Shalom, Shalom from the Holyland!

I cannot believe that we are already well into the second half of TJJ.

Ending last week, we visited “Dialogue in the Dark,” otherwise known as “the blind museum.” The hour long tour is experienced entirely in pitch black. The tour helped us appreciate our sense of sight, as well as allowing us to recognize the daily struggles of the visually impaired. The tours are led by blind or visually impaired guides (whom we cannot see until the end) that lead each person on a journey through the dark. Part of the experience are a little bit scary and uncomfortable. That being said, we learned that when we work together as a family we can accomplish anything!

The next day we visited Yad V’Shem, Israel’s holocaust remembrance museum. The museum is both chilling and emotional. Yad V’Shem is set up chronologically, allowing each visiter to understand the flow of the tragic events. Beyond the museum, perhaps the most powerful part of our holocaust studies was the hour following our tour. We were blessed to have Rabbi Shaya Seidenfeld, a survivor of the tragedies, and the grandfather of our unbelievable bus 4 staff member Shoshana Seidenfeld, come speak to us. Rabbi Seidenfeld told us some of his personal story and answered many of our questions about the war. His overall tone was encouraging and overwhelmingly positive with the main messages of always focusing on the good, being happy and working hard to love your fellow Jew. Such a powerful lesson from such an amazing individual. Personally, on this trip, the museum itself didn’t push out tears, but Rabbi Seidenfeld filled my heart and brought my eyes to a steady flow for the joy of life, family and all of my awesome opportunities to bring more love and positivity into the world. Thank you Rabbi Seidenfeld for your time, energy and most of all, your contagious love of life and the Jewish People.

Following Yad V’Shem we moved up the hill to Har Hertzel. Har Hertzel is Israel’s main military cemetery. The cemetery is the resting place for Presidents, Prime ministers and soldiers who fell during battle defending the Jewish People. The most notable part of our experience at Har Hertzel for many students was seeing the ages, often only a few months older than our students, who sacrificed their lives to protect the Jewish People. The more we tour this country and explore our own heritage, the more we realize how grateful we are for their sacrifice.

This past Shabbat was our “Free Shabbat” where students, as per pre-arrangements, visited their families, friends or stayed with our program for the Shabbaton Experience. It was a such a pleasure upon reuniting our family on Sunday morning to hear about how much our experiences and friends were missed over the short weekend.

This week, we are heading south to see more of what this amazing country has to offer.

Stay tuned for the next update about our journey to the South of Israel.

Derek

Rabbi Derek Gormin
TJJ Bus 4 Director
gormind@jsu.org

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