Yesterday was a day filled with sadness for Israel, the result of a prisoner exchange that brought home two soldiers who had been abducted in Lebanon at the start of the war two years ago. They came home in coffins, however. This was anticipated, but no one really knew whether they were alive or dead until the remains were presented to them by Damascus officials. Neal, our tour operator and fellow member of our synagogue, brought up the subject on the bus while we were traveling towards the Knesset. The reason, he said, was to ensure we were prepared for some somber feelings among Jews we might encounter today, that we might not be aware of otherwise. In contrast to the Israeli's disappointment, there were mass celebrations in Beirut and in Arab sections across the Middle East when five Hezbollah militants, including Samir Kantar, who had been serving multiple life terms in Israel for a horrific attack in 1979, was handed over as part of the exchange . "This highlights", Neal said, "a key difference between Israel and the Arab countries".
Knesset
The name Knesset Israel comes from a root word "gathering" that has private. Yehuda said, however, the Knesset is flawed with "too many political parties". There are, in fact, 120 MK's (Members of the Knesset), but there are 31 registered political parties! Last year, 5 million people are registered to vote in Israel. 3.1 million of them voted that resulted in 12 parties being elected last year. It is a wonder anything gets done!
Unfortunately, we did not actually enter the Knesset. The photo, which shows the entrance gate with the Knesset in the background is about as close as we got. The security around the gates was quite impressive.
The Menorah, which stands in a small park across the street, was commissioned by the British Parliament as a gift to Israel on its eight anniversary of the declaration of Independence in 1956. Created in bronze, it was designed by the Jewish English sculptor Benno Elkan. Interestingly, the artist actually began initial work on this magnificent work of art before the British Mandate ended in 1948. The menorah, a seven branch candelabrum, has been a national symbol of Israel since the time of the Maccabean Revolt, which initiated the Hasmonean period (166- 63 BCE). When the modern state of Israel was created, it was chosen as its emblem, symbolizing the continuity and eternity of the Jewish People.
The Knesset Menorah is quite beautiful, embracing twin olive branches symbolizing peace, and containing 29 detailed motifs with artistic references to classical and modern Jewish history.
The Knesset Menorah is quite beautiful, embracing twin olive branches symbolizing peace, and containing 29 detailed motifs with artistic references to classical and modern Jewish history.Back on the bus again, we passed by the Supreme Court, with its round architectural elements to symbolize the "round" nature of justice. The thinking is that everyone has a different perspective of what justice means. Also passed by the bank of Israel, government buildings, a beautiful bridge (some would say ugly - "not Jerusalem!") that is part of a new high-speed train from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. When completed in 2012, it will link the cities in 25 minutes.
Our destination was the national cemetery at Mount Herzl
Herzl's grave
Herzl's ideas were, however, wildly radical for his time. Rabbi Infeld: "he was a little off his rocker (sorry, Herzl!)", but it was because his ideas were so different. In the end, many of his ideas have become part of the fabric of Israel. One of these visionary thoughts was his insistence that Hebrew becomes the working language of Israel. He recognized that Jews from around the world, and speaking many languages would be someday coming to a new country. " A new Israel", he said, "needs one language"
Herzl never lived to see two great periods of history that that has shaped the course of modern Jewish history - the Holocaust, and the establishment of the State of Israel. Until his time, there were a number of Zionist organizations, but there was no unified effort to work towards a Jewish homeland. Herzl began this work almost single handedly, organizing the first Jewish national congress and paying for it with his own funds. At that time, a number of countries were considered as a possible place to establish a Jewish country. At first, Herzl thought that Uganda might be a possible option. In fact, after the first congress, an investigative team was sent there to assess it.
The ancient land of Israel was, of course, also considered. At the time, in the 1800s, there were only 30,000 Palestinians living in Israel. About 5,000 Jews lived there as well. The massive influx of Arabs occurred only after Jews began entering the country and started to transform it from a land of deserts and malaria-infested swamps into farms and modern cities. In the end, Israel was chosen, and the rest is history.
