Getting Ready

Whew... things have been busy. Until about yesterday, I've had a high fever and have been pretty sick. That certainly helps enhance the passover experience. Thank G-d, I'm feeling better now.

Right now, I'm getting ready for my big trip, the March of the Living. Pesach finishes next Sunday night, and I leave Tueday morning. We have an 8 hour drive to NY, from where we leave to Krakow. We'll be visiting the remnants of Jewish life there, the synagogues and cemetaries, and then we'll go to the Placzow work camp featured in Schindler's List. The next day will be Holocaust Remembrance Day and we'll walk the 2.5 miles between Auschwitz and Birkenau where thousands went to their deaths. During our time in Poland, we'll see Lublin, where there was a famous yeshiva, Treblinka, Majdanek and Warsaw. The last place we visit in Warsaw will be the Umshachplatz, the train depot where the Jews were collected to go their deaths. Instead, we'll be flying from Israel to there.

In Israel, we'll visit Jerusalem and on Yom HaAtzmaut, we'll march through the streets to the Kotel. We have a party planned at Mini Israel for Yom HaAtzmaut night. We're going to visit the mystical city of Tzfat, see Caesarea and swim in the Mediterranean. We'll spend a magical shabbat on the shores of the Kinneret. Towards the end, we'll float around in the Dead Sea. On the last day, we'll climb the fortress of Masada at sunrise, where the Jews committed suicide rather than fall into the hands of the Romans. We'll spend the day there, party until late in a Bedouin tent and sleep there. The next morning, early, we'll catch a flight back to NY.

I can't wait for these most amazing 2 weeks. I've been dreaming about this moment for a year. I'll put pictures up when I come back. Wish me a safe trip!