There are a lot of different ways to try and illustrate how many 6 million is.
Putting the whole thing into perspective is very difficult. Even I, as an adult, can't truly fathom how many people died in the Shoah, the Holocaust. How, then, do I teach young people to comprehend it?
In Glencoe, we use yellow flags. A field full of them, about 5000 in all, to honor the memory of the victims of the Shoah. Yellow flags that draw the eye, set in the middle of town, in Kalk Park.
Tonight, our 7th and 8th graders planted the field of flags.
(my husband, planting flags with his students)
And they heard the story of a woman, Kate Lipner, who saved many Jews in France during the war. Her story...so incredible. And yet, she said "I am not a hero. I just did what I had to do." Our young people are rarely quiet. You could have heard a pin drop in the room as she spoke.
If you are in the area, drive through Glencoe before Friday afternoon. The flags are near the train station. Their beauty is stunning. So were all the lives lost.
Zecher tzadik livracha...may the memory of the righteous be for a blessing. May we always remember. May we learn not to forget.
It was living in Israel that I really became aware of the cycle of the moon. Was it the clearer skies? Was it the life lived by the Hebrew months? Or was it the metaphorical closeness of the heavens? I believe it was all of the above. Only in Israel did the moon seem to guide my life, give me a sense of the date, greet my nights.
1.
Keren haYesod Street, Jerusalem, midnight, Yom Kippur Walking on a quiet, car-empty street the moon is half-there, growing in potential as we grow ourselves…
2.
Mitzpe Ramon Crater, the Negev, 11:00pm Laying on the rocks, looking up, the moon so close we can reach out and touch it.
3.
Moses Montefiore’s windmill, Jerusalem, 3:00am, Shabbat morning. Watching the moon rise and set over the Old City of Jerusalem… talking, holding hands, waiting for him to kiss me for the first time.
Wherever I am, wherever I go, when I see the moon, I am in Eretz Yisrael.
The waxing and waning of the moon has been compared to the Jewish people, always returning, always present, always renewing ourselves. The moon may be hard to see but it always returns, even more vibrant, more beautiful each time we see it. Israel is like this to me – no matter how many weeks, months, years pass between my visits, it is more vibrant, more beautiful.
“You are a crown of glory for those who are borne in the womb, for they, like you, are destined to be renewed.” (from Kiddush Levanah)
Eretz Yisrael…our crown of glory…may its shimmering light shine for us always.
Ack! Passover is almost here. A whole bunch of last-minute Pesach tips, tricks, and interesting things...perhaps for Seder conversation....
1. Are you worried about feeding your goldfish this year? In case you are, here is some information on how to make sure that even your fish's diet is appropriately chametz-free.
2. Passover can be, um, binding. One good way to ensure that you stay, um, regular, is to eat dried fruit, or even better -- fruit compote. A yummy recipe: 4 lbs mixed dried fruits, 1 1/2 cups orange juice, 1 1/2 cups water, 1/2 cup sugar, one piece of cinnamon stick or cinnamon powder to taste, peel of one lemon, left in one or more large pieces. Remove the sulfates in the dried fruit first: pour boiling water over the fruit and let stand for at least 1 hour. Drain thoroughly. Put the fruit in a large pot, with all of the ingredients. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently for 30-45 minutes until tender. Cool in the saucepan, remove the lemon peel, and store it in the fridge, covered tightly. It will keep for a long long time. Unless you eat it all.
3. Don't screw up and buy the wrong kind of matzah. FrumeSarah, I'm embarrassed to say that this is what I fell for. Here's how the story goes. This year, Manishewitz isn't making Tam Tams. For those of you who don't know, Tam Tams are wonderful, yummy, not-low-cal crackers made Kosher for Passover each year. They are my family's favorite Pesach food. What I didn't realize was that they were also not making any cracker-shaped matzah stuff this year. I had no idea. I'm a little slow. I thought to myself, maybe I'm just late to the party and it's all been bought at my local stores (did anyone get any???). So I went online to Amazon. I got really excited to find this. I bought it. Late at night, I suddenly realized that this was NOT the Kosher for Passover stuff. Why do they make chametz-dik matzah? Please explain this to me, Manishewitz! I knew this -- I always check my matzah in the store. But online...I got so excited by the matzah cracker shape that I bought ...get this... 12 boxes. Yep, that's how it's sold on Amazon. By the case. My husband got a good laugh that I had just spent hours cleaning my pantry of all the chametz and I went and bought 12 boxes of the stuff. Lovely. Food pantry?
