It's Thursday morning, and we are going to Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust museum. When we arrived at the gates, there was a security check, but as usual, we were waved through. The first thing we noticed was that the underground parking garage was completely immaculate. Of course, as J pointed out, there is no salting of roads in Israel, but even so, the place was sparkling. The musuem has no admission fee, but there is a nominal charge for an audio tour, and a larger charge for a tour guide. We decided to go it on our own. It was interesting that the tour guides used microphones, and the guidees used headsets, so that there was no shouting to be heard, which would have definitely affected the solemnity of the museum. It was nicely done.
You can't take photos inside the museum, so here is a link to the website, which contains virtual tours and slideshows and photos and history: http://www.yadvashem.org. If you scroll down, you will find multimedia presentations that are part of the museum, such as videos of survivor's telling their stories, and a slide show that is a narrated view of a photo album discovered by an Auschwitz survivor, that documents the "processing" of Jews sent there. The photos above are two friezes on the outside of the museum. Because Hebrew is read left to right, the one on the right should be viewed first. It depicts a procession of weak, shrouded and downcast Jews, marching to their deaths. In the center is a Moses-like figure, carrying a Torah. On the left, is a depiction of the Jews of the Warsaw ghetto uprising, showing strength, spirit and guns.
We took our time going through the 9 galleries, each one highlighting a different stage of the Shoah - starting with Hitler's ascension to power (the videos of the political rallies were truly frightening. The number of people, the militarism - very different than what we ever experienced in the U.S., thank God. Then the beginnings, Kristallnacht, the establishment of the ghettoes, and it was all incredibly well done. Although we couldn't look at each and every element, there were enough photos with short but powerful descriptions, interspersed with videos of survivors, that we were heavily impacted, and learned a lot. It was, of course, very difficult and emotional, but it felt very right to see this, and have it further imprinted in my brain. I was very moved by it all, but the hall of the righteous gentiles was very special, as was the Children's Hall. When you exit the museum, and walk into bright sunshine and life, it is very powerful. There is also a garden outside where each tree is dedicated to a non-Jew who risked his life to save Jews. The whole place was amazingly beautiful and special. We were all very glad we went there - although I noted J's comment in her blog that we stayed too long :-) Still, we didn't get to see it all. I will have to come back.
On a lighter note, the gift shop at Yad Vashem was really great! There was a wide variety of items, and the prices were the same or better than at the markets. I only bought a few trinkets on the whole trip, and I think I got all but one there. And it felt good that we were supporting this incredible place. Above is a photo of the little matted print I bought there. It's by Bracha Lavee-Brym, called "Symbols" and I saw it on her website for $5 more than I paid for it at Yad Vashem! And, since I hardly paid anything for it, that is quite a discount.
After Yad Vashem, I THINK (I need some input from my companions here, because I'm already fuzzy on the chronology of the trip), we just went back to home base. We walked around our nice little neighborhood, and I posted a photo or two of it above. There were all the little shops we needed within a block from our apartment, which was on Levi Street, off Derek Beit Lekhem. We were a five minute walk from Emek Refaim, which is filled with little cafes and shops and full of life. We couldn't have been in a better spot! And, we loved our landlord, Ilan. He manages the property for his family, and he is very sweet and accommodating.
I will edit this post with info about our dinner and whatever else people remind me about, later. Farewell for now - Day 6 coming soon!
Postscript - I confirmed the rest of the day with MB - we did in fact go back to Derek Beit Lekhem for a little late lunch at the Waffle Bar - what a great little place. The waitress was very sweet, and helped us decide on the mushroom crepe and a delicious salad, to share three ways. I really wanted a waffle, which came in many many varieties, but there was no way to eat more. Alas. After shopping a bit in the gift shops, etc., we met up with Jordana and Meir for a lovely dinner at Little Italy, a very fine Italian place - it's rated #6 out of 73 restaurants in Jerusalem by Trip Advisor. MB reminded me today about the delicious stuffed dried apricot salad that we had there - really outstanding. Following this, Jordana and Meir led us on a great walk around Jerusalem at night. We went to Sir Moses Montefiore's 1840's windmill, which he built in hopes of making the Jerusalem poor of the time more self sufficient. It didn't work out that well, but the windmill still stands. We walked in a nearby park, and we snuck through the lobby of the King David Hotel, which has autographs of many famous people incorporated in the floor tiles. Another fantastic day in the Holy Land!
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