Unfortunately, despite the his remarkable achievements, sadness dogged the Herzl's family long after he passed away. Several of his children and grandchildren committed suicide or were killed in the Holocaust. To this date, none of his progeny are involved in any way with Israeli politics. And yet, this man is honored here as the father of this beautiful country. We took time to reflect on this, standing at Herzl's grave, consisting of a simple dark stone monument set at the end of a large plaza.
Distinguished grave sites.
We walked past these graves, which includes presidents and their wives, prime ministers and chairmen of the Knesset, and one deputy minister. We paused to reflect on these, as we stepped quietly by.
We walked past these graves, which includes presidents and their wives, prime ministers and chairmen of the Knesset, and one deputy minister. We paused to reflect on these, as we stepped quietly by.
Yitzhak Rabin and his wife Leah's grave is made of stone that is part black and white. It is quite different from the rest of the graves in the cemetery. This was as Leah wished, following her husband's assassination in 1995. She died of normal causes; her grave is marked by the white stone.
Golda Meir's grave is made of white stone with a dark marker on which is written a long list of cabinet positions she held: Ambassador to Moscow. Labor Minister. Foreign Minister. Prime Minister. Each only hints at the greatness of this lady. Standing there, I thought of the profound effect she has had on this beautiful country over her many years of service. Without her, and her work to raise money to defend Israel in its early, desperate years, there might not be a State of Israel here at all.
We finally visited the Military cemetery, where graves here map the modern history of the State of Israel. The first graves are of resistance fighters in Poland and Germany who worked to rescue Jews during the 2nd World War. Others are of soldiers who have fought in one of their many wars to defend their country. In contrast to the president's graves, the military graves are covered by a hedge of rosemary and stone. Many of the headstones have small stones placed on them. As a stone is placed on a headstone, it symbolizes a prayer that the person lost is permanently with God, as permanent as the stone itself. Graveside flowers are not part of Jewish tradition.
Chagall windows
We went into Hadassah hospital to a synagogue located in the heart of the building, to view the beautiful Chagall windows. Dedicated in 1962 as part of Hadassah's Golden Anniversary celebration, it is considered to be a national treasure of Israel. Each window depicts one the twelve sons of Jacob. Here are photos of a few of the windows, which were set, three windows each, high above the walls on all four sides of a square shaped synagogue.
Unfortunately, four of the windows were damaged during the 1967 war when the hospital was shelled. When Chagall heard about it, he made plans to immediately repair them, saying "you fight the war, and I will tend to the windows". He painstakingly restored them, however, he purposefully left a small imperfection in memory of the war. There is a lovely site describing the windows, located at:
http://www.md.huji.ac.il/special/chagall/index.html
Yad Vashem
Main entrance, Yad Vashem---->
Thankfully, the younger children on our tour were given an option, and, in fact, encouraged, to enjoy the afternoon at the "Time Machine", an animated look into history from a child's perspective. Naomi went, and had a wonderful time. Rebecca, to her credit and growing maturity, wanted to come with us.
There is nothing like this place on earth. If there were, I would hope it will never represent another event anywhere near the scale or horrific brutality experienced by the Jews who perished in the Holocaust. It would mean that humanity has failed to learned from what happened to six million innocent mothers, fathers, grandparents and children. Our people.
The highest place on the museum site is the Hall of Remembrance. Nearby, is the Path of the Righteous, commemorating those who saved a Jewish life against the Nazis. A garden has been built to honor the righteous of the nations. In it are 22,000 names of individuals who are honored in this way if they saved the life of even a single Jewish person during the Holocaust. One of them, a twin tree rising out of the ground, recognizes Oscar Schindler.<----Oscar Schindler's tree on the Path of the Righteous outside the great Hall of Remembrance
Although photos are not permitted within the museum itself, the images this place brings to mind will not leave me. I can only describe, in small part, something of what I experienced.
