i love israel!!!

Wow, it's been a while since I've written... At this point, I am completely done with classes-took the AP Stats and AP Economics, all of my finals including Jewish History and Hebrew! It's exciting to have all 4000 years of Jewish History behind me.... for now... I was most interested in the recent history, learning about the War for Independence, the Sinai Campaign, The 6-Day War, the Yom-Kippur War, the Lebanon War, and the most recent Intifadas. It is especially intriguing to talk to each of our Jewish History teachers and hear their different opinions.

On Wednesday, we left Tzuba for the Golan Heights! We stopped first at a lookout point on the Green Line where we could see the dirt road where the division wall is being built. As we drove North, we passed finished areas of the fence. After, we drove to our youth hostel, Tel Chai, set in the beautiful mountains near Syria. We watched a movie at night called the Syrian Bride about the Druze in the Golan and Syria and the trouble they have with recognization of Israel.

On Thursday, we went to a lookout where we could once again see Syria. We saw the UN buildings off in the distance. The land was very flat, divided off into farmland, with mountains in the distance. We learned about the 1967 War and the taking of the Golan Heights as well as some of the problems that it poses today. After this, we had 3 choices for afternoon adventures... I went on the Jillaboon hike, the most difficult... It was incredible, actually I didn't even know Israel could be soooo beautiful! First of all, it was blazing hot and we were in the sun for most of the day. We began at a ruined Syrian village from before 1967 and walked on some steep trail through the hills. Eventually, we got to a stream where we walked in it-i felt like we were traversing jungle terrain in the water! At some places we were stomach deep in water, on slippery rocks, and with vines and branches all over our heads!! It was amazing though, and eventually we ended at a beautiful waterfall where we swam and sat on the rocks right under the waterfall. When we returned to the hostel, we had a program about modern Israel. Each of our 6 Jewish History teaches took on the perspective of a different person in Israel and told us their story, having to do mostly with the Arab-Israeli conflict. It was really the first modern issues talk that we have had and everyone benefited from it!

Today, we first went to yet another lookout, this time into Lebanon! Then we drove to the Na'ot Teva factory where a lot of people bought shoes... then we were off to a Druze Village. There we ate amazing food-pita, zatar pita, olives, rice, etc... it was really really good. We ate sitting around a big platter with all of the food on it. A young woman told us about the Druze after and answered some of my questions (I just did a paper on the Druze for Jewish History). It was very interesting to see the house and how it was decorated with photographs and with items very much from the Arabic culture.

Altogether, it was an amazing trip... and there are no more classes to think about. Tomorrow is Shabbat and then we are off on Sunday for 5 days in the Negev Desert!

It has been a very busy week! Last week, we celebrated Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, here on Kibbutz Tzuba. In the evening, we went to the Kibbutz Ceremony, which was of course all in Hebrew. We remembered victims of the Holocaust and also heroes like Oscar Schindler. The next morning, the day of Yom HaShoah, we walked to an overlook(didn't quite get there), to hear the sirens. In Israel, sirens are set  off 3 times in the year. When this happens, for two minutes, everyone stops, cars, people and everyone is silent for 2 min in remembrance.

Today, is Yom HaZicaron, Memorial Day, which is for the memory of those killed while serving the the Israeli Army, and those killed in terrorist attacks. It is probably the saddest day in Israel. Last night, we went to the Wailing Wall for the big ceremony that happens there. The  President of Israel and Secretary of State both talked and the military was present. The area was filled with people. We sang HaTikvah and said the Mourner's Kaddish. This morning, we went to the Kibbutz Ceremony at the Tzuba Cemetery. There have been two soldiers from Tzuba killed while fighting, so the ceremony focused mainly on them. It was very moving to see all of the Kibbutz members together, mourning the loss of the two boys whom most of them knew. Members of the army were there to place flowered wreaths on their graves, and one father and one brother spoke about their relatives. By the end, many people were crying and it was a very heavy atmosphere. It felt like Memorial Day at home when I am standing next to a war veteran-it is only him/her that knows the pain of losing someone. Yet in Israel, everyone has been through the army and everyone has had a friend killed, fighting for Israel, so everyone feels the pain.  This was the third time that the sirens went off.

