Thoughts on Year Course 11-12

  It’s hard to end a nine-month program, when I have just had the time of my life, lived on my own, experienced a new country, and grown so much as a person. When I think back on the challenges of this year, they were outweighed immensely by the incredible things I did and accomplished; Rwanda, fundraising for Leket Israel, living on my own, planning yam le yam, Shvil Yisrael, making best friends, living on Kibbutz, and so much more. This year I was given the unique opportunity to have a year to simply to live, learn, and explore the Jewish state and my self, and I can honestly say that I have no regrets, and that I lived everyday here to its fullest.

  I think that I have changed quite a bit since the first day of Year Course. And I don’t mean that I look different, but after going through the journey that I have just gone through, your mindset and outlook on life changes. I am more cultured, more independent, have more confident in myself, and can honestly stand by personal beliefs and ideals. For example, after thinking about it for a long time, I decided while living on Kibbutz to become a vegetarian; something that maybe wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t had the to think, grow, and try new things.

  Thanks so much to everyone who helped me through this year, and supported me in every possible way from abroad and in Israel. This blog was a lot of fun, so thanks for reading!

 I know I will be back in Israel soon, and not just to hike and a have a great, but because this is the land of the Jewish people: my home.


  Thanks, good bye, see you soon, and Shalom,

Alex

And the hummusandbeyond hummus of the year goes to...

…..HUMMUS HACARMEL! Yep, this awesome place in the Tel-Aviv Shuk gets my vote. I probably went there about 400 times this year, and everyone who I took there was blown away. The location is great, and so is there steaming bowl of hot flowing chickpea. It’s just so dam consistent. So yeah, Hummus Hacarmel: Congrats. 

It's not over until I say it's over!

  Karas, Kats, Gilbert, and I stumbled out of bed on Friday morning after an exhilarating Avicii concert, and headed up North. When we arrived at the national park, The Yehudia water hike itself was actually closed because of falling rocks, but that didn’t stop us from sneaking passed the rangers to find a gorgeous waterfall (AKA paradise). We spent the afternoon swimming, then headed back to our campsite for Kabbalat Shabbat. Karas can speak Hebrew better than most Israelis, and somehow got us into the park for free, because he volunteered in Tel-Arad, an excavation site he volunteered at.

 We spent the night telling stories from the year, and eating out pitot and fruit salad.

 We woke up to find that Jacob had been bitten by 3,000 masqitos. After making sure Jacob was still alive, we started our hike up Wadi Tsavitan. In the fist half hour we found a huge waterfall. I also found a twenty-foot cliff to jump off of. It was fun. We finished our day swimming in the Kinneret, and then headed back to Arad for our final party. It was a great weekend, and a great way to continue living it up in this beautiful country we call home. 

The boys

Exploring

 Welcome to paradise

At this point in my jump I was flailing like a frog

...but luckily I regained control (perfect form and entry; I received a nine out of ten from the judges).

]

Kibbutz Ketura

Kibbutz Ketura is a communal kibbutz located in the southern Arava desert, just thirty minutes from Eilat. For those who don’t know, Kibbutzim are socialist agricultural communities that have been around since the 1900’s. Kibbutzim have been and are still an important part of Israeli society; they help people migrate to the country, create jobs (especially agricultural), and allow growth in rural areas.

 Kibbutz Keturah was established in 1973, by a bunch of hippie Year course alumni who had recently made Aliyah. When the Kibbutz was first established, everything was communal, and the founders worked eighteen hour days trying to grow vegetables in the sand. Today on Kibbutz we only work 6-8 hours a day, but most everything is still communal. Laundry, cars, the dinning room etc.

 I chose to volunteer at Ketura for six weeks, because I wanted the unique experience of living a simple life in the middle of nowhere. With only two weeks left on Kibbutz (and Year Course), I would say my expectations have been met, despite many challenges. I have had three or four jobs here at Ketura, some good some not so good. Volunteering for the Kibbutz is meaningful, and is essential to the Kibbutz’s success, but sometimes it seems like the Kibbutz uses us excessively, giving us the worst tasks (dinning room cleanup).

