October 4- Yad Vashem

Another beautiful, hot day in Jerusalem. By 9:30 in the morning it was in the high 80’s and very dry. We began the day with a stop at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. The menorah outside the parliament is a huge bronze sculpture that stands about 15 feet high with depictions of what the artist felt were the most important events of Jewish history. Unfortunately, we were unable to go into the Knesset since it is only open to the public on Sunday and Wednesday.

Next stop was Yad Vashem, the holocaust center of Jerusalem. Yad Vashem means the hand or symbol of the name from the prophet Ezkiel. It is difficult to describe the museum to someone who has not experienced it because it is more like trying to describe a taste, or smell, or feeling. This was a profoundly moving experience culminating in an enormous circular room that contained 6 million file boxes for each Jew who perished in the Holocaust. Only about 3million have names and information attached. In the center of the room was a deep pool that the files were reflected in. the entire effect was quite chilling. Stepping out of the museum, the peacefulness and quiet of the panoramic vista of the Judean mountains allowed for decompression after 2 ½ hours of intensity. Walking back to the exit, you pass through the Garden of the Righteous, a grove of trees each planted to honor a non-Jew who risked his or her life to save Jews from the Holocaust. Prominent among these were Oskar Schindler, and Father Raoul Wallenberg, Also on the grounds are memorials to 1.5 million murdered children, and another 1.5 million Jewish soldiers, partisans, and ghetto fighters who gave their lives in the fight against the Nazi’s.

After Yad Vashem, we stopped at the recently (last 2 weeks) opened Israeli Museum. Here, we had the opportunity to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit housed in a specially designed building thet is reminiscent of the urns that the scrolls were found in. In a couple of days we will visit Qumram where the scrolls were discovered in 1947. The scrolls predate the earliest known Torah scrolls and are thought to belong to the Essennes, a cultic, asthetic sect of Judaism that was thought to live in the area. Some feel that John the Baptist had spent some time with the Essenes at one point and this may be noted in one of the scrolls found.

Back to the hotel to wash up and off to the city center, Ben Yehuda Street. On Jonathan’s recommendation, we had dinner at a Moroccan restaurant, Darna. The restaurant was decked out in a Moroccan theme, with waitress dressed in harem outfit. She was a great salesperson, because by the end of the meal we were stuffed, and she had talked us into way more food than we could possibly eat.

Tonite I had to put the finishing touches for tomorrow’s lecture. Early 6am start tomorrow,