At a little before 7 last evening, local time, the bus pulled into Agudath Sholom's parking lot and the March of the Living was over. Parents and community leaders greeted us with a big welcome sign and pizza, plus lots of hugs. The trip ended on a high note, despite a three hour delay in our takeoff, due to the fact that our plane was coming from London and was delayed by, yes, the ash cloud. To the very last moment, our personal journey was intertwined with world events going on around us. But one long, smooth flight later, we are back.
I want to thank everyone back here who held the fort in my absence. Now that I'm back, please join us tomorrow morning for a very special Shabbat service in which we'll welcome our Tzahal Shalom soldiers being housed in TBE homes. (Thank you to Terry and Asa Hazen for sponsoring these Shabbat announcements in their honor and to Mia and Lonny Weinstein for sponsoring the Kiddush.) We'll hear from them and also from a number of our March of the Living participants who will be giving us their exclusive first impressions, while the "iron is hot." Plus, I am expecting that we'll be honored to be joined by the New England Regional Coordinator, Claire Roche.
The response to my blogs has been overwhelming and gratifying. But it's the kids whose experience matters the most to our future, and now that they are home and have some time to reflect on it, we all will have much to learn from them.
For those who want to catch up on my blogs and photos from the trip, you can find them at here. You can also read my Jewish Week piece (written before the March), "Toyota, Auschwitz and Chelm." And you might want to catch up on the two Jewish Ethicist blog postings of mine that appeared on the Week's web page while I was gone: Should I Keep An Undeserved Bonus? and Coming Clean with a Fiancée.
Join us for services this evening as well, at 6:30.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Joshua Hammerman
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