https://youtube/watch?v=x-kQqt2JiXs Dear friend and family abroad, Today is the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. I returned from from ״Massa״, our children’s class journey to Poland this Sukot and made a Presentation of it all (see the post before). The presentation is in Hebrew but I want to share with you what I wrote cause I think its very important. “Jewish continuity has always hinged on uttered and written words, on an expanding maze of interpretation, debates, and disagreements, and on a unique human rapport. In synogogue, at schools, and most of all in the home, it has always involved two or three generations deep in conversation. Ours is not a bloodline but a textline…You don’t have to be an archaeologist, an anthropologist or a geneticist to trace and substantiate the Jewish continuum... All you have to be is a reader.” Amos Oz and Fania Oz-Salzberger, Jews and Words (2012) I have just returned from Massa, our children’s class journey to Poland. As a person who reads and who attaches importance to discussion and education, I decided not to leave my photos buried in my computer. Instead, I have made them into this album with some 700 pages of photos, maps, comments and explanations. My intention was to document the trip, to give others a glimpse into the scope of the experience, the places we visited, the intense and growing unity felt by our children throughout the journey, as well as some of the actual content that they were exposed to – all to begin to explain why I believe Massa is so important, such a critical vehicle for passing our rich history to the next generation, such an effective way to help preserve our national and personal memory. When, after returning from the Massa with endless stories, I began talking with friends and clients, I was surprised to run head-on into a heated – and in my mind, ironic – discussion. The concept of Massa is much more controversial – much more loaded – than I had ever imagined, with all parties defending their own viewpoints to the ground. A few years ago, I designed the first newspaper that Yad Vashem published for Jewish readers in the US. Then, too, we had many discussions about the right way to present our loaded topics – what was the right approach, the correct tone and content that would get through to people, making sure that the world remembered the Shoah? Today, as this is even more important, as eye-witnesses move on to the next world – or, as Yehuda Amichai wrote, “And who will remember the rememberers?” It is up to us to pass the memory on to our children, with hope that they can – and will – pass it on to future generations, in ways that they find appropriate at the time. In a world in which everything is interactive, a world in which teenagers routinely multi-task – simultaneously watching TV while sending a text message and doing homework solving – I see no reason that a thinking person cannot listen to deep story, a story about the history of our people, and then immediately go shopping: they know how to separate one from the other, and the shopping does not relate to the story. In fact, every museum in the world today has a store, and every tour guide that takes travelers to a monument walks them past goods for sale – and this does not reduce their impact. For Massa, the impact comes from the joint experience: from a deep feeling of unit and belonging, to the bone-penetrating cold, from experiencing these difficult places together with friends, and from growing more and more united. No place on earth raises so deeply the questions of what makes a person good, of where the line is between good and evil. No other place makes it so natural – so pressing – to discuss the deep dilemmas that confound all thinking human beings. I have certainly heard some valid claims made against Massa – the heavy financial burden, the large number of participants, the risk that a class trip could degenerate into a “fun” Tiyul Shnati (though that didn’t happen on our trip, in fact the kids were spectacular and deeply effected). People ask why the best tour guides are reserved for these overseas trips – and someone even suggested that the money would be better spent helping survivors directly. I don’t want to start listing the “pros” to balance out the “cons” - I am not trying to convince anyone. My goal is to document the trip, to summarize what happened, and to express how deeply it affected me, my son and our companions on the journey. For all its good, Massa is not perfect. But there is power and depth as so many of our youth – from a broad cross-section of backgrounds and capabilities, not just a select few – are standing there, together, proving by their very presence and togetherness that “Am Yisrael Chai – the Jewish people live.” As a parent who went on the trip, I want to thank our school, ORT Givataim, which, as opposed to other schools, allowed - and even encouraged - parents to participate. Our presence promoted multi-generational discussion and dialogue and increased the transparency of the trip. It also established the basis for a community built according to the right structure: parent – student – teacher. A parent that is exposed to Massa is another story that is passed forward. For me and my son, Massa was a deep, lasting and transformative experience. We will never forget the feeling of togetherness as our children hugged one another while standing to witness the killing fields, to hear first-hand survivor accounts and to sing together – the unity we felt as we each shouted, from depths of identity that we didn’t even know we had, “Am Yisrael Chai” and “Hatikva”. I felt pride in every fiber of my soul, and the words sent chills up my spine, as I felt the depth of their meaning for the first time in many years. The feeling – the emotion – the connection - returned. They were full of truth, authenticity, value and meaning. And the way that our children shouted them out, from the core of their very being – well, only someone that was with us could understand. After I walked through the camps, witnessed heart-breaking sights and cried with the children, I returned to Israel full of gratitude. I landed totally sure about the importance of Massa and the splendor of our youth. And I knew clearly that “Ain li eretz acheret – this is the only country I have” - would never sound the same. The album is for you, to experience and to share. Mina Portnov-Mishan Mother of Sagi, Year 11, ORT Givataim, October 2014.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 13:46:56 +0000
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