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