed wire fences on all sides. Suddenly a rush of fear hits you. To be surrounded with no way out is not a feeling most people today are used too. This is a feeling, fear, is one that the prisoners within these camps had to live with every day. They did not know if their family was still alive. They did not know if they themselves would still be alive in a few short hours. They were replaceable, disposable. They were not people, they did not have names. They were nothing more than a number to the S.S. soldiers who decided who would live and who should be shot on the spot.

With all of the terrible acts committed by the Nazi’s, the Jews did not sit around doing nothing. There were many acts of resistance, some more well-known than others. One of the most famous examples was the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. In this case, the remaining Jews in the Ghetto staged an armed revolt. Another example of the resistance within the Jews was on October 7, 1944 in Auschwitz 2 (also known as Birkenau). Here the members of the Sanderkommando, with the help of young girls from a nearby ammunition factory, blew up gas chamber 4. There were also more subtle acts of defiance. In Yiddish, these are known as ןביילרביע (Iberleben), or small acts of resistance. Emanuel Ringelblum was a Jew who had been resettled to the Warsaw Ghetto. Just an average man, realizing the future ahead of him and the rest of the people now living in the Ghetto, he decided to get together with other people, just ordinary people like him, to write diaries and to collect documents and photographs and any other papers they could find. They then buried them in metal boxes and milk canisters. This collection of documents is how we now know so much about life inside of the Warsaw Ghetto.

There were also other even less well known and smaller acts of defiance by the Jewish people of the Ghettos and concentration camps. There are many stories of people doing simple things such as just passing a comb around (an object of high value in a place such as that) to protect against the spread of lice which was not uncommon and spread quickly in the tight and dirty conditions of the barracks. Other stories include people who took on a parental role of a young child who was thrown into shock after being separated from their parents.  Although these more “simple” acts of survival and resistance may seem incomparable to those which took part on a larger scale, these smaller acts of survival were just as important if not more, for these were the acts that went against everything the Nazi’s wanted. They tried to strip us of our humanity so we held on to every part we could grasp hold of. They tried to kill us so we continued to live and work another day.

Rabbi Emil Fackenheim wrote, “Jews are forbidden to hand Hitler posthumous victories, they are commanded to survive as Jews, lest the Jewish People perish.” What this “614^th mitzvah” commands is that Jews are forbidden to forget the events of the Shoah. By forgetting we are giving Hitler victory. Instead we must continue to survive and thrive as Jews, as people, because this is what Hitler aimed to destroy. We must educate ourselves and future generations because to be able to teach and to learn about our past is a victory. This shows that just as Jewish life and history did not end at the destruction of the second temple, it will not end at the Holocaust, instead it is continuing to grow even today. By going to the sites of the Ghettos and of the death camps as a group of Jews and to turn around and walk back out the gates like millions did not have the chance to do; that is a victory. Continuing the everyday aspects of Jewish life is also a victory. To be able to study Torah and to be able to intermarry is a victory. These were simple human rights that were stripped from us by the Nuremberg Laws (laws passed in Germany in 1935 which stripped Jews of rights such as citizenship). Perhaps the greatest victory today however is the existence of a Jewish state in the land of Israel. Israel is our land and by having our own land shows that we are a people, a nation. That is an idea that Hitler would have never accepted, and for this reason it is one that we must continue to prove in order to keep the 614^th mitzvoth.

Our עסמ to Poland was a life changing experience for me. I learned many new facts and stories about the Shoah that I had never known and may have never heard. I never thought about writing a diary as resistance and had never hear of the term ןביילרביע. I believe that it is every Jew’s responsibility to go to Poland and to understand not only the number of 6 million, but to see what that number really meant. To see it in the shoes at Majdanek and in the homes of Tykocin. It is important to observe Rabbi Emil Fackenheim’s 614^th mitzvot and continue Jewish life and Jewish traditions and to support the state of Israel. To have a states means that we are a people. To be a people means that we are all connected, even with different views. Just as we were all present at the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai, we were all part of the Holocaust, and it will stay with us forever. Never again and never to be forgotten.

Strawberries are the cure for all things stressful.

Tomorrow we have a full day Tiyul and our Jewish history essay is due by tonight. I had a lab last night so that was two less hours to work on homework and the essay and reading my book which needs to be finished by the end of the month (400 pages left to go!). I ate a whole thing of strawberries and fell asleep writing my essay last night. We are all exausted and next week we have midterms. It's sooo stressfullllll!^Ready for the stress eating tonight.