 The coolest job I had was actually not at Kibbutz Ketura, but at an eco Kibbutz just down the road called Lotan. For two weeks I farmed the date trees, working thirty feet in the air trimming and bunching the date flowers so they will be perfect size and taste when their time comes to ripen. Not only was this an incredible and unique experience, it was also an Israeli experience. I was volunteering with three other goofball Israelis, who were taking a year after high school to help the country. Lets just say that when you’re up in a tree with someone for eight hours a day, you get to know them pretty well. I learned a lot of Hebrew; especially slang words like קצף (ketsef), which means the foamy top part of your beer.

 Ketura is basically an oasis in the middle of the desert, with flowers, palms trees, and birds chirping. The area around the kibbutz is earthy as well. Just out the back gate there are giant mountains with excellent biking, hiking, and running trails. I go exploring just about everyday, and have had some epic climbs. Only two more weeks in the wholly land before I head back to my other life. Gotta live it up! 

 Alex

There was a wedding on the Kibbutz. There is a great hike to the telephone pole on top of the mountain in the foreground. 

 Hoopa at the pool

  Up in the dates...this machine is an Israeli invention. 

 Tomer, Evya, and Ian taking a break from bunching and cutting the date flowers.

Kibbutznick

  On a mountain biking adventure. 

Israel remembers the Holocaust, pays tribute to its fallen, and looks forward to Independence day.

 The month of April is a very powerful and busy month in the Israeli calendar. Three very important days mark the calendar. Yom Hashoa (Holocaust remembrance day), Yom Hazikaron (remembrance of fallen soldiers), and finally Yom Haatmaut (celebrating Israel's independence). These days are important to commemorate the past, and to celebrate the present and future. On Yom Hashoa and Yom Hazikaron a siren is sounded, and everyone in the country stops what they are doing for one minute. On Wednesday I was raking leaves on the Kibbutz, when the siren was blasted from huge speakers. Everyone dropped what they were doing, and stood quietly. It was a moment of both sadness and unity on the Kibbutz.

 Tomorrow I will be heading to Har Hertzl in Jerusalem (which is the military cemetery), to hand out water to visitors, and visit a few graves. It should be a sad but powerful day.

 One grave I will be visiting is the grave of fallen American-Israeli soldier Alex Singer. Alex's life is the most inspiring story I have ever heard. Alex Singer grew up in Philadelphia, attended Cornell University, traveled europe studying Jewish history, and after making Aliyah become an officer in the Givati brigade.  Throughout his life Alex was constantly writing, sketching, and living by the ideals he believed in. In 1984 Alex was killed trying to save fellow comrades, while fighting Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. He was killed on his 25th birthday.

 Alex's drawings, letters, thoughts, and poems have since been compiled into a book called "Alex Building a Life: The Story of An American Who Fell Defending Israel." This book has inspired me in so many ways, because what Alex went through is very relatable to me and every young person. He talks about issues of homesickness, the meaning of life, Zionism, Judaism, love, and just being a kid. One thing Alex said told his soldiers that helped me, was that if they were to think only of their next visit with they families, then their tour would be very long and painful. Living away from home for nine months I have found this to be true; although it is fine to write and think of my family, I must mentally be here living each day to the fullest.

 Alex's message is to cherish each moment, and not just to think about things, but to actually put them to practice.

 Here is an excerpt from one of Alex's letter's to his brother Saul Singer, who is now the co-auther of the world famous book start up nation. Saul's daughter was also my camper this summer at Yavneh.

 "walking through a wadi in the middle of the night with a million stars over my head, and singing as I walk because I'm so content and so enjoying myself, and climbing mountains and looking over the desert, and seeing eagles and a huge waddling porcupine, and the goodness of the rest which always comes after a night of trekking with so much weight on my shoulders... I'm feeling wonderful and very much at peace with my decision to stay on.' -Alex Singer




 http://www.alexsinger.org/

People observing the moment of silence

Saul Singer's book about Israeli hi-tek

From Sea to Shining Sea

 I am currently on a train to Beer Sheva, which unfortunately means that Passover break is officially over. What a shame. But what an unbelievably fun break it was! I spent the first few days hanging out in Tel-Aviv where I ate well and did the Seder, went on a three day hike from the medeterianian Sea to the Sea of Galililea, and finishes it all off with a cruise to Cyprus. Where is the restart botton?