6. Looking for a new Haggadah? Want some games or stories or ideas for the Seder? They're all over, people.
7. Passover isn't always the most "Green" of holidays - we throw out stuff, we clean frantically, we might use a lot of disposables or papergoods. So here is Hazon's take on sustainable Passover resources.
8. Why put an orange or other innovation on your seder plate? There are a couple of explanations for this - although it's typically thought of as a feminist statement - I like to think of it as inclusive and adding something new to the seder to keep it lively, interesting, and modern. Here are two different opinions and ideas about this, both of which are thought-provoking and interesting. What do you do to make your seder new each year?
9. A video for you:
Plus this very cool ASL version of the Four Questions.
10. Even though the Passover seder talks about our redemption from Egypt, the need for freedom in our world is still ongoing. Here is a wonderful Seder addition from American Jewish World Service, imploring us to remember those in Darfur who are not free from fear and terror.
11. My favorite Passover joke: As Moses was leading the Children of Israel through the parted walls of the Red Sea, some complained of thirst after walking so far, so fast. Unfortunately, they weren't able to drink from the walls of salt water on each side of them. Then a fish from the wall of water stuck his head out and spoke to Moses. He told him his family had heard the complaint, and that they could, thru their own gills, remove the salt from the water, and then force it out of their mouths like a fresh water fountain for the Israelites to drink from! But, said the fish, before his family began to help, they had one demand. They wanted to be a part of history, and wanted to always be a part of the Seder meal to commemorate the Exodus. Moses readily agreed to this, and gave them their name which remains to this very day. He said to them ... "Go, Filter Fish." (you have to say it out loud to get it. trust me. you'll laugh.)
12. My second favorite Passover joke: (these are great for the Seder, I promise!) The queen was going to knight a prominent Jew in England. He was welcomed to the palace along with all the other knights-to-be. They were instructed to go before the Queen, kneel down, and recite a phrase in Latin. All the other candidates nodded. The Jewish almost-knight said it over and over to himself, trying to remember it. When it was his turn to stand before the Queen, the phrase simply flew out of his head and he said the first non-English phrase that came to mind: "Mah nishtanah halaila hazeh mikol ha-laylot?" And the Queen turned to her advisors nearby and said, "Why is this knight different from all other knights?" (it gets 'em every year!)
13. Make sure you look up on Seder night. Hopefully the sky will be clear and you can see the beautiful full moon. The beautiful fullness represents, I believe, the beautiful fullness of Jewish life, especially on this night, the night that so many Jews and friends around the world are sharing in the Feast of Freedom. What an amazing moment for us all to know that we are all telling the same story, we are all re-living the dramatic moment in which we celebrated the understanding of the true meaning of freedom.
May this holiday bring joy and peace. Chag sameach!
(I know I promised to post this a while back...sorry for the delay!)
Time is definitely running out for you to discover something great at Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute. They are playing host to what will, I'm quite sure, be an incredible Shabbat experience.
If you're thinking of converting to Judaism... If you are part of an interfaith relationship and want to talk about making it work well... If you're trying to make Shabbat a part of your life and don't quite know how... If you're single and looking for someone... If you're just curious about Judaism....
Every Shabbat at OSRUI is wonderful but I'm sure that this one will be one of the best because of the topics at hand, the leadership of the weekend, Rabbi Leora Kaye and Rabbi John Linder (my wonderful classmate and friend), and because of the spirit behind the concept...