 And tonight, Yom Ha'atzm'ut begins, Israeli Independence Day! These are the two most Israeli holidays, the saddest and most joyous, back to back. There are Israeli flags everywhere!!

We left for Yam El Yam on Friday morning and drove to a spot on the Mediterranean coast where we met our guides, Tzukim. It was blazing hot by the water and a rough day for walking! Of course, since it was Pesach, our meals mostly consisted of matzah with chocolate spread of course(!), cucumbers, apples, pickles, canned corn, and easy food like that. We got backpacks where we carried our personal stuff as well as pots for cooking and the breakfast and lunch food. But, the buses met us every night, so we didn't have to carry our clothes and the company set up tents for us and made dinner!!!! Not at all like Kroka, for those of you who know what I'm talking about! The land in the north is beautiful, much greener than I expected with lots of taller foliage. We hiked all afternoon until we ascended a steep mountain to an overlook in the mountains where our camp was. It was an amazing view of some old fortresses and green hills, no civilization! There we had Shabbat services, ate dinner, and made a bonfire. I slept around the bonfire because it was so warm, although I didn't get much sleep because of other students talking late into the night.

Each morning, we were woken by a loud 'boker tov'(good morning) around 6:30, and we packed our food and loaded the bus. Saturday morning we had services and then left in the afternoon for a hike. Our guide Lee was amazing with the nature; she told us stories about the plants and animals and which plants were edible. We ate lunch by a stream and then hiked a different trail up the same mountain from the night before. This night, I slept in a tent! It was very tight with  4 people, but good for the body heat!

On Day 3, it was raining, and because I guess they didn't want to deal with 100 complaining people, we changed the schedule and drove back to the Mediterranean coast to Akko, an old Arab/Israeli city. There we got to go into an Arab market where the jewelry, clothes, music, and food were all tempting, especially because they were selling break on Passover!! I bought some bracelets and we just had a good time. It stopped raining after lunch so we drove to Mt. Moron where Rabbi Yochanan ben Zacchai escaped to and wrote the Zohar(kabbalah). From there we could see the ancient city of Tzfat. That night, we drove to a campground that had a covered area to sleep under because of the rain. The counselors slept in a completely different area where we also ate dinner and had a fire.  It was very cold at night and so we had to wear very warm clothes inside our sleeping bags!

Day 4 is one of my favorite days... It was by far the longest-about 12 Km, but it was a beautiful day outside and we saw amazing scenery. At one point, we hiked through a field of wildflowers that overlooked other mountains and of course everyone began singing the Sound of Music songs! We also hiked down a mountain on a windy trail that overlooked a small village where some sort of festivities were happening and we could hear the music very loudly! And then we navigated in small groups for a while through cow pastures, following a spring until we reached an area to swim. It was shallow and cold, but we waded in anyway. It was amazing to see all of the families out on hikes throughout the trip, enjoying their week off for Pesach. And then we started ascending  into deep forest that reminded me of the rainforest with roots and tall trees until we reached our campsite again! Our last night of Yam El Yam!  Around 9 PM, we went out on a night hike and had about 45 min. of solitary time in nature to listen to the sounds around, etc... and then I went to sleep.

The last day was amazing also! We rode bikes for about 6 miles on dirt roads, mostly flat, but overlooking rolling hills, a stream, and the Kineret(Sea of Galilee). It was easy for me because I am used to riding bikes on much harder terrain and I guess just have willpower to keep going. It was also very hot and I got sunburned a bit.

Altogether, it was an amazing trip, although we didn't exactly hike from Sea to Sea. And, we ate  a LOT of matzah and chocolate! Basically my diet for the whole week!!

We then spent a night in Haifa. All of EIE is divided into 3 sections of about 30 people each. The girls in my group, Yitzhar, stayed at a separate hotel from everyone else in Haifa. It was a nice hotel, a little sketchy because it rented by the hour. But, it was fun and we got to know each other better because there wasn't anything else to do (everything's closed because of Pesach). We went to services at night at a reform synagogue in Haifa where we ate dinner. It reminded me a lot of a synagogue in America, and they even had an American flag! On Wednesday, we went to Caesaria Beach which was beautiful for about 2 hrs. We weren't allowed to go in the water because of insurance, but we had a good time on the sand anyway. It was a nice relaxing day, one of the only ones here on EIE!!!