Sea To Sea

Organizing a three day hike through the forest takes a lot preparation, careful consideration, and of course the right people. For Yam Le Yam we had all of these things.

 After completing Shvil just last week, I wanted to put my newly acquired hiking skills to the test, and Yam Le Yam was the perfect way to do just that. I calculated exactly how much food we would need for the three days, and headed to Shuk Hacarmel to buy 30 apples and plenty of Tuna. Shopping for this trip was particularly difficult, because everything had to be Kosher for Passover. You would think that in Israel this should be no problem, but in fact in it is actually quite tedious, because as an Ashkanazi Jew (Someone from Europe), I am not allowed to eat rice or beans (Kitniyot), as where the Sphardim (Jews from the middle east) can. So even though it says “Kosher for Passover” on the packaging, I need to look extra carefully to see if it contains Kitniyot.

  Late Sunday night Jacob, Hersh, Danny, and I met up at the train station in Tel Aviv, and headed up to Naharia to start our hike. We all had huge bags (except Hershel), and at one point I got stuck in the turnstile trying get onto the train.

 From Naharia we hopped a 30 Shekel cab ride to Achseev Beach. On the way there Danny asked the female cab driver if the beach was safe to sleep at. “Someone was murdered there last night”, she told us. “Someone cut someone else’s ears off”. “Are you Joking!?” we all asked her. She then said in a very serious voice, “No, check the papers”. There was a good two or three minute where we all freaked out a little. Danny peed himself, and Hershel called his friends who were already there. Then the evil cab driver started laughing. What a crazy Woman. The next three days went like this:

Day One: We woke up at 5:45, packed up our tent, and started walking through some beautiful Banana fields. We soon noticed there were many other groups doing the same route as us. We left the Banana fields and hiked through Nachal Achsiv all day. We had to cross many streams. I became an expert rock hopper, but often we would slip and get our feet totally wet. It was awesome. We made it to the city of Ma’alot around 4:30, and went directly to a gas station to eat ice creams and relax. After eight hours of walking, nothing tastes better than a Kosher for Passover Magnum. We made camp in a public park, and geniusly found a way to place our tent on a platform, so we would escape the sprinklers in the morning. We finished our first day with an epic BBQ!

Day Two: The five kilometer walk on the high way actually wasn’t to bad. At around ten A.M. we entered an unbelievably beautiful valley, and ate breakfast. Because it is spring here, there are flowers everywhere and animals making some cool noises. We spent the rest of the day walking through a beautiful valley, until we arrived at the foot of Mount Meron. As we were climbing the mountain, a large youth group was making their descent. This slowed us down a bit, but each person who passed us wished us a Happy Holiday, which was something you can only get in Israel.

 After a very tiring and long day, we arrived at the mountainside town of Meron. Meron is where a famous Rebbi is berried, and people from all over come to pray at his toumb. Many people who follow the teachings of Rabbi Nachman hang out in Meiron, and are absolutely the nicest people ever. They believe in being happy, and blast loud techno music from large trucks, while dancing about wildly. They gave us some hot soup, and one nice guy gave us each a book of the stories of Rebbi Nachman.

Day Three: By the third day of our hike my feet were killing me, and I had many painful blisters. Luckily our journey was enlightened by a friendly Yellow Labrador, who decided to tag along for the journey. We named him Shvil, which means trail. On the final day I was carrying the tent, which made it very difficult to navigate through the windy and steep mountains of the Galil.

