Fieldtrip with the Jewish Agency

February 22 & 23, 2010
(I am) “in love with life... Intoxicated by its beauty, its potential, its thrill. “ Beautifully stated by Ranya Idlby, in The Faith Club- this may be the exact description of my outlook on life right now. Today was a rough day for me, a bit under the weather, I had to go to the orthopedic Doctor to get my foot checked out (turn’s out I sprained my Achilles’ tendon) and was rather lethargic throughout the day, in both mood and manor. I still tried to find the beauty in the place I’m living. Even today with my sniffles, it was easy to do. I snapped pictures of the rolling fields seemingly breathing life into the desert, blossoming with new fruits, lush green leaves and flowers bursting from the ground, yellow, cheerful, brightening the day with their vibrant colors. I love yellow roses, definitely my favorite flower, but alas I could not see any today. Parts of Israel remind me of bits of Italy. When I lived north of Rome, in Lavinio, there were fields upon fields of sunflowers turned towards the sun day after day. Here, I witness the same effect but the sunflowers of the Roman hills are replaced by the petite, springy daisies of Israel.
I reflected on two things today. The first, my trip to Jerusalem, and second, on the differences I believe are most prevalent between the Israeli’s and Arab Muslim’s of the region. This topic will not be covered in one, two or even three blogs. But I will do my best to give a concise snippet of the first topic today.
(NOTE: I have had some questions about my view on the issue of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, on my right to speak about events and perspectives which I was not born into, religiously speaking. I believe, as a true American I suppose, that it is my right to relay my perspective of my experiences in the Middle East. They are just that, my thoughts, reflections and perspective. I am not asking any readers to agree. I hope that by reading my blog (whoever may be doing so in this virtual world) is entertained, informed and maybe even at times, provoked to be thoughtful on issues of the region. That is all I can ask for. Any suggestions for topics you all are curious about, would like me to speak about- please feel free to email me at sarahkc@ufl.edu)
First, Jerusalem.
My class went on a field trip to Jerusalem today. Sponsored by the Jewish Agency, we are taken to the main sights of historical/religious importance in the Jewish faith. We began our trip to the Herzl Museum, which I had never visited before. Quaint and modern, the museum takes you through Herzl’s life in an interesting format- through a movie of them making a play of his life. Kind of confusing, but all in all quite informative. I made a comment to my friend about Herzl which left her open mouthed and gaping. I said, you know I’m not a huge fan of Herzl. My friend Judy looked at me like I was an alien. I said, “am I not allowed to say that?” And she replied simply, “umm...no. I don’t think so.” Partially joking I had stated this just to get a rise out of her, but in all actuality, I am a much bigger fan of Ben Gurion and his methods, especially the revival of Hebrew than I am of Herzl. Though, I must admit Herzl's book on the Jewish State is quite beautifully written. I learned about his life and impact, and at the end of the tour the message was Israeli’s development since its creation; the technological, agricultural and political achievements- which are astonishingly immense. Did you know Israeli technology invented much of the technology we use in cell phones, and even Intel processing chips? We journeyed afterwards towards YadVaShem, (in Hebrew yad=hand and vashem= and name) the Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem. This was my second visit there, but was probably doubly moving. As we walked through the entrance hall, the atmosphere held a tangible somberness. The museum is designed in a pyramid/triangular shape but is made so you must wind through all the halls, unable to go in a straight line—which parallels the inability of the Jewish people to reach the end they wanted so badly, forced to move back and forth, stopping and starting in different directions.
The museum hits on every sense; full of visual stimuli like the propaganda, shoes of children and actual train cars they used to transport people to the concentration camps. It is full of auditory stimuli, with survivors relaying stories of their accounts. The most moving for me, unable to be expressed in words, was a man recalling his story…he was told to line up at the edge of the ditches along with other men. The shots went off and he fell into the pit, shockingly unharmed. Laying there for hours, with bodies below and on top of him, he waited for silence, and crawled his way out of the pit along with one other survivor. Tears pouring down my face, I could not help but feel guilty for the atrocity of the Holocaust. Clearly an irrational feeling...but not being a Jew, or even one of the persecuted minorities, I wish I could’ve played a part in preventing these atrocities, and felt that somehow someone maybe I am related to had played some kind of part. Actually, my dad’s biological family were Polish Jews way back when, but still… though my own parents hadn’t even been born yet, I felt this sense of fish out of water-ness in the museum. While empathetic, I can never wholly understand these atrocities because they did not personally affect me or anyone I know. I was not born Jewish. The Holocaust plays such a major role in shaping the foreign policy and rationale of the Jewish State, and also in the minds of Jews all over the world.
Speaking with my friends here, in Eretz Israel, abroad, and back in the states, every time I have asked the question, do you think the Holocaust can happen again- I have been given the same answer. “Of course, that’s why we have Israel.” Fundamentally, the Jewish State acts as a refuge and safe haven for thousands who have been persecuted over the centuries. This is the place they are safe. This is the place where the Jews (technically) are the majority, and this is the place where the Jewish world is the norm- the Jewish calendar, holidays, culture, customs and religion- it all ties back to the ability to have a physical place of significant geographic magnitude to protect the people from the recurrence of an event like the Holocaust.
I was contemplative, thoughtful and significantly more somber all day- reflecting on the museum, the Holocaust and the events of the day. Dining in one of the national park on the well trimmed grass we enjoyed an al fresco lunch of typical Israeli foods.
We journeyed afterwards to the Old City to visit the Kotel (Christians know it as the Wailing wall) where we went behind the wall, visited the site of the Last Supper, the tomb of St. Peter and of course, the actual Kotel. All very moving. I had done most of these before on my tour when I was a student at the University of Haifa.