Celebration and Mourning

Today forced a mixture of feelings a bit similar to the first leg of our trip in Poland as we witnessed celebrations of life and commemoration of death. To start off our day, we went to Yad Likashashe, the Lifeline for the Old. This was our Community Service project for the morning. This place is unlike anything I have ever seen in the states so let use your imagination. It is a very large facility for active adults ranging from 65 to their 90s. Now they do not live there, they simply work there. The work they do, though, is fun and rejuvenating for them. All of the elderly that work their get trained by art school graduates and create beautiful handicrafts. It is a pretty cool system that they run so that the Elderly can still contribute while having fun and relaxing. The handicrafts ranged from ceramics to needle craft, the made jewelry and medal works and tons of other things including paper crafts and silk painting. We did a good thing by going to this place and, not only spending money, but spending time with the Elderly. We spoke to them and even if they couldn't understand us through the language barrier we learned from them and made them smile. A connection between our two destinations, Israel and Poland, was made here. A lot of the people who we were speaking with here are Holocaust survivors. The emphasis was on the fact that the elderly need to remain active, even at the end of their lives. The crafts they made really were beautiful and we all had the opportunity to go to the gift shop and purchase some of the crafts that were made here. Now, in case my parents are reading this, the money I spent is Tzedukah and helps the elderly continue to live a happy and prosperous life so everything I bought was a donation.

As we finished our time at Yad Likashashe, it was just about 11 o'clock. We all stood in the street and, similar to last night, a siren sounded throughout the streets. The country stopped. I could feel the pain that people were feeling. The siren was so much more then just a siren, however. It was unity. It was pride. It was sadness. It was celebration. It was Israel. Again, the country halted. Stores stopped, traffic stopped, life stopped for two minutes. While I do not even know anyone who died in combat for the Israeli Defense Force, I felt like everyone was my brother and sister and I felt the sorrow.

With a heavy heart and an opened mind we changed from this minutes of mournful silence into a breading ground of life. We were at the Israel Bird Observatory. I am not really a bird person, but it was interesting to see the beautiful ecosystem. The Bird Observatory is like the central park of Israel. We learned a bit about the environment and had a chance to sit and observe the nature around us. Then we continued our theme of life and vitality by conducting a mitzvah. We all planted trees at the observatory. Trees symbolize life and to plant them on Yom Ha Zikarone, a day that we think of such awful, it is a good irony to experience and symbolizes the fruitfulness and prosperity of the Jewish people forever. When our trees were planted and watered, we all watched a movie on Israel's wildlife and then walked through the park to have lunch. Lunch was pizza, which really wasn't that good, but the beauty and serenity of the park made everything wonderful.

When our lunch break came to an end we made our way to Mahaneh Yehuda market. This market housed a multitude of stores selling everything from fruits and vegetables to sweets and even Judaica items. The market was so crowded and busy with people all over. It was very stimulating. The smells and sounds of the market were also so pleasant. My nose (along with very good suggestions) brought me to the end of the market where I made my only purchase there. The store was actually a bakery named Marzipan. I took one bit of a chocolate ruggelah and was in heaven. It was fresh out of the oven and melted in my mouth. The dough was gooey and the chocolate was incredible. It was by far the best thing I have had in Israel hands down. I ate about a half dozen before finishing our walk through the market. From this lively exciting market, we went to what is disputibly the most somber site we have and will visit in Israel.