April Fools

4/1/14 

This morning we got to join the Women of the Wall for their Rosh Chodesh service. The other bus got stuck in a demonstration on the way to the old city so we got there a while before them.  One of the girls there who we had been talking to have us her Talit to wear. After the service we were talking to one of the people about the reaction of the orthodox to this movement. It was very interesting to hear this. Then we ate breakfast and went to a town called נחלאות which it's like a real working shtetl, unlike the ghost town of Tykocin. We walked around and saw a genizah, a place for making your plates and utensils Kosher, and a Mikva (well the door to it). 

Poland

3/28

Sorry for the lack of Poland posts, I'm working on it. It's been very busy since we got back.

3/28

Today I led services with my friends Tessa and Kayla. We decided that we wanted to reflect on our week in Poland but we also didn't want to make a sad Holocaust service. We lit candles all around the room and told personal stories before the mourners Kaddish. After we finished the prayers, we went outside to do an activity to represent all of our thoughts and feelings reflecting on the week and also how it brought all of us closer. We told everyone to wear a white shirt that they didn't mind getting dirty and we pulled out some paint and everyone put handprints on each other. Then we all put handprints on a canvas that we had gotten (with plans to cut it up at a later point and give everyone a piece).  

After we finished our activity we all went and cleaned up for lunch. After lunch I went to the Tel with Kayla and we sat up there until dinner just talking and taking in the view. 

After dinner we led Havdallah. My friends Jordan and Mashell led a game. The goal? To hug everyone :D. It was so much fun! 

Poland Prep

             Wow this turned out to be a lot longer than I thought this post would be.

3/21

In preparation for Poland, we have been having many prep sessions for what we will be doing and seeing and possibly feeling.

I guess I’ve never really felt a strong “personal” connection to the Holocaust seeing as I didn’t have a grandparent who was in Europe at that time and until very recently, I wasn’t sure if I had had any family at all who had been in the Holocaust. But at the same time, I have always had a sort of fascination for the events of this time period, of wanting to know what happened to all these millions of people, and not just on a mass scale, but the stories of individuals and families a well. When I see pictures and videos, I get upset, and a little angry even. You have to stop and think, who were these people, what were their names? What was their favorite food or subject in school? What was their life like? And what did they do to deserve such a terrible fate?

Today we visited Yad Vashem. If you don’t know what that is, it is a Holocaust memorial site. As we were waiting for our guides to come, we sat on some steps overlooking an amazing view of the Judean hills. Just sitting there made me realize that that view, of those hills, in the state of Israel is a site that 6 million Jews never got to see. Once out guides were ready. We split into our bus groups and headed towards the museum. Before my group went in, we stopped at a very important site to learn something. I’ve only been to Yad Vashem once before so I was unaware that each tree planted there had a plaque with a name on it. These plaques name The Righteous of the Nations. These were people who were non-Jews, just everyday people living in Europe at the time who risked their lives to save Jews. Some saved maybe one person, others saved thousands.

Once in the museum there were a few things that stood out to me, the same things that I had remembered from my first visit:

The pile of shoes and the circular room with the binders of victims names and the well which reflects the pictures.

I believe those things stood out to me because I had remembered seeing them but there were also things that I did not remember. For example, the shape of the museum and its possible meanings. If you have been there before, you might remember that it is a triangular tunnel in which the walls move in wards as you walk towards the middle and widen again as you reach the end. This shape helps emphasize the dark parts of the war and the light which is now Israel. The video at the end also struck me. It was horrible to watch but needed to help realize that this was real, its not just a movie.

We came back, had lunch, did a little Poland history program/ itinerary. Our Oneg Shabbat tonight was watching The Pianist. I’d never seen it before, actually I’ve never really seen any Holocaust movie before so it was a little hard to watch at parts.

Parents Week

3/18- Safad Tiyul
Today was a full day (15 hours actually) Tiyul with the parents! Each Jewish History class got its own bus. We started off the day with a nice long drive to a Crusader Fortress by the Kineret (Sea of Galili). From the top you could see Jordan which was actually very close. Our parents got to learn the way we do and even participate a bit. After having a lesson on the Crusaders we moved into the fortress (actually, we stormed it, swords and all.). Then we spent a little more time talking about what happened to the Jews during that time before getting back on the busses to go to lunch on a nearby Kibbutz. After lunch we drove to Safad. We went into three different synagogues, each one with a different story. Then we got plenty of free time to do some shopping. For dinner, we hopped back on the busses and went to a farm that had a restaurant.

3/19
We had another Tiyul with the parents. We had Hebrew in the morning then met them at the Israel Museum to see an exhibit on Jewish life in the diaspora. There was some pretty neat stuff there but my favorite has to be the wall which had hanukia’s from all over the world. Then we came back to the Kibbutz and general studies while the parents went and did their own thing. Tonight we had the farewell banquet for the parents and got to eat some of the best food we’ve gotten on the Kibbutz.