 After three and a half days of walking, we got our first glimpse of the beautiful Kinneret, and made our way through another Banana field. On our way to the finish line we spotted a group of Thai workers who are employed by the Kibbutz, slaughtering a pig for their new year. We left Shvil behind the gate, and watched as they expertly removed all of the organs. They said they bought the pig for 1,500 Shekels. Pig is definitely a rarity is Israel, but is not totally unheard of. In fact, it is actually not legal to raise a pig on the physical land of Israel, and so Israeli pigs are raised on platforms.

 Jacob pointed out that the shadows were getting longer, and we still weren’t so close to the Kinneret. We tried one path to the Sea, but because of the very rainy winter, the water had covered many of the access routes. We decided to walk through Kibbutz Ginnasaur, and made it to the edge of the Kinneret just as the sun was going down. The two Yeshiva boys were too timid to go Mikvaing (religious skinny dipping) in the Kinneret, but soon followed Jacob and my lead. The water was freezing, but it was absolutely beautiful! I think every time I swim in the Kinneret it makes me want to make Aliyah.

 We left Shvil sleeping on the side of the trail with two cans of tuna in his stomach, and caught a Sheirut to Tavaria, where we went to an incredible restaurant called Decks. We feasted on delicious stakes and hot sweet potatoes, while we discussed the positives and challenges of the trip. Danny tried grilled tuna fish from a can, Hershel learned to share things, Jacob tried to convince us all to become vegetarians, and I learned how to plan a trip. It was an unforgettable experience, and I recommend doing any sort of hiking next time you are here.   

The Tel Aviv Passover break scene from the Karas's apartment (shout out to Lynne and Steve for having me). When we were walking along the boardwalk to our seder we got some strange looks for wearing kippas. Never thought that would happen in a Jewish country.

Beginning of Nachal Achsiv

Danny enjoying his osier for passover Magnum bar after a long day

Our fortress

Hershel doin' work

 only 25 Kilometers to Meiron!

 Malibu's Israeli cousin Shvil.

Prayer break

Thai workers at work

Yummmmmmmmmmmmmm

 After three long days we made it to the Sea of Galilee

 Picture credit to Maya Lee Perretz

 Victory dinner

Enough with the rockets

I’m sorry to have to write this post, but a rocket just fell on Eilat from the Sinai Peninsula. I was just there yesterday. It seems that there are people who still don’t want the Jewish people to live happily in Israel, and to celebrate our freedom. Unfortunately this is part of the reality here. This year has been the best of my life, yet at the same time I feel like I’ve been dodging rockets this whole time. Good thing we have the IDF to protect us. Once again, peace, love, and a happy Passover.

My man Obama breaks it down:http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/obama-wishes-jews-around-the-world-a-happy-passover-1.422887

http://news.yahoo.com/rocket-hits-israeli-city-near-egypt-border-104706012.html

A picture of Egypt I took yesterday. 

Sunrise over Jordan mountains, Akaba, Eilat, and the Bay of Eilat.

Shvil!Shvil!Shvil!

 Sixty percent of Israel is desert. There are two deserts, the Judian desert (which is named after the Judians who lived and fought there), and the Negev desert. There are many cities and towns in the Negev desert (Beer sheva, Eilat, Yerucham, Arad), but most of the land is either nature reserves or firing zones for the army to practice in. Before the State of Israel the Negev wasn’t very developed, however after Ben Gurian declared a state, he made a goal to “make the desert bloom”, which is exactly what happened.

  For the past one and a half weeks I have been hiking on the Shvil Yisrael (Israel National Trail), with around ten other Year Course kids (number fluctuating depending on injuries), our incredible guide Yoav, and another logistics guy named Tom. “The Shvil” is a famous trail, which starts in the greenery of the North, comes down to the coast, cuts right to Jerusalem, and then finishes straight through the deserts of Israel, and down to the party town of Eilat at the Red Sea. The Shvil takes about three months for a normal seasoned hiker to complete.

 Because this semester is centralized in the desert, we hiked the lower half of the Shvil.

