Monday, April 12, 2010

March of the Living: The March

Imagine an Olympic village in the shadows of Ground Zero. That is in essence the March. I've uploaded nearly 200 photos from today - at http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=fazo8qdab.0.0.v784x5cab.0&ts=S0474&p=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fjoshuahct%2FMarchOfTheLiving2010&id=preview#

Scroll down half way and you'll find today's photos.

The weather cleared and was beautiful and sunny, if a bit windy at times. A perfect day for a leisurely stroll... even one from Auschwitz to Birkenau. Not just any stroll, but one including nearly 10,000 of our closest friends. It was a celebration of Jewish life. Our kids really got into it, trading pins and meeting up with Jewish teens from all over the world. They had never seen so many Jews in one place before (until next week, when they'll see that many in front of them in Jerusalem traffic). They felt great about being Jewish.

For survivor Judy Altmann, her return to Auschwitz might actually have been one of the happiest days of her life, for she got the message resoundingly clear, that not only will her people live on, but so will the story she has spent most of her life telling. We will remember. The next generation will remember.

The recent tragedy in Poland was also remembered appropriately. Our group wore black ribbons that our hotel staff procured for us - they were very grateful for our consideration of their loss - and there were several reminders of the tragedy in today's program, including a moment of silence. There was singing, but it was muted somewhat in deference to the people of Poland.

The program followed the pattern on many Yom Hashoah programs (except with big names like Natan Sharansky and Dudu Fisher on the bill). You can see the entire ceremony streamed at the website of Jewish Life TV http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=fazo8qdab.0.0.v784x5cab.0&ts=S0474&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jewishlifetv.com%2Fhome.php&id=preview
Early wake up tomorrow - we are headed for Chelm (and other places). Internet permitting (and in Chelm we might have to make due with two cups and a string), I'll upload more photos and commentary.

But make sure to take a look at today's, to get a real flavor for the event:
http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=fazo8qdab.0.0.v784x5cab.0&ts=S0474&p=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fjoshuahct%2FMarchOfTheLiving2010&id=preview# - scroll down half way.

Laila Tov

See below for video of Sharansky speech, plus two songs, including (bottom) "What Will Become of the Memories."





1 comment:

Deb K said...

Hello Rabbi, I am the parent of one of the Harrisburg students and am mesmerized by your accounts and photos. Thank you very much for your posts and photos. Be well, Debra Kriete