The entrance in the Hall of Remembrance, begins with a movie, showing "the good life" for Jews in Germany, Poland and elsewhere before the Nazis rose to power. As we step deeper into the hall, however, we are progressing to the Shoa. In point of fact, the projector showing the 'good life' movie was not working on the day that we were there. However, it is easy to juxtapose our own 'good life', in beautiful British Columbia, as something that no doubt these dear folk enjoyed in a similar manner.
From there on, the dreaded story, which we all know, but not nearly enough to fully comprehend, progresses chronologically through the unbelievable horror the Jews experienced leading up to and during the Second World War. The most important parts of the museum, however, are not the historical artifacts that are located here. Nor are they the story of events that unfolded as we walked past. The most important parts of the museum are the testimonies. Everywhere I turned, there was another face of a Holocaust survivor speaking to me on a digital monitor, as if they were speaking to me personally, what they had experienced.
We finally emerged at the far end of the exhibit to find a cone-shaped side room that reaches into a small round window where light streams down from above. Looking up into the cone, one can see the names and photos of thousands of Holocaust victims, so many that they seem to stretch into infinity towards the light. The testimony of over three million more is located on black bookcase shelves in a surrounding, enveloping wall. There is room there for a total of at least six million. Beyond, in a separate room staffed by a librarian, there are computers where visitors can search for relatives or contribute their own testimony to the massive database. The database is now completely on-line and accessible throughout the world. The hope is that the Internet will help speed the search to locate lost relatives and document the testimony of victims. This is part of a huge worldwide effort to collect as much information as possible before witnesses die and memories fade. All of this, as well as a massive amount of information about the Holocaust can be found at http://www.yadvashem.org .
The last image I have of the Hall of Remembrance is a quotation that is at the entrance of the cone-shaped hall:
Bridge to vanished world
"Remember only that I was innocent and , just like you, mortal on that day. I, too, had had a face marked by rage, by pity and joy, quite simply, a human face!" Benjamin Fondane, Exodus.
Fondane was murdered at Auschwitz in 1944.
Interestingly, I saw that Barak Obama visited Yad Vashem on July 23rd, less than a week after we did. A photo was taken of him looking up into the cone, filled with photos and names, only a few steps from the quotation above. His statement was simple, and eloquent: "Never again". I wonder what his thoughts were, as he pondered where his place in history might be?
Outside the Hall of Remembrance are a number of special memorials. I visited the Children's memorial, remembering the 1.5 million children who perished during the Holocaust. I did not know quite what to expect as I walked into the darkened memorial. Then as the darkness was complete, I found I was in the presence of candles, hundreds of them. They were reflected in mirrors on all sides, so that I was surrounded by countless candles, stretching into infinity like a universe of stars. As I walked silently around the room along a circular aisle, enveloped in constantly moving pinpoints of light, a quiet voice spoke, name after name, the children who had perished. It gave each point of light an identity. That was it, nothing more. Simple points of light from a burning candle and their sweet names, gently spoken. The effect was extraordinarily moving.
We came back to the bus unable to speak about what we saw. What we experienced was deeply personal. We tended to our thoughts, and the needs of our children as the bus pulled away from Yad Vashem and back onto the streets of Jerusalem.
Though still sniffling a bit with my cold, I had been feeling well enough during the tour today. However, on returning to the hotel, I started feeling spiking chills and pain in my sinuses. Thank God for Peter Lutskey, a family physician, who was traveling with us on the tour with his wife and children. He came to Israel well prepared. Within minutes of my call, Peter arrived at our hotel room and, after a quick assessment, put me on 1000mg Biaxin. I'm drugged up with both Advil and antibiotics now, so I've a good chance of getting on top of this affliction before we jump on a plane on Monday.
No comments:
Post a Comment