I spent this Pesach with a connection in Kfar Yona, outside of Netanya. My friends Rani and Dana came with me which made the experience so much better! Kfar Yona is a very small village, mostly quiet with families with children... it reminded me of neighborhoods in Florida! The weather was also very hot and a litte humid which was a nice break from Tzuba. On the first night of Pesach, we went to a seder in Netanya. It was very interesting to see a seder in Israel... actually very different from what I expected! It was much less organized and of course I did not understand much of anything in the seder... it seemed that they were trying to read as fast as possible in Hebrew! Rani and I tried reading which was funny at our very slow pace. It was also awkward because we were the youngest people there and we had diet restrictions-2 vegetarians and a celiac! Debbie, the woman we stayed with, introduced us to a 17 yr. old boy who lives next to her and we had a good time with him. On Thursday we went to the beach in the afternoon and met another friend there. Although it was hot at the house, it was a little chilly at the beach and very windy! We ended up lying under blankets for most of the time! And then that night, we went bowling with Idan and some of his friends in Netanya and had a good time with the Israeli youth!! It was a lot of fun!!!!

After driving 5 1/2 hrs. in the morning, we reached Warsaw. It was very cold in Warsaw and windy, what I was originally expecting the weatrher to be like on the whole trip. First we stopped at a Warsaw Ghetto Cemetery which has some newer graves from the early 1900's and a whole section of mass graves because it was the cemetery during WWII. Many people used the border of the ghetto in the cemetery to escape and smuggle food and weapons into the ghetto. The Warsaw Ghetto was set up in 1940 and soon the walls were closed with 450,000 people inside it. In the first year, 100,000 died of hunger and disease because of the horrible conditions. In 1942, 5000 Jews are deported from the ghetto, decided by the Judenraht. 265,000 Jews were deported to Treblinka and killed. In the cemetery, I saw the name of a Jankielewicza, which is my Grandmother's original last name which was exciting!The last part of our tour in Warsaw was about a two hours walk on the resistance and reactions to the war, ghetto, etc... We learned about the underground movement in Warsaw, the Warsaw Uprising,  and visited the Rappaport Monument to the Resistance fighters. There we concluded our trip in Europe with Hatikvah once again, and boarded the buses to come home. I never realized how much I love Israel!!

Now, I am home until Tuesday when I leave again for a week!

We woke up at 5:45 AM to leave for Auschwitz, about 1 1/2 hrs. drive from Krakow. I was nervous as I think everyone else was and the mood on the bus was fairly tense. We had a briefing session the night before to talk about what we were expecting and hoping to understand from Auschwitz. We first went to Auschwitz 1, and then Auschwitz 2-Birkenau, the infamous death camp. Auschwitz 1 has been made into a small museum and we had a Polish guide who was very factual and straightforward about her information. It rained for most of the time while we were t,here, which set the perfect mood. Although the displays were similar to any other Holocaust museum, the difference stood in the fact that we were standing directly where Holocaust victims and their Nazi perpetrators stood 60 years ago in cold brick barracks with barbed wire and guard towers surrounding us in. The breaking point for the whole group was definetely walking through the rooms with bins of personal items:shoes, combs and brushes, hair, suitcases with names and addresses, pots and pans, etc... It was chilling to see the suitcases, labeled with name, address and birthday by children expecting to get them back, shoes of all sizes and makes, and the matted hair of so many victims in room-length glass bins piled up to my face level. Before entering the museum area, we all sat in a small dark room with a glass sheet in the middle of the floor, containing some stars of David. We sat in silence as a man sang on a recording in a wailing tone... the type from Fiddler on the Roof, praying for something and knowing what is happening. It was spine-tingling and this is also where many people had complete break-downs. We also walked by the building where Dr. Mengele performed his sterilization experiments on women which was hard for me because I kept thinking of my cousin Chaya. We went into some underground punishment chambers, some standing punishment, others suffocation rooms. The last part of our tour at Auschwitz 1 was through a gas chamber and crematorium. Entering the dank, dark, and moldy smelling area was chilling. The emptiness of the gas chamber allows for visions and imagining of what happened there. The crematorium was much like the one at Turezin, with machines designed to burn as many bodies as possible.

