Mountains of Memory
From the Beber Camp Foreign Service –
Our bus has countinued it’s drive all across Israel. A highlight of the Birthright Israel program is the “mifgash” or “encounter” when our trip was joined by eight Israeli soldiers for the week! They applied to this special program, which is designed to give the participants a direct connection to the people and real-life of Israel. We work with the Jewish Agency for our summer Schlichim for the same reason, bringing over Israeli staff to work as counselors and specialists.
Having Israelis on the program introduces a personal element to the experience. Lihi shared a personal story of loss when we visited the memorial for victims of terror at Yad Vashem and others talked about their experiences in the army and hopes for travel when they finish their service.
The memorial for victims of terror is located at Mt. Herzl, the Israeli equivalent of Arlington National Cemetary. It’s inclusion there was a controversial one – the concept behind this cemetery on the side of a mountain is that it is a final resting place for people who have chosen to give their lives in service of the state. Theodore Herzl, prime ministers, and soldiers are interred here. Is someone who lost their life in a terror attack a hero or a victim or both? Does the choice make a difference when it comes to being memorialized? Challenging moral and educational questions that we wrestle with.
Visiting the three most recent rows of graves was a particularly emotional experience for me as these soldiers gave their lives his past summer with the Israeli operation in Gaza. At camp, we were constantly monitoring the Internet and cable news to get a picture of what was happening on the ground. Safety is THE priority for us when thinking about our campers and staff, with quality of experience a close second. We made the decision not to send our Pioneer trip to Israel last summer, concerned about what that experience would be like for both our campers on the ground, and their parents back in the states. Beber is a screen-free environment in bunk, but our offices are like NORAD, watching the weather, news, and social media for items that might effect our camp community. I distinctly remember hearing about the death of Max Steinberg in the Gaza operation in late July. We were watching the Sky News feed from the UK and even Al Jazeera America to try and keep pace with the situation on the ground. I wish that I could say that the American news channels gave the conflict appropriate time on air, but they seemed overly concerned with covering the Kardashians and latest political non-scandals.
It was especially difficult to see the grave of Max as he had made the decision to make Aliyah, to move to Israel, after his Birthright Israel trip in 2012. Shani, our tour guide, talked about what his funeral was like here in Israel. His family came over from the United States and struggled to comprehend how a 20 year old could feel enough of a connection to commit his life to a nation on the other side of the world. Heartbreaking. And at the same time, a challenging story in the context of us working to connect this generation of students to their homeland.
Mt. Herzl is connected by a walking path to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum in Israel. It literally links our people’s greatest tragedy with its greatest accomplishment. Many participants used the archives of Yad Vashem to research their own family’s story. This portion of the trip, different with climbing Masada and floating in the Dead Sea earlier in the week, was much more of an emotional and spiritual workout than a physical challenge.
Later in the week, we will travel to Jerusalem and take a walking tour of the old city before settling in for the second Shabbat of the trip. It’s been wonderfully strange being here for Christmas as there are no decorations, music, or advertising. Many people still have their menorahs on prominent display. It’s been an incredible trip thus far and I look forward to talking about the end of our journey in the coming days!
~ Joel