Israel Pilgrimage,
Group #10

*The pictures below are links; clicking on them will take you to a larger version of that picture.

Sunday, July 2nd:
This morning, Group 10 boarded the bus that took them to Theresienstadt Concentration Camp, about an hour from Prague. They davened mincha, the afternoon service, at a small synagogue that was only discovered a few years ago. One of the quotes that remains on the walls of the synagogue is “acheinu kol beit yisrael,” which asks God to have mercy on Jews in distress, and take them from darkness to light, from subjugation to redemption, speedily, and soon. After a tour of what remains of the camp, Group 10 returned to Prague for dinner, and loaded their bus for an overnight bus trip to Warsaw.

    

    

    

    

    

Monday, July 3rd:
Group 10 arrived in Warsaw this morning after an overnight bus ride from Prague. Today they toured the Jewish sites of Warsaw, starting with Shacharit this morning in the Nozyc Synagogue. From there they went to the Genscher Jewish Cemetery, which holds 100,000 graves, most of which predate World War II. They followed the Heroism Trail, marked particularly by the Rapaport Monument and Mila 18, the last bunker from the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. They also went to the Umshlagplatz, the place in which the Jews of Warsaw were gathered before deportation to Treblinka death camp. Today, there are thousands of names engraved on a memorial wall to commemorate the spot. At night they ate dinner and met in sub-groups before getting a good night's rest.

    

    

    

    

Tuesday, July 4th:
This morning, Group 10 traveled to the city of Tykochin, the site of a beautifully restored synagogue. They then drove to the Treblinka Death Camp, where they had time to see the few remains of the camp, in addition to a moving display of 17,000 stones that depict the amount of people killed each day at the camp.  Tonight the group drove back to Warsaw. After dinner they met in sub-groups and went to sleep.

    

    

    

    

    

Wednesday, July 5th:
Group 10 has been doing tefillot in many interesting places throughout their past week in Eastern Europe. Today was no exception. They woke up and drove to Lublin where they davened Shacharit and had a Talmud learning session in Yeshivat Chochmei Lublin, where they had a study session in order to try and experience what the learning was like in this tremendous and influential yeshiva. From there they drove to the Majdanek death camp, which is right next to Lublin. It was a moving experience and the pilgrims had time to reflect with each other and by themselves. One of the most shocking things about the camp is that it is mostly still intact from the end of World War II. In the evening they drove to Kasmik, where there is a destroyed synagogue that is still in the condition that it was left in 1945. They davened mincha there and then continued onto Sheniawa, a converted palace in which they will sleep tonight.

Thursday, July 6th:
Group 10 left Lublin this morning and went to Lezansk, where they learned about Hassidut. In Lancut they davened in a synagogue that still remains, and in Zvidikovska they toured with a survivor. There is a memorial for all the children who were killed in Gura and the group stopped there as well. After these stops in small towns, the group continued on to Krakow where they will spend the next few days, including Shabbat.

    

    

Friday, July 7th:
Group 10 spent the day touring the Krakow Ghetto. They began in Kazimierz, the Jewish Quarter, and continued on to Schindler's Factory where Oscar Schindler saved 1,100 Jews by employing them during the Shoah. They then visited the Galitzia Museum, in which there is a photography exhibit of Jewish life in Poland pre-war and post-war.  They then returned to their hotel in Krakow to prepare for Shabbat. Shabbat Shalom!