Yad Vashem

This morning we visited the darkest time in our history, which in the midst of our grief reminds us of the importance of maintaining Jewish sovereignty, and where else but in our ancient homeland.

I wandered into the synagogue I never knew existed at Yad Vashem and found something which stopped me in my tracks, and not in a good way. The synagogue contains a series of artifacts taken from synagogues which the Nazis destroyed. Here is a picture of the object which broke my heart: a holy ark with a Hebrew inscription.

When you zoom in you can read the following inscription: אבינו מלכנו פתח שערי שמים לתפתנו
“Our Father, Our King, open the gates of heaven to our prayers”

From the High Holy Day liturgy, this was their prayer, emblazoned on their ark.

​Then the Nazis came.

As we left Yad Vashem, we stopped place stones on the memorial to Janusz Korczak, who gave his life to accompany his students to the death camp.