Yad Vashem
A few days ago we visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem. While I have already visited the memorial in Washington, DC, I expected my experience at Yad Vashem to be very similar, consisting of me bawling every five to ten minutes. Everyday we see horrible images in the media that are taken in countries like Sudan where horrible human rights violations are occurring, and often I have have to try and refrain from crying my eyes out because I truly believe the there are efforts out there in the world to better the lives of these helpless people. But, when I see the faces of those malnourished pretty much skeletons, instant horror and heartbreak occur and the tears pour out of me uncontrollably because somewhere inside I believe that that easily could have been a Jew like myself. As our tour started, and those photos that I dread so much starting appearing on the walls, I took a step back and look around at the people I was sharing this unforgettable experience with. These people are my best friends. Each moment we have had on this trip that has been hard to deal with, we have dealt with it as one, as a "mishpacha." Yes, the experience of walking through a holocaust memorial is no doubt one of the most challenging and heartbreaking things, but when you are surrounded by some of the most important people in your life you are able to understand and acknowledge the atrocities that occurred while living life to its fullest potential for the six million who weren't as fortunate.
Gabi Lipschitz
CSL in Israel
A few days ago we visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem. While I have already visited the memorial in Washington, DC, I expected my experience at Yad Vashem to be very similar, consisting of me bawling every five to ten minutes. Everyday we see horrible images in the media that are taken in countries like Sudan where horrible human rights violations are occurring, and often I have have to try and refrain from crying my eyes out because I truly believe the there are efforts out there in the world to better the lives of these helpless people. But, when I see the faces of those malnourished pretty much skeletons, instant horror and heartbreak occur and the tears pour out of me uncontrollably because somewhere inside I believe that that easily could have been a Jew like myself. As our tour started, and those photos that I dread so much starting appearing on the walls, I took a step back and look around at the people I was sharing this unforgettable experience with. These people are my best friends. Each moment we have had on this trip that has been hard to deal with, we have dealt with it as one, as a "mishpacha." Yes, the experience of walking through a holocaust memorial is no doubt one of the most challenging and heartbreaking things, but when you are surrounded by some of the most important people in your life you are able to understand and acknowledge the atrocities that occurred while living life to its fullest potential for the six million who weren't as fortunate.
Gabi Lipschitz
CSL in Israel