 Week two (or one for me because I was in Poland), was a big circle around Sde Boker, the Kibutz that Ben Gurian lived at. A normal day of hiking started at 6 A.M. We would pack up camp, make breakfast, and then hit the trail by around 8. We would hike for eight hours, covering different terrain each day. It was very challenging and hot. Our guide Yoav was an amazing leader and kept things lively. He taught us different Hebrew words for farting, and taught us about nature.

 Finally at around four o’clock we would see Tom’s truck in the distance, with a hot pot of soup waiting for us. We would then put up tents, make dinner, hang out by the bonfire, and then go off to bed. But the day didn’t end there. Just when we thought we could sleep, we had to wake in the middle of the night for Shmira (guard duty), which lasted about one hour each night.

 Trekking through the desert was an incredible and life altering experience. The long hours of walking gives you time to reevaluate and think about anything. The terrain itself challenged me both physically and mentally, but each time I was able to achieve whichever goal set forth, whether it was putting up a tent or climbing a gigantic mountain. At a glance there is no life in the desert, but after spending some time there one will find much beauty in the simplicity of things. And of course you go to the bathroom, eat, sleep, don’t take showers, and live all in the wilderness.

 For the last week of Shvil we hiked from our Kibbutz through the Eilat mountains, all the way to Eilat. The views were incredible! We also hiked along a fault line, and saw many different kinds of rock.

 On the last day we woke up 3:30 AM, and followed Yoav through the darkness up a mountain. From the top we watched the sunrise over four countries (Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and Israel), as well as the scenic Red sea.  What an amazing way to end the three-week journey. It was also very ironic to be walking basically through Egypt and then to the Red Sea (which is the sea that Moses parted), with the Passover story just a few days away. After breakfast we made the descent down to Eilat, and spent the rest of the day snorkeling.

 I’m off to Tel-Aviv for sports day, and then with Boston families for Passover. Over vacation I will be testing out my new hiking skills with my three best friends Jacob, Hershel, and Danny, as we journey from the Mediterranean sea to the sea of Galilee. And then to top it all off, a three day cruise to Cyprus! Happy Passover,

 Alex

Yoav peeing

Timna National Park.

Shmira Sunrise.

The Shvil symbol.

Canyoneering

Returning to Israel from Poland

Returning back to Israel from Poland was one of the most interesting experiences of Year Course. Our flight landed in Tel Aviv at around 4 a.m., and from there we immediately drove to Jerusalem to go the Kotel.

 It was still dark when we got there, and to be honest no one was really into it. People were done with the stress of the week, and just wanted to go back to their regular Year Course lives. Our guide, teacher, mentor, and father Allen stopped us at the Zion gate, and explained to us “that if this were any other trip we would just go back to our normal lives, but after the week we just had, we have the responsibility to bring all the stories of the lost soles to Israel”.

Walking down to the Kotel I started narrating in my head what it would be like for someone who had lived through the holocaust dreaming of maybe coming to Jerusalem one day, and was now doing just that. Every step was special. Seeing an Israeli soldier with long payot and a hefty M-16 for the first time almost made me laugh. For a whole week we saw pictures of Jews being murdered, while at the same time we ourselves didn’t feel entirely secure in Poland, with drunk guys pointing at our keepot and so on. All of the sudden it was just the opposite; a Chasid Jew holding a gun. Hitler(May his name be obliterated) would turn over in his grave if he could see that.

    

We all stood motionless in a circle in the Kotel promenade, Israeli flags waving all around us. Choking back tears the director of Year Course Adam told us how he had just met his old friend from the army, and that this moment was one of the most Zionistic moments of his life. After one week of seeing many sad things and never shedding a teardrop, hot tears rolled down my face. I was crying because a gigantic chunk of my people were murdered, and now their memories were with me. I walked to the Kotel and put my face to the 2,000 year old stones as so many Jews of do, and felt the future of the Jewish people on my shoulders. European Jewry was essentially wiped out in WWII. Now the focus is on Israeli Jewry, and of course American Jewry as well. It’s up to me; I’m it. Six million people are depending on me. The future of the Jewish people is in my hands. 

