Welcome to Washington D.C.

I finally made it to my hotel in DuPont circle last night and quickly found my pillow – finally sleep!

I am looking forward to visiting to the country where my family is from, back to the lands where they lived, raised their families, and eventually fled– to the safety of Israel.

In the morning I ventured out to the DC historic sites. I was here with my husband and three children last summer; all was familiar. The White House (silent and still), the Washington Monument (still closed for renovation), and even Old Ebbitt Grill where we escaped the intense summer heat, all unchanged and exactly as I recalled them.

I even made it as far as Capital Hill where I was reminded of a piece of Jewish history I only recently became aware of.  The Rabbi’s March, where over 400 Rabbis marched to pressure the US to intervene and prevent the continued slaughter of Jews by the Hitler regime.  They failed, and the genocide continued. 

http://wymaninstitute.org/special/rabbimarch/index1.php

Education can change these things and can change history.  This is why I, and all the educators I met today have accepted the challenge of this journey.  We understand the enormous influence information and education have on history.  And more so, the great loss when information leaves the living memory of the world.  

This afternoon we met the entire group at the hotel and I was impressed with the caliber of the participants, particularly with the two guides/organizers Elaine Culberston and Steve Friedman.  Elaine, the Program Director, is a former high school English teacher and school administrator and the chair of the Pennsylvania Holocaust Education Council.  Stephen is the former Director of National Outreach for Teacher Initiaties at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.  It is an honor to be traveling and learning from them both.  

Tomorrow we spend the day at the Holocaust Museum.  The Museum is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and it seems strangely coincidental that 20 years ago, I organized a trip to this very museum to commence its opening.

As I prepare for tomorrow I am reminded of the phrase on the statue in front of the National Archives: "Study the Past".

I am looking forward to doing just that!  Studying the past, and then teaching future generations.

Preparing for Journey

As I take time to prepare for my incredible journey I am dealing with the recent loss of my Safta (grandmother).

Last week, at the age of 89 my Safta passed away in Israel, where she resettling in 1957 after the war.

Like many grandparents my Safta was an incredible source of strength and wisdom for our family.  

In preparing for this trip I remind myself that

my

Safta's immediate family are just

a few of over six million that lost their lives in the camps of Europe and how others, even having survived, were never whole again.  My grandmother and her sister were the only survivors of their large family.

This trip will not be easy or pleasant.  We will travel to the places where

my

Safta and countless others lived, loved, and lost their lives.  We will walk their streets, dwell in their buildings, and see the chambers that lead to their deaths.

I believe that to fully understand something one needs to be educated about the topic.  For me, part of this education involves the hands-on experience of visiting the sites where these atrocities occurred and learning more about the lapse in social conscious that made these events possible in history. 

With that in mind I look forward to our coming educational journey and resolve to share

my

experience with others so that future

generations

can be gifted with knowledge and understanding.

I take this trip in honor of my safta.  For me, her memory will always be for a blessing.