I love returning to my family. I can't wait to see and hold each of them. I am glad to return, to be here where (most....) of my family is.
But it is always jarring to me to hear English all around. To see signs in English and not Hebrew. To look around and feel reasonably sure that I'm back in the minority. To see children in baseball caps instead of kippot. To not feel a compulsion to give any young soldier a motherly kiss on the forehead (not that I saw so many soldiers in O'Hare, though). Coming back from Israel...even though this is definitely my home, I always have a hard time saying that I'm going home when I leave Israel. A piece of me is always there, my home away from home, my heart-land.
"Wherever I go, I am going to the land of Israel." (Rebbe Nachman)
I love introducing people to this land I love so much. To see through their eyes the sights and sounds and smells, to taste anew each visit the felafel, halva, even bamba (which I'm not such a fan of, sorry Israeli friends)...as I pointed out to our group, even Coke tastes different here. The very air is different.
And I can't wait to go back.
(More Israel posts coming up with pictures and stories....stay tuned! Same blogtime, same blogchannel!)
We started with an excellent discussion/lecture with Professor Reuven Hazan. He was interesting and engaging, he talked about Israel's pollitical situation today and the group was really riveted.
Then we headed for the bus...as I said beofre, we were a little delayed by Cheney's motorcade and then we were off...heading down south to the Dead Sea and Masada.
Remember, as I said yesterday, we're having a serious heatwave here. And so we went to the desert to REALLY feel the heat!:)
We got to the Dead Sea and stopped at the Hod Hotel to use their beach and changing space. We went down to the water and had a great time floating around and experiencing this marvel. Some of the kids also swam in the pool and enjoyed the sunbathing on the beach too. We had a nice lunch and then headed off to Masada, refreshed from the healing waters of the Dead Sea....
We didn't have the time to tour Masada (as I keep saying to the group - there's always more to see, always something that will keep for the next visit!) but we did what we came for - celebrated TEN Bnai Mitzvah! It was hot and sticky and crowded but it was pretty amazing to watch 9 kids and 1 adult read Torah together in Israel. It took 18 aliyot! That's a lot of Torah. It was really fantastic.
My brother was there too - he played guitar for the service and it was great to see him. (And yes mom, I gave him the stuff I was supposed to give him!)
We headed back down just before the last cable car and that was my goodbye to the group. They are heading to my favorite part of the country, the North (well, I like Jerusalem too. Perhaps, like the Torah portions, they're ALL my favorites!) and will be in Tiberias, the Golan (jeep riding and ziplining!), Tsfat and more...then Tel Aviv and then back to Chicago. I'm sure they'll have a great time (and I hear its going to cool off!!!).
I went back to Jerusalem, had dinner at my favorite restaurant - the Village Green - and then headed to the airport where I now sit, waiting for my flight. (No more motorcades, Dick left before I did.)
I could get used to this...being a regular visitor to Israel. It certainly does feel like home away from home. I'm looking forward to seeing my family, though, and catching up on life....oh wait, I'm off to quilting retreat next week....ack! Still, it's all good.
Forgot to add... <!-- Converted from text/plain format Vice President Cheney is here in Jerusalem too! On our way back into Jerusalem, as we were driving by the Knesset building, we had to stop for his motorcade. He stayed at the King David Hotel which is down the street from ours. When we got back to King David Street we ran into the motorcade AGAIN!
And in the morning today (Monday) we had trouble once more as one of our busses got stuck behind the motorrcade and ended up 45 minutes late! Ah...the joys of trevelling in Israel when it's the center of the world....
Our morning on Sunday was spent at Yad Vashem. First we went to the Childrens Memorial and the Janus Korszchak statue and memorial. The multitude of lights representing all the children murdered glow with such intensity...the names and ages and countries are read with such sadness....the photographs that welcome us into the memorial, of the children with such searching eyes....
Our children left with the youth counselors while the rest of us went into the museum. (Children under 10 not allowed in the museum.)
