Israel - Jerusalem, Yad Vashem & Last Day

So, my last day is here. I spent the morning packing and checked out of the hotel. They held on to my bags throughout the day and arranged for my airport taxi.

Despite the urge to go and look at the Old City once more, I headed off to see Yad Vashem, the Jewish Holocaust museum. I decided to walk it, and it took maybe an hour and a half through hilly, flowery neighborhoods and bustling roads.

Along the way I came across the Military Cemetery. I walked into its well cared for gardens and looked at row upon row of grave sites, all with Hebrew writing denoting the names of their occupants, their age and where they fell. It was a sad but interesting place to walk through.

The Yad Vashem museum was another ten minutes' walk from the cemetery, and by the time I got there I was starving. I went to the cafeteria first and had a "business lunch", which consisted of a kosher chicken schnitzel, rice with mushroom gravy on top and a cold drink. Not bad!

After eating, I clenched my stomach and headed into the museum. I had heard that this was going to be a very moving experience. There is no entry fee, but no photos are allowed in the main museum building.

The main building is a long, stone triangular hallway that cuts through the side of Mount Herzl, I think! It has adjoining rooms that you make your way through, starting at one end of the long triangular structure and finishing at the other.

Unless you're a deranged Iranian President, you most likely know of the horrors that the Nazi regime inflicted on the Jews of Europe. This museum captured it all. From the initial rise of Hitler, to the slow but steady increase in state-sponsored anti-Semitism, to the rapid spread of Nazi forces across Europe and the creation of the concentration camps and Final Solution. Through facts, old restored movies, videos of survivors telling their stories and various artifacts gathered from the ghettoes and death camps; this brutal episode of human history was brought to life. The artifacts included the shoes of those that perished, a train carriage that took Jews to the Treblinka Camp, and copies of letters fearfully written by the condemned and tossed from the trains as they were taken away.

I stood and watched the videos of the eyewitnesses to the Ponari executions, where, based on my research, I believe some of my family was exterminated. A man nearby sat and sobbed.

At the end of the museum hall, a room was designated to the Allied victory and their discovery of the camps. This section was full of the feelings of shock and horror of the discovery of the camps, of Allied troops giving starving prisoners their meal rations. One video was of a man describing a US soldier sharing his flask of Brandy with him. He couldn't remember the last time he ate or drank prior to that moment.

As you exit the museum, you are high on the hill and are presented with a beautiful view of the Judean Hills and houses. It was quite breathtaking. Then there is a smaller structure dedicated to the children who died - all 1.5 millions of them. Think about that number.

I stayed there a while to clear my head. You just can't walk through a place like that and not feel horribly affected. I had a huge frog in my throat the entire time. While I don't always agree with Israel's policy and tactics in the region, I can completely understand their attitude when it comes to their survival. A visit to museum like this only reinforces that understanding.

I was too tired to walk the several miles back into town so hailed a cab. The Palestinian driver asked if I wanted to go to Bethlehem, but I didn't want to risk doing anything stupid. Besides, I felt my wife's and ‘ always-knowing eyes on me.

Back in town I headed to an Israeli military surplus store I had seen two days ago. If you wanted bullet proof vests, knuckle-dusters, martial arts weapons or survival rations, this was your Mecca. I laughed at one t-shirt that read "Israeli Special Forces - If You Mess With Us You Are Chopped Liver". Brilliant! I purchased an Israeli army beanie hat for my winter astronomy sessions. Let's see anyone say anything bad about of my scopes now!!

So I sat once more on Ben Yehuda Square, sipping a frozen orange juice. Being Friday, it is Shabbat and all of the regular stores are closing. The restaurants and bars remain open. A mass of teenagers have gathered on the main Zion Square, talking and laughing. Older folks are running here and there with bottles of wine, breads and other bits and pieces for their Friday night feasts. Everyone is rushing home to their families, and it seems fitting that tonight I will fly home to mine.

While I am yet to get the bus back to Tel Aviv and clear customs, and wait the seven long hours at the airport for my 15 hour flight back home, I am going to sign off here.

Israel was a unique and interesting experience. I have read about it for years and glad and thankful for the opportunity to have finally seen it. I didn't get to many of the interesting other places I know about, like Eilat, Haifa and the Galilee, and maybe I'll come back. This is not a place I could live in. Fear of being wiped out by a nearby despot or a terrorist group that is rapidly rising in power in Lebanon would, in my opinion, be too much to put a family through. There is a strong resolve to live, work and party here, a result of hundreds of years of threats and near annihilation. But life in the Diaspora, as a Jew, can probably be just as rewarding as living here if you live honorably and respect you heritage. Either way, for Jew and non-Jew alike, Israel is a great experience.

UPDATE: Leaving Israel really was not a problem, security wise. A few different folks along the exit process ask you questions like "How long were you there?", "Reason for visiting?" etc. I did get my bags thoroughly searched, which I didn't mind as long as they didn't mind sifting through my dirty laundry! The very last desk/checkpoint was the final exit stamp from border control, and the woman there didn't mutter a single word to me, let alone a look me in the eye.I guess that if you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide, regardless of which security checkpoints your travels take you though.
Lahitra'ot! See you later!