For lunch, we drove to the only remaining synagogue in Auschwitz where we at lunch and had an afternoon service. It was a very meaningful service to be sitting in the town where a million or more Jews were slaughtered. I brought my tallit from my great-grandfather with me because you never know where it actually came from before and since most of his family died in the Holocaust, I thought it was an appropriate tribute.

In the afternoon, we went to Auschwitz 2, better known as Birkenau. It is not set up like a museum at all, just left in its condition, so Gabe my Jewish History teacher led us. It is a large camp, which we were able to see from the top of a guard tower. It was easy to see how the Nazis controlled the barbed wire with the ditches and ability to see along it. There, we had conversations about humanity and how the Germans were able to treat other human beings in such an inhumane manner. We went into a barracks with bunks and into a latrine area. They were a row of holes in cement with no protection around it until the Nazis decided they couldn't stand the smell anymore. Apparently, cleaning the latrines was one of the best jobs and those people had a higher survival rate because they did not have contact with the Nazis since they did not want to be anywhere near the mess. We walked the road that Hungarian Jews walked on their way to the crematorium which was moving to think that we were walking the same path but that we were easily walking out alive. We saw the remains of Crematorium 3 which a women's rebellion blew up, Crematorium 4 which was destroyed by the Sondercommando, Jews who were more in charge of burying, etc.., and Crematorium 5 which the Nazis bombed to destroy evidence. Much of the camp is destroyed from bombing at the end of the war. We also stopped at a small pond decorated with bouquets of flowers because it is where all the ashes from the crematoriums were dumped. We walked through the building where prisoners were stripped, took showers, were given uniforms, tattooed, etc... where those lucky enough to escape the crematoriums at first went. At the end there was a display of pictures taken from victims that showed their lives before: family, trips, hobbies, etc...To end our day at Auschwitz, we had a closing ceremony by a large memorial and of course sang Hatikvah. We each lit a small candle and placed it around the area. And, then easily, we walked the train tracks directly out of Auschwitz.

After crossing the border last night, we reached a hotel in Poland around 3:30 AM. We slept until about 10, had a nice Polish breakfast, and then drove another 2 1/2 hrs. to Krakow. We had a Polish guide named Ava who stayed with us for the 3 days in Poland. The scenery in Poland depicts the trouble in the country; it is very brown and drab looking at this time of year and many of the buildings look decrepid, but Poland is a relatively new country and  has only been recovering from Communism for 15 yrs or so. First we visited the old Jewish quarter of Krakow and saw 3 synagogues. It is interesting to see the remnants of Jewish restuarants and companies around with a few Hebrew letters on buildings. There we saw the Altnoy Synagogue, the New Synagogue which is the first synagogue where there is a place for women at all, and the Isaac Synagogue. At the New Synagogue, we also saw the cemetery where the Ramah is buried. He is a kabbalist from the 16th century who decides to condense Jewish Law and writes the Mapah.

We then walked in silence from the Jewish Quarter to the Krakow Ghetto, tracing the exact steps of tens of thousands of Jews. More than 20,000 Jews were concentrated inside the ghetto by March 22, 1941 and a year later the deportations to death camps began. We learned about the Judenraht, a 'committee' of Jews appointed by Nazis who were in charge of the Jews; i.e. decided the lists of names to be deported. By March 14, 1943, the final liquidations in Krakow occured. It was very sad to see the remaining walls of the Krakow Ghetto; it is shaped with semi-circles on top, like gravestones, to symbolize that the people inside would die before leaving. We also went to the Schindler Factory (Schindler's List), where Oscar Schindler saved the lives of 1200 Jews. Today there are only 100-150 Jews left in Krakow! At the factory, Baruch our principal and the son of Holocaust survivors, told us the stories of Schindler and a few other brave and courageous people of the Holocaust.  Before the Holocaust, there were 3.5 million Jews in Poland and today there are 3-4,000 left.