I was just here six weeks ago and I went to Yad Vashem. I think that no trip, even seasoned travellers, should skip this place. I learned and saw different things and different stories than I have before. One story, about a Bosnian Muslim family who saved Jews...and then later, when things were bad in Bosnia, came to Israel. One of their children converted to Judaism and now a grandchild serves in the Israeli army. Incredible. So many stories to tell, so many we don't know at all...
After a quick lunch, we conclided our visit to Yad Vashem with a walk through the Valley of the Communities. Each family took a spool of ribbon and went to find withinthe valley the name or area from which their family comes. Then they unspooled the ribbon from their town back out into the main section. All those ribbons came together and were held by the children. Such a beautiful site - all those colorful ribbons, all those sweet children...our past and our future coming together to remind us WHY we come to Yad Vashem - so that we remember the past and build our future.
Then we headed down to Moshav Shafir, about an hour south and west to visit our Federation Partnership 2000 region, a region with which we have a pretty direct connection - exchanges of people and volunteers, gifts and assistance...it's a really amazing and real partnership.
Israel is experiencing a heat wave! It was in the nineties and the heat is intense - way more than usual in March. This made our outdoor project a little uncomfortable but still pretty great - we helped to create a bike path using hoes and picks. We also heard a wonderful story from a woman who had been a teenager during the War of Independence - an experience in that very spot in Shafir. (More on this another day - it deserves a whole post!) And we met the Gerge Washington Carver of pomegranates - a man who has invented many uses for this famous fruit.
We did our work with some of the kids frpm Shafir and we also shared a pizza dinner with them. (Typical Israeli pizza toppings - corn, tuna, olive, anchovy!)
We headed back to Jerusalem where some of us headed out to enjoy the last hurrah of Shushan Purim....still great and crazy and fun!
Even though Shabbat is a day of rest, we had some optional activites for our group. In the morning about 40 of us went to Rehovot to the bullet factory in Har haKibbutzim. This was a secret underground factory that made bullets for the Haganah for three years before 1948. It was a really amazing story and a great museum. It always boggles my mind how young these people were who created the State. The workers in this bullet factory were as young as 16. We have in our group a 16-year-old young man and I couldn't help but look at him and imagine him there, making bullets and working in furtive secrecy to create bullets for the resistance.
We returned to Jerusalem and had a lovely lunch and then met in the afternoon for the Tourgame (also optional!)....an educational scavenger hunt through the Old City - it was awesome. I have been in the Old City many times but even I loved it! We were all over the Jewish Quarter and learned a lot about all the places and history. We had to search for sights, answer questions and follow a map through the route. It was really great - I would definitely do it again!
Then Shabbat was about to draw to a close.... I headed up to the Tayelet to join three Am Shalom families who were celebrating their Bnot Mitzvah with Rabbi Steve. The view was breathtaking and the closeness of the Temple Mount was amazing. I slipped in at the end and shared a really magical and spiritual experience with these families.
We went back into Jerusalem and our whole group (including the Bnai Mitzvah families) joined together on the patio of the David Citadel hotel, overlooking the almost full moon over the Old City. The view was amazing and the atmosphere incredible. To share Havdalah in such a space...words cannot describe.
We were on our own for dinner and the group split up. Ben Yehuda Street was a zoo! Purim is still in full-swing and we were overwhelmed by the number of people out and about, the noise, the music, the costumes... and it just keeps going and going....
This day was spent in wonderful celebration of Jerusalem. We went through the amazing Southern Wall excavation site. This is the really incredible archaeological exporation of the southwest corner and southern wall of the Temple Mount.
I'm not sure I can even express in words how I feel (especially not while typing on my bberry - I think this may have to be a more thorough exposition when I get home, but...) about this site. It is truly breathtaking to me that we have dug up and learned so much about the Temple Mount. What boggles my mind though (here's where expression gets tricky) is how we treat this part of the Kotel (wall) as a historical site whereas the "Western Wall" usually called The Kotel is viewed as a religious site. It's the same wall! Yes I know there is historical significnce to the only piece of the temple mount that we have had access to for hundreds of years but why is that "the real Wall" and the other merely a museum piece? More on this later.