The bus brought us to the Yad Vashem entrance to the Mount Hertzl military cemetery. Mount Hertzl could be called the Arlington Nation Cemetery of Israel. However, being that it is in Israel the stories hit home a lot more. The cemetery was not commissioned to be established until 1949 so most of the people buried there are very close to most people's hearts. As we walked up the path to the cemetery, we walked up a symbolic path that showed the history of the state of Israel and the struggles that have been felt since the Holocaust until today. We entered the cemetery and because of the significance of today, there were thousands of people there. The morning ceremonies had come to a close and families were all over paying respects to their sons, daughters, brothers and sisters. It was an incredibly sad place to be. The first few graves we saw were those of important figures and leaders of the Israeli government. All of these graves were positioned in a courtyard surrounding Israeli flags, with an eternal light in the center and a tree of life next to it. In addition, there were tons of Israeli flags around the area showing the pride in the state that we have seen everywhere in the country. Among the people lied to rest in this area is Yitzhak Rabin. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, the first native born Prime Minister, until his assassination in 1995. He also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994. Another Prime Minister buried there is Golda Meir, the fourth Prime Minister of Israel, and Israel's first and the world's third female to hold such an office. As we walked further into this massive grave site, we came upon the grave of Hannah Szenes. Szenes was a Hungarian Jew who parachuted into Yugoslavia during the Second World War in order to help save the Jews of Hungary who were about to be deported to the German death camp at Auschwitz. Hannah was eventually executed by a firing squad and is considered a heroine of the country. After this was the saddest part of our time at the cemetery. We walked around the graves of soldiers. Random, unknown, young soldiers who lost their lives in combat. Amongst these soldiers also layed Michael Levin, of Pennsylvania, and Jonathon Netanyahu. The graves were all the same. They were layed out with a square of Jerusalem line stone boxing out the grave with a blanket of green shrubbery and then a tombstone, like a pillow, that holds the inscription. The graves are all supposed to look like a bed so the soldiers rest comfortably. I glanced over all of the tombs. They were all covered with flowers and candles and wreaths and rocks and flags (see the photo above) to show the love and appreciation for these soldiers and their heroism. The ages of all of the soldiers was inscribed on the stones. It was hard to wrap my head around the fact that most of these said 19, 20, 21; my age. These soldiers, only a few years older then me, lost their lives in required service. Living in America, it is looked at very differently for people when they join the army. Here it is not a decision. Kids, after they graduate high school, must put their lives on hold for 2-4 years or more to join the army. Daily they are hoping not to end up in the cemetery in front of me. I really felt the sadness felt in these kids, loosing their friends. Felt in these adults, loosing their sons or daughters. Felt in the country, loosing their soldier. It's a tough life to know that every citizen must put their life on the line to live in Israel. It may sound selfish, but I could never do it. God bless all of these soldiers and all of the soldiers fighting right this moment to maintain a Jewish homeland in Israel.

We made a little pit stop at the hotel and then flipped the switch. From death to life it was an immediate change in the country from mourning to celebration. As Yom Ha Zikarone ends, Yom Ha Atzmaut begins. Yom Ha Atzmaut is Isreali Independence Day, and, since Israel is such a young country, the day really means a lot to everyone there. We were fortunate enough to be in the center of the action. Ben Yahuda street is like the Broadway of Jerusalem. They closed the area to traffic and there was just partying and mayhem everywhere we walked. The streets had shops and vendors everywhere. Now here was where the fun was, everyone on the streets had silly string and shaving cream and there was pandemonium going on, well actually we sort of started it all but it was a party. In the main intersection there were hundreds of people standing and, while spraying our cans of silly string, sang and danced and chanted. There were a lot of other March of the Living people from Australia, South Africa, Los Angeles, Florida, New York, and more as well as thousands of Israelis. We all gathered together, arms around each other, and jumped singing "David Melech", "Hava Nagila", "Am Yisrael Chai", and more. It a remarkable and joyous time to be with Jews from all over the globe who have congregated in the homeland to celebrate the country. We met wonderful people and I had the best time of my life. Running through the streets singing and screaming, it felt like I was truly in my homeland and I belonged. The thousands of people mobbed the streets in celebration with us shopping and dancing and singing and just absorbing the atmosphere around them. This showed the outstanding solidity and pride of the Jewish people. There was so much Ruach (or spirit) in the air that it was beyond contagious. The celebration was phenomenal. Toward the end of the square there was a huge concert. I did not go but others in our group went there together and said it was a phenomenal amount of fun. Tonight was definitely the best night yet and we still have the March of the Living main event tomorrow.

Today was deffinately an interesting day that I will never forget. From the liveliness of the active elderly, the trees we planted, the bustling market, and of course the celebration and joy on Ben Yahudah Street; to the mourning and solidarity of the two minutes of silence and the Mount Hertzl Cemetary; today was a very mixed day. The balance is hard to understand but here is my thought. Life continues. Our people were enslaved during Pharo's times, persecuted during the crusades, massacred during the Inquisition, annihilated during the Holocaust, and are still murdered in Middle Eastern conflicts today. Nonetheless, we survive. We never forget and we always have the memory of our prosecution, but we move on. We celebrate. With an extra empty chair at the table, we still must continue for the good of the Jewish people to help grow our nation. It was a balancing act all day, but, even with awful sorrow, we must stay strong and celebrate the fact that we are alive and Israel is ours.
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