On Shabbat, we spent the day on a more typical tour of Prague. We visited the Prague castle complex, the largest castle complex in Europe, which was rebuilt under Charles IV. The castle is beautiful with tall spires and two guards in front that reminded me of the Swiss Guard in Rome. We saw the guard change which was a neat and orderly procedure. We went into the Queen's personal prayer room which was ornate with paintings and  gold and then into possibly the largest church in Europe. It has amazing stained glass windows, statues, and a turret with 287 steps leading to the top. Of course I went up with a few other students and we were able to see an aerial view of Prague-completely amazing!!!

After the castle, we walked down an artisans street leading out of the castle and to the Charles Bridge. The area is notorious for pick-pocketing so we had to watch our possessions carefully on the crowded bridge. It is also an artisans area, selling all sorts of crafts. We saw a man with a crank music box and a swing band! The purpose of our being there was to see a statue at the end of the bridge of Jesus, but above Jesus, Hebrew writing says, "kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, adonai tzva'ot," part of the Amidah. It is symbolic of how Jesus is the father of the 'real' Jewish people by the Christians who were in control of Prague. When the Czechs put the Hebrew letters back up, they put an alef(hebrew letter) on backwards!

My group Yitzhar went to a statue of the Maharal of Prague for Havdallah(end of Shabbat). In between blessings, we shared favorite experiences of our week and expectations for the following days-it was quite a meaningful service.

And then we departed for a 6 hr. drive to the Polish border!

On Day 2 in Prague, we drove 1 1/2 hrs. to Thereisenstadt or Terezin, one of the major transit camps during the Holocaust. Terezin is a very eery city because of its history, but life goes on there and there is a normal town still alive there. Hitler's original idea of Terezin was to create 'the state of Terezin,' a means of propoganda to show the outside world that he was giving the Jews their own state. Much art and music did come from Terezin, but in reality, it was not a nice place considering the crematorium and mass graves. It was sickening to see the furnaces, designed to burn as many bodies as possible. A man living in Terezin discovered a small synagogue after WWII and kept it secret until 1998 because of Communism in Czech. We were able to see the synagogue, an amazing sign of resistance during the war and a place where Jews continued their traditions and wrote messages of hope on the walls. To end our day, we were supposed to have a ceremony right over the river at Terezin where the ashes of victims were dumped, but because of extensive flooding, we were not allowed down to the river. So we had it close, but not directly on the water. Some people read testimonies or sang songs. My favorite poem that was read is one that I remember my Rabbi Yael reading to us in 7th grade: "The Butterfly"

The last, the very last,
So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow.
Perhaps if the sun's tears would sing
       against a white stone. . . .

Such, such a yellow
Is carried lightly 'way up high.
It went away I'm sure because it wished to
        kiss the world good-bye.

For seven weeks I've lived in here,
Penned up inside this ghetto.
But I have found what I love here.
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut branches in the court.
Only I never saw another butterfly.

That butterfly was the last one.
Butterflies don't live in here,
       in the ghetto.

                  Pavel Friedman 4.6.1942


This poem is preserved in typewritten copy on thin copy paper in the collection of poetry by the poet, which was donated to the State Jewish Museum during its documentation campaign. Pavel Freidmann was born on January 7, 1921, in Prague and deported to Terezin on April 26, 1942. He died in Aushchwitz on September 29, 1944.

We lit candles and sang Hatikvah, the Israeli National Anthem before leaving. It also was raining and cold for the whole day, which although it was uncomfortable, it definetely set the correct mood!!

For Friday night Shabbat services, we went to the Spanish Synagogue in Prague. It was a very relaxed environment with a male rabbi and his wife leading the service. There were only a few members that came to services, so mostly the great acoustics were put to use by the 98 EIE students! It is amazing as we travel around the world and attend services in different congregations, we see how Jews are connected and how no matter the vernacular, we can understand all of the service!

At night, some friends and I met about 10 Italian guys, the traditional whistling stallions at night and talked with them for a while, although they didn't really speak English!