Poland Day 4: Auschwitz and Birkenau

 The infamous Auschwitz. When people think of Auschwetz, they think of the “Work will set you free” sign. This is part of Auschwetz camp one, but in fact the general term Auschwitz was given to entire complex of camps which covers 20k. Visiting Auschweitz one was hard, because my great grandfather Adolf David died from pneumonia there. We had a Polish guide who was from the area, and was very informative. It wasn’t a big camp, but they really tortured the prisoners there. It was originally built to house Soviet POWs, and was then expanded for Jewish prisoners. I felt somehow connected to the place, because of my great grandfather. We also saw a picture of a young girl named Marta being liberated, who we had the privilege of hearing from a few months ago in Jerusalem.

 Berkanau was the biggest concentration camp in the world. It was a death factory.   It was simply terrible and terrifying. It was hard to stay both emotionally and physically focused on the tour, because it was a three-hour walk. The conditions there were inhumane. They killed 1.5 million people, and for those who weren’t sent right away to the gas chambers were selected to work for a few months until their eventual murder. Ellie Weisel was a survivor from this camp. I don’t think there is a more evil place in the world. The prisoners were stripped entirely of their identities, and were reduced to a single number tattooed to their arms. History has never seen anything so cruel, and unfortunately this plight was towards my people. As much I would like to believe the Nazis weren’t humans, they were. It was their decision. Yes they were brainwashed, but the Holocaust was still a series of decisions made by individuals. I have seen the worst and leaned a lot, so what do I do now with all this information?

 I am a Jewish nineteen-year young adult, who this week walked into four concentration camps. This week I also walked out of four concentration camps. In 1942 who would of ever thought that this could be possible. But when I left, I took people’s memories with me. Memories of amazing people, who were killed for the incredible religion they lived by. That is my responsibility after seeing the aftermath of inhumanity, to take their stories with me, and to live the rest of my life as humanly as possible.

 We will be having Shabbas in the old Jewish quarter of Krakow. I will shower, shave, and put on much nicer than the ones I have been wearing this past week. After so much sadness it is time to rejoice. Isn’t that what Shabbas is for? Isn’t that what being Jewish is all about?

The infamous "Work will set you free" gate.

Thousands of Shoes were stolen.

The magic(weirdness) of Poland.

Poland is sord of a weird place, or at least the Jewish sites are-probably because most of them are places of dead people, or are old synagogues from decades ago. Poland is a huge country, yet somehow all the Jewish groups seem to flock to the same places.

 Anyway, on Thursday our group decided to travel to the countryside of Poland, to get away from other tourist groups. The bus rides were actually quite beautiful, with hills and some rare rays sunlight. At the end of the day we headed to a mass grave. We were walking on a small dirt path in the woods, when I saw another group heading towards us. I was a little surprised to see them in this slightly remote area, and assumed they were Israelis. As they came closer I started to recognize a few of them. Incredibly it was my best friend Danny and his Yeshiva! They had arrived that morning. What were the chances that in a huge country we would be at the exact same place at the same time.

 We hugged, talked for a little, and took a picture with all the Boston boys. “It’s a tough grave back there”, Danny told me. “The first time you go is always really hard”, I said. “That one is especially hard” said Danny. I wished him luck and we continued on our separate journeys.

 The grave we visited was of 2,000 small children and babies. How gruesome and tragic. So many futures were ended there.

 At the grave we wrote letters to our parents thanking them for everything, and for giving us the opportunity to come to Poland and learn.

  After an incredible Shabbat in Krakow, we headed to the cemetery to talk make havdalah and talk about the interesting lives of the people berried there. We visited the Grave of Rabbi Heller, who was the Chief Rabbi of Krakow, and was the great great great grandfather of Jacob Gilbert. As usual, there was an Israeli group already at his headstone. We told the group about the celebrity status of Jacob, and incredibly one of the Israeli boys was also a descendent of Rabbi Heller! Jacob got to meet one of his cousins. Something like 75% of all Jews are supposed to be descendents of Polish Jewry. But again, what incredible chances....or maybe it’s just Poland.