After the Southern Wall site we visited the Kotel Plaza and had a chance to say our own prayers and place written prayers in the cracks of the wall.
Then we explored the Jewish quarter, spent a little time shopping in the Cardo, and had a great felafel lunch in the Old City.
For the afternoon most of our group rested and relaxed by the pool....a few of us headed to Mahane Yehuda market for a little pre-Shabbat experience and shopping. It's still Purim so things were even more festive than usual. We bought fruit and nuts and hamantaschen and of course, my favorite, rugelach from Marzipan Bakery. On the way home we walked through the Ben Yehuda midrachov (pedestian mall) and had smushy yogurt. A little rest and then onto Shabbat....
We arrived in Israel in a beautiful sunny morning. After a brief stop at the tank museum in Latrun, we had a beautiful brunch at Pinat Shorashim, on the grounds of Kibbutz Gezer. Pinat Shorashim is an educational garden - simply beautiful - and the site of Israel's first baseball field.
Then we headed to Beit Guvrin for "dig for a day." Archaeological Seminars was founded by Bernie and Fran Alpert, of Highland Park, IL, as a chance for regular people to really experience archaeology in Israel. Everyone in our group really enjoyed digging in the caves and finding shards of pottery.
Then we went "spelunking" through some unexcavated caves. The hardy souls who squeezed themselves through these honeycomb caves had a great time exploring. (And getting very dirty in the process!)
Then we headed to Jerusalem and sopped at Montefiore's Windmill to overlook the Old City and say Shehecheyanu - the blessing for special moments.
Personally - this spot is very significant because it is the site where my husband proposed to me!!! Overlooking our favorite city....it is probably my favorite spot in the world. I can't wait to stand there someday with my children and God willing my grandchildren, as so many in our group did.
We checked into our hotel and cleaned up a bit before dinner and a little Purim celebrating, followed by a trip to the Western Wall Tunnels, the excavation of the Temple Mount along the Western Wall (Kotel). Everyone was exhausted and most headed to bed.
I went over (with Rabbi Steve) to the Ben Yehuda area to check out some of the Puriim festivities (more on Sunday, since we are in Jerusalem) and have frozen yogurt. We ran into my brother in his goofy costume. In true Israeli fashion, he is celebrating Purim all over - tonight here in Yerushalayim, tomorrow in Tel Aviv and then back to his kibbutz.
It is so awesome to see all the costumes and festivities on the street and know that it is for OUR holiday OUR celebration! It is Purim, a holiday celebrating Jewish preservation and resilience, that is being observed with such glee and gaiety! - direct you to an interesting comment on this topic from Frume Sarah on Tuesday ...and then finally to bed! Whew! What a day!
2. Praying together at the Kotel, the Western Wall.
3. Shabbat in Jerusalem. We spent Friday night at Kehillat Har El, a Reform congregation in Jerusalem. They honored us with home hospitality, which was awesome, and then we went back for a seudah shlishit and study session, followed by Havdalah.
4. Visiting the new Yad Vashem Memorial and Museum. I hadn't been to the newly renovated version of the museum and it was awesome. For me, the highlight was seeing 8th and 9th grade students from Chicago in the same place as we were. I felt as though I was experiencing it through their eyes as well.
5. Watching people make phone calls on top of Masada! 6. The snow in Jerusalem 7. Going to the mall with a small group on a rainy night.
8. Visiting the grave of Naomi Shemer and singing Jerusalem of Gold.
9. Jeep-riding in the Golan Heights!
10. Meeting young Arab girls in Nazareth in a felafel restaurant. 11. Meeting Robin of Around the Island for lunch! 12. Being silly on the bus.
13. Traveling with this incredible group of women! More people thought about 13 this week...
There are a lot of different ways to try and illustrate how many 6 million is.
(my husband, planting flags with his students)
Zecher tzadik livracha...may the memory of the righteous be for a blessing.
