Just A Typical Jerusalem Night...
By Rabbi Samuel Kieffer

Tonight, sitting on a beautiful Jerusalem hill at Yad Vashem, overlooking the city as the sun set, we participated with 700 Holocaust Educators from around the world in an Opening Ceremony for the Yad Vashem International Holocaust Education Conference - "Teaching The Shoah: Fighting Racism and Prejudice."

Having been to Poland numerous times with the March Of The Living, having been to Israel many more times, it's easy to assume that there's not too much more to experience about the Holocaust and the role of Israel. Not true.

After the usual speeches by various government officials, we were then treated to the Ramat Gan Children's Harmonica Orchestra in memory of Shmuel Gogol,z"l.  We learned tonight that this man was saved by Janusz Korchak, who gave him a harmonica - perhaps to merely distract him from overbearing sadness he was experiencing during the Shoah.  Shmuel had vowed to himself that if he survived the Shoah, he would make the harmonica central to his life. When Shmuel settled in Israel, he began a children's harmonica orchestra choir, and tonight they played various Hebrew and Yiddish songs in his memory. This beautiful group of 20 children, filled the Jerusalem air with their simple yet poignant melodies.

Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, former Chief Rabbi of Israel, then took the podium.  He related how, as a 3 year old boy in Poland, he lost his parents and was put in the care of an older brother and somehow, together they survived and eventually, after the Shoah, arrived in Israel.  He shared that an aunt and uncle raised him, and in the 1950's the prevailing psychological wisdom was that child survivors should never be encouraged to speak about their traumatic experiences or to try to remember those they lost.  He remembers hearing about "The Diary of Anne Frank," but being prevented from reading it - for fear that it would encourage non-stop feelings of sadness.  However, one evening when he was babysitting for neighbor's children, he found this book in their living room. Within one evening he read this entire diary and he remembers the profound effect it had on him - for it told merely one story, yet he couldn't help but also think that one day of his experience in Auschwitz would make her story sound mild. Yet he was encouraged not to speak of it.  However, of course, as he matured he did speak, write and remember his experiences and those he lost.  He implored all of us not to just teach about numbers and dates and locations of the Holocaust, but to take one individual and make that person's life come alive for our students - as Anne Frank did for him.

We saw a short film, showing plans for a future addition to Yad Vashem - a children's museum where children of various ages will learn about the Holocaust with age appropriate activiites.

We also learned about the ongoing work of Yad Vashem and how an elderly Israeli woman came to search for her family's name and shtetl.  To her surprise she learned that her parents as well as 2 siblings had survived the Shoah and were living in the States.  Unfortunately only her brother was now living and we saw the two of them reunited at Ben Gurion airport - after 63 years!

The highlight of the evening came when Dudu Fisher took the stage.  He shared with us that he too, is the son of a survivor. His father was hidden, for 18 months, by a Polish family.  To celebrate his father's recent 80th birthday, he flew to Israel the son of this Polish family - who saved his father.  He went on to say that 2 years ago, during the height of the last Lebanese War, he begged his parents to leave their home in Northern Israel and come to his home in central Israel. Dudu's father responded that the Nazis made him leave his home once - and he will never do this again. . .

Fisher's songs were a mixture of happiness and tears.  I can't remember ever sitting on a Jerusalem hill, singing "Lach Yirushalayim" with such a strong voice leading us.  He also sang from Les Miserables, "Bring Them Home," and dedicated this to all soldiers waiting to come home. . .the 3 missing Israeli soldiers were on all our minds. He sang a new song he just received called, "What Will Happen To The Memories When The Last Survivor Fades Away. . ."  And not to think that it was all teary, he reprised his Broadway Tevye role and sang various songs from Fiddler on The Roof and finally concluded with "My Yiddeshe Mama," dedicating this to all mothers everywhere. Then all 700 of us walked through the dark night back to the buses at the entrance, feeling energized by all of this. 

Tomorrow I will spend more time with our Aunt Dvorah as she prepares to visit the United States and visit the son of the man who saved her life and her parents and siblings 64 years ago in Vienna - Hirham Bingham.  His story is not yet well known enough, however his son, Robert has recently published an important book about his father's heroic acts - and on the cover of this book are the photos of Aunt Dvorah and her siblings.  To learn more about him go to   http://pages.cthome.net/WWIIHERO/      Aunt Dvorah's asked me, "what do I say to Robert when I meet him?"  What DOES one say to the son of the man who saved her life?

However lest you think that all we've done on our summer vacation is to cry and feel sad, we've had a wonderful time of learning as well as reconnecting with old friends, hearing Shlomo Gronich in concert (!), eating incredible meals and of course, helping the economy through my personal commitment of "Zionism Through Shopping"! And of course the highlight for us will be this Thursday morning, when we greet our daughter, Elana, at Ben Gurion Airport, as she arrives on her Aliyah flight with 250 other American olim.  You can watch the welcoming ceremony with a new technological wonder:

LIVE ALIYAH WEBCAST: Watch your loved ones arrive in Israel and be greeted at an emotional Welcoming Ceremony!  Live from Israel…Nefesh B'Nefesh introduces our new worldwide arrival ceremony webcast. Simply log on to watch your friends and family land in Israel as new Olim, and view the festive Welcoming Ceremony where we celebrate their Aliyah together with hundreds of flag-waving guests and dignitaries. Tune into  www.nbn.org.il/2008arrival!

Elana's flight arrives, God willing, at 7am Thursday morning, Israel time.  So if you're up late Wednesday night/Thursday early morning, log on and maybe you will see Elana and us!

B'shalom,
Melinda/Malka