 Ok, back to Israel tomorrow. Can’t wait for some fresh Hummus and a week of hiking in the Desert!



Boston Boys meet in a strange place.

The Children's mass grave

Poland Day 2: Tykochin and Treblinka

Yesterday was a very intense day. We started in a quite Polish town called Tykochin, which was once a thriving Jewish shtetle. On the way there we watched the opening scene to the movie the “Fiddler on The Roof”. Tykochin was much like Anetevka. We went to a beautiful old Shul, which was used by the Nazi’s Yemach Shemo(May their names be obliterated) for storage during the war. We then walked through the town to the forgotten old cemetery. Many of the headstones were buried in hay, so we set out to overturn and right them.

 Almost the entire Jewish population of Tykochin (2,000 people which was roughly half of the towns population), were taken to the forest in August of 1941, and were killed in mass graves. We visited these two mass graves, along with two other Israeli high school groups who were also there. Here is an excerpt from my Journal.

“We just left the site of a mass grave, where the entire Jewish population of Tykochin was massacred. Why did this happen? They were smart Jews. They had decent lives. But most of all they were just people.

 We read an account from the Nuremberg trials. A woman was stuck in the death pit, with dead and living people all around her. When she got to the surface of the pit, she yelled for her family. What love, even in the worst moment. I imagined the people made from clay, clawing, swirling, and evolving in the pit, as the woman struggled for a gasp of air. Maybe I imagined this because that’s what those people are now: just clay.

 I was so angry at one point. A voice was screaming in my head saying something like “who would do this? This didn’t need to happen. This never should have happened.”

I’m joining the IDF. I can’t let this happen again. If I can’t personally stop terror, I will help to try.

The Poles did little. They were passive. We can’t be passive. The torah teaches how important a sing life is. We can’t pass that up. No matter what.”

 Next we visited the death camp of Treblinka, where 850,000 Jewish people were killed in one year. Thank god it is no longer standing. Where it stood is now a memorial located near the Lithuanian border. There were many other Israeli groups when we got there, as well as very high security, because the Israeli and Polish Ministers of education were there for a ceremony. The most incredible part of this visit was being able to walk out of the memorial, something so many Jews before me were never able to do.

Here is an excerpt from my journal:

 “There is nothing left of Treblinka. We can go there and try to remember, but it’s all covered up. The death has been masked by the evil creatures that were once the body parts of the well-oiled machine that once stood in the gray Polish forest. I read a poem to the our group called “I am remembrance”, which was written by the son of a holocaust survivor. It was very difficult to read the poem, both because the wind was howling in my face, and because the contents as very intense and emotional. After we finished I was relieved to walk swiftly out of the camp and on to the warm bus. What a strange and terrible place. Thank god the holocaust is over.”  

  It was a very challenging day, but it was important in understanding what happened in Poland. A fair question is “why go all the way to Poland just to see these terrible places?” To contextualize, before WWII Warsaw had the largest population of Jews second to New York City. We are talking about a gigantic, thriving, and intelligent Jewish communities, which were essentially wiped off the face of this earth. We have to come here and commemorate those people. We have to. 

Uncovering a headstone.

I AM REMEMBRANCE 

i am
blue and white striped
with a yellow star and a tattoo
of death
i
shower in fire
with my brothers hand in mine
he knows of no jew or catholic
muslim or christian
he knows only
that he wants to live
and i
i cannot comprehend
i cannot understand
i cannot forget what i have never known
i shovel the ashes of the death
with the "why" tearing at me
with the "why" burning me
with the "why" tattooed in the fire
of my
mind
and what have they known
but pain and suffering?
what have they become
but hunted and afraid
what will be left
but ashes and debris
if
they
forget
i wear the blue and white stripes of persecution
i shovel the ashes of the dead
i carry the tomorrows
that were burned
the hopes
that were shot
the dreams
that will never be
and i am a prisoner to what i have never known to the gate of that eternal night
born to chains, born to suffer
born to 1000's of years
of containment
exclusion
restriction
haunted by the agony
of the dead
and
the guilt
of the living
i am
remembrance
forsake me not
for it is the doom of man
that he forgets 

(c) 1993 Eric Sander Kingston

Poland Day 1: Warsaw

  I know I didn’t make a “Poland trip scouting report”, but there really wasn’t that much to say. Before today I did have many hopes and goals for this seven-day trip, but mostly I just expected the unfathomable sadness that is the Holocaust. I do think that will come, but today I experienced something different.

