The weekend

Friday Roz and I went to Yad Vashem. The main exhibit hall has been redone since the last time I was there and is very impressive. The exhibits are on both sides of a long triangular shaped hallway. At the end of the hallway, when you are thouroughly depressed by the holocaust, you come out to a splendid view of Israel. The message needs no further explanation.

Also at Yad Vashem is one of the box cars used by the Nazis to transport Jews to extermination camps. It is displayed high up on a trestle.

There is a unique area which I had seen before but wanted to show Roz. It is called the valley of the lost communities. Here, the names of European communities where Jews lived are inscribed on tall stones. The stones are arranged like a map of Europe. The exhibit is large and maze-like. You can easily get lost in it. The paths are all gravel with nothing growing there. It is hot, dry and dusty. To me it is reminiscent of a cemetary. It truly feels like the valley of death. It does not have a future for Jews, that is in Israel. I found the stone with the village of Riminov. Supposedly that is the village where a number of Etras came from.

In the evening we returned to Ramot for kabalat Shabbat and a Shabbat dinner with Yossie and Sylvia Pinhasi and Dani, Shlomie, and Arielle. One of the dishes Sylvie made was a stew which included dried Persian lemons. These extra tart dark colored little fruits start out like little stones. When cooked they taste like sour lemons. They are used in a variety of dishes. I plan to look for them in the Shuk.

Shabbat morning Roz went to the Great Synagogue to hear the cantor and choir there. Since today was Rosh Hodesh, she also was treated to Hallel. She felt that the sky was about to open for the Shehina to shine through. I went to Moreshet Yisrael at the Fuchsberg Center since Rabbi Frank had offered to let me do the Haftarah. We had a large crowd of young people on Summer tours, yeshivah students, and older members of the congregation. Tal Ben-Yehudah, a student in my program and the great granddaughter of the original Ben Yehudah (Street) davened the Shacharit. Mussaf was done by a rabbi/cantor who was formerly the rabbi of Moreshet Yisrael.
For Shabbat lunch, we went to the home of the daughter of Roz's cousin Brana Shayna Deitsch. Rivka Marga and her husband Shloimie Gestetner live down the block and around the corner in a lovely old Jerusalem home which. We enjoyed lunch, singing, and learning along with about 15 other guests. Four of them, including Shloimi's brother were from Australia although not all were living there now.

After Shabbat, we walked down King George looking for a restaurant that had been recommended. We found it but it was not open. We went accross the street to a Schwarma stand and sat out on the sidewalk just like a couple of Israelis.