Yad Vashem and Har Herzl

Wow! I don't know if I have the words to describe what a moving, inspiring, emotional day today was. We started at Yad VaShem, the national Holocaust Memorial museum. We had to split up because kids under 10 are not allowed in the museum. So, Abe and Sylvia walked around the rest of the memorial while the big kids and I went to the museum. The relatively new museum presents the history of the Holocaust. I won't try to describe the experience of seeing this, especially with the kids, but we did limit ourselves to about an hour in the museum (to meet up with Abe and Sylvia afterwards), which I think was protective, as we couldn't dwell too much on anything. The video testimonies in the museum were especially sad and hard to watch, but also tremendously personal. Ella was very interested by the various political cartoons on display (e.g., one showing the statue of liberty holding a sign up to the Jewish refugees saying "Go away.") Jonah was most moved by the hall of names at the end with thousands of books listing the names of those who perished.

We then traded off and Abe toured the museum, while the kids and I saw several of the other memorials. The kids were especially moved by the children's memorial, the cattle car, and the monument to the righteous among the nations (non-Jews who risked their own lives to try to help Jews). Ella and Jonah were amazing, walking for a really long time in the heat, all around Yad Vashem, pushing the stroller up hills, and never complaining.

Although we've seen soldiers all over Israel, this particular group which was touring Yad Vashem looked so young it could have been Ella and her friends. (Photo Credit: Ella M-E)

Yad Vashem was, as expected, a moving testament to the reasons for the existence of Israel, but the big surprise of the day was our absolutely fabulous, inspiring visit to Mount Herzl. At the base of Mt. Herzl is a brand new, incredible multimedia museum about the life of Herzl and the birth of Zionism. We moved with a group and a tour guide through a series of rooms which told the story of a famous Israeli actor, Lior Micheli, who has been chosen to play the role of Herzl in a show, but doesn't understand the background of the character he is playing. As the director explains it to the actor, he also explains it to us.
We got to sit in a cafe in Paris and experience the anti-semitism of the Dreyfus affair with Herzl (which convinced Herzl of the need for a Jewish homeland). We got to sit among the crowd at the first Zionist Congress when Herzl proposed the idea of a Jewish state and at the Sixth Zionist Congress when he tried to convince the attendees that a Jewish homeland in Uganda would be an acceptable (temporary) solution. We sat in on meetings Herzl had with the Grand Vizier of Turkey and Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany. Finally, we heard an idea of what Herzl might have thought of the modern state of Israel -- which parts were consistent with his dream and which were not. What this one man accomplished before his death at age 44, mostly through the sheer force of his personality, powers of persuasion, and political savvy was nothing short of amazing.

We followed this with a great walking tour of the cemetery on  Mt Herzl. We saw Herzl and Jabotinsky's tombs, as well as those of Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin, and many others. We saw how Rabin's tomb is observed by video cameras as there are still some who try to deface his tomb for his efforts to make peace with the Palestinians (the same reason he was assassinated) . At each point of interest, we read some really interesting history and commentary about each one. Particularly compelling was the memorial to the seven paratroopers (including Hannah Szenesh) who lost their lives trying to help Jews behind enemy lines in WW II. There was a powerful memorial to the soldiers lost in the Dakar submarine and one to the Jews who died fighting for the Old City in 1948.

We might have beaten our own record for miles walked today (and somehow, all of it was uphill!), so we returned home tired and hot, but with a tremendous appreciation for this place which is our temporary home.