  

 Arriving to Warsaw Poland earlier this morning, I felt very apathetic towards the country itself and its people. I mean if you’re Jewish and someone says “Warsaw”, you immediately think of the Warsaw Ghetto, and the famous uprising that happened there. Three hundred thousand Jews were sent out of Warsaw Ghetto to concentration camps, yet this morning hundreds of Israeli and American Jewish teenagers were doing just the opposite.

   

 Many of the stereotypes of Poland are true; it’s really cold, and there is some anti-Semitism. Besides these two factors, I found the city of Warsaw to be a regular clean and modern city, which is actually rather pleasant. You would never imagine that terrible murders were once committed there, because in fact after WWII the entire city was destroyed, and was then rebuilt into the modern hub it is today.

 The first site we visited was the massive Jewish cemetery. There were already many Israeli groups there, accompanied by intense Polish security guards standing watch. The idea of this Year Course trip is to not go to Poland just to say Kaddish and see the destruction of Polish Jewry, it is also to learn about the incredible life that Jewish people had in Poland prior to the holocaust. At the cemetery this is exactly what we did. We visited the grave of Y.L. Peretz, a famous writer who depicted Jews in a new modern way. We saw the grave of a man who had fought in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, stayed in Poland to become a Doctor, and later became an advisor in the Polish ministry of health. We also saw graves of many famous Rabbis and scholars. What incredible revolutionaries!

 In the large modern city that is Warsaw, there is only one remaining wall of the Warsaw Ghetto. The Ghetto was a terrible place where Jews were kept until they were taken to the concentration camps. The Nazi’s organized these Ghettos, but it was actually the Jews themselves that governed the ghettos. Warsaw had the largest Ghettos, with a population of over 60,000 Jews. Although there were terrible conditions inside the Ghetto walls, the Jews living there actually found ways to keep their humanity and intellect intact. There was a secret orchestra in the Ghetto, as well as art, and some soup kitchens. In the midst of this horrible piece of Jewish History, the courage of the Jewish people amazes me.

  

 After visiting the Umschlagplatz memorial (which was the site where the Warsaw Jews were sent off by train to Treblinka), we visited the last bunker of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. The story behind this site is sad but inspiring. After 300,000 Jews were deported to death camps, the Nazis kept 100,000 Jews who were mostly youth and laborers in the large ghetto. The remaining Jews decided they would not go like the others, and slowly organized the first Jewish resistance against Nazi Germany in History. Lead by the heroic Mordechai Anilewicz, the Jewish resistance fought bravely, catching the Nazis by surprise, and caused them to retreat several times. Eventually the Jewish fighters including Anilewivz ran out of firepower, and were forced underground. It was in this bunker, that Mordechai Anilewicz was finally discovered and killed.

 After the Shoa, one of Anilewicz last letter’s was found. He talks about how proud he was of the resistance fighter’s efforts. “ It is now clear to me that what took place exceeded all expectations…The last wish of my life has been fulfilled. Jewish self-defense has become fact. I am happy to be one of the first Jewish fighters in the Ghetto.

  So we have started from the beginning, and seen that even in the face of final destruction, some justice was served. Tomorrow will be different, as we continue through the history of the Shoa. But for now I am inspired. By Anilewicz, by Y.L. Peretz, and by everyone else in between. 

The Warsaw Ghetto uprising memorial.

 Old cemetery meets modern city.

 The remaining Ghetto wall

Commanders of The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

 Found my old car

 The oldest Shul in Warsaw. The Nazi's turned it into a horse's stable during WWII. Horse stable it is no more!