I took my family out to Yad Vashem since it's important to me and I also wanted them to see the Israeli perspective of the Holocaust. Grandma actually managed to come. Everyone opted to do the audio guide tour (which I dislike when it comes to dealing with this subject material) so we all wandered on our own in the Museum. I decided, for my entertainment (hey, I was going to be on my own for 2 hours), I would follow the Israeli soldiers' guided tour that I found while I was looking for Grandma (just a message from Zev, who didn't join us). It was fun listening to the Hebrew though the guide, probably their superior, spoke very fast. I watched him and the soldiers to see what they must've been thinking. After they finished their tour, I went back to some of the exhibits to watch the testimonies.
For some reason, I did not feel as depressed because I knew what to expect this time around. It's still a fairly powerful place. One of the testimonies that touched me so much, the one about a woman who freaked out when she found out that she was pregnant and tried to killed her unborn baby, I watched the screen again to see who else talked about the post-Holocaust era. They didn't play any other testimonies on that clip. I mean, it is the most heart-breaking one I had seen throughout the Museum.... I guess when you put together all of that, it really makes a visitor realize the impact of the Holocaust on survivors in ways that one would not have thought about, such as having a child.
I found Andrew standing and leaning on the fence at the end of the "tunnel" and looking out to the view of Israel. He stood there for a long, long, long time..... before coming to me where I was waiting for everyone. I didn't think much of this moment because I didn't want to get my hopes up that my brother did get something out of this visit.
For some reason, I did not feel as depressed because I knew what to expect this time around. It's still a fairly powerful place. One of the testimonies that touched me so much, the one about a woman who freaked out when she found out that she was pregnant and tried to killed her unborn baby, I watched the screen again to see who else talked about the post-Holocaust era. They didn't play any other testimonies on that clip. I mean, it is the most heart-breaking one I had seen throughout the Museum.... I guess when you put together all of that, it really makes a visitor realize the impact of the Holocaust on survivors in ways that one would not have thought about, such as having a child.
I found Andrew standing and leaning on the fence at the end of the "tunnel" and looking out to the view of Israel. He stood there for a long, long, long time..... before coming to me where I was waiting for everyone. I didn't think much of this moment because I didn't want to get my hopes up that my brother did get something out of this visit.
I had planned to give a quick tour of Yad Vashem's complex and then go to the Israeli military cemetery. I felt that it was important to visit the soldiers who gave their lives to the Jewish State, especially after Yad Vashem. I remember during my birthright, it was really something to be looking at the graves inscribed with the soldier's name, age, and the year he was killed. When you see lots of them in the 1948 and 1967 war, it made me think. I did not think about the 1948 as much as 1967. To see that many of these soldiers were just my age when they died was very scary- just as thinking about an orthodox couple having a wedding in their early 20's/late teens. I was in college, having the time of my life, and these soldiers went out (of course, conscripted) to protect the Jewish State. I suppose that this is where the Israelis in my generation get resentment and jealousy when they meet Americans like me- they'd rather be in college and party than to grow up and be in the Army before doing those things.
To see an Israeli combat soldier still alive after his 3 years of service today is something that Israel and all Jews should be thankful for- they fought for the State and survived. Fallen soldiers are bad topics in Israel because it's such a small country and to lose one soldier is a big deal. If you want the ratio between the US and Israeli military, it's 1 Israeli soldier for every 500-1,000 American soldiers. So with the war in Iraq, 3,600 American soldiers were killed thus far, that makes about 3-6 Israeli soldiers. The Israeli solders' names would be in the headlines for several days. This is also why the prisoner exchanges and captured soldiers are such a big deal here. The American and Israeli military cannot be compared at all and I do have respect for the American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the IDF has more respect from me (even if they did do some stupid things like using Palestinian children as human shields).
Anyway, the visit didn't happen. Mom was hungry so we took a cab out to Emek Refarim for more schwarma and falafel. We walked down a bit and shopped a little on our way to the hotel. The boys decided they were too tired and Grandma called to see if Mom and I'd like to join them to see the pomenerade overlooking the whole city of Jerusalem.
So we went and it was just an amazing view. I remembered the first time I saw this back in 2005 and I thought, "JERUSALEM!" Zev wanted to go here because a friend of his in San Francisco built this.
For dinner, we went back to Sima's for a real Israeli dinner. Mmmmm, I enjoyed my lamb kebabs and fries! We tried going to Marizpan afterwards but they ran out of chocolate rugalechs.
Friday was spent running around doing things one more time as usual... very typical in a vacation. First, we went off to the shuk to pick up things. I think that was my fastest trip to date. Then everyone split up- Andrew really wanted to get the IDF sweatshirt that I bargained for last week so he and Mom went off to the Old City. The rest of us went back to Mount Scopus to drop off one of my bags and went to the hotel to pick up all the luggage (since the family would be leaving after dinner from the apartment).
The best part of that day was playing backgammon with Andrew and Dad. I missed doing those. I did end up losing in the round robin tournament. As long I'm the Scrabble champion in my family, I have nothing to complain about when I play different games with them.
Our last Shabbat dinner was very nice and I recited the challah prayer perfectly because I understood the Hebrew... that was so simple.... I can't believe that I couldn't get it all correct before! Now I can do the candles, challah, and perhaps the washing of the hands... next task: learn the wine blessing in its entire.
What was surprising for me was that when we sitting down, Andrew announced that he wanted to come back to Israel. We did a debate over birthright versus the JCC exchange program with Modi'in. Personally, I think with Andrew's needs and maturity level, he's better off with the latter. Birthright is much better for people who truly have never, ever been to Israel and also it tends to be filled with kids who want to drink/party since that's what the program basically does nearly every night.
Seriously, I didn't think he'd actually really want to go back. Grandma, Zev, and I figured that he might've found an epiphany while at Yad Vashem since it was actually the only time he was all alone by himself. One day at a time.
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