Letters from recent participants...

April 2008

Dear R' Michael,

First, I must tell you that the mitzvah that the Torah teaches us to always remember," Zocher es ma sheh oseh lechah Amalek". You are mekayem not 100% but 1000%. Our chachomim say:"Lo dimya shmiah le'riyah". You organize these special tours for our dear Jewish children & give them the chance to SEE with their own eyes what the modern-day Amalek did to our people; more than just reading from history books. It is probably 100 times worse than what ancient Amalek did to the Jews back then. I thank you so much for giving me a chance to do my small part-as a living witness-to tell what I went through and what I saw. Just like our Haggadah is a mitzvah based on the possuk:"Ve'haggadita Le'bincha", I was so happy to see how the boys wanted to know every detail. They are our future & they have to see & know everything in order to be able to transfer this information to the next generations. It was my great pleasure to get to know you. I must also thank you from the bottom of my heart for the chance to be able to go to Kever Avos in my home town of Radomsk. Even though I experienced so much during the "finster yahren" of the Holocaust, I still was shocked & emotionally-unprepared by the horrors I saw during our visits to Majdanek & Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps.

Michael - Continue for many more years to do your Avodas hakodesh.I see that you treat this more than just as a business. You cared & you gave, and for this I'm most grateful. I give you my best wishes for you & your entire family.

Yours truly,

YITZCHAK WARGON, Witness

Dear Michael:

Where do I start? I must begin by thanking you for making us part of the big Heritage family not just treating us as mere tour participants or "hired guns". The warmth shown to us by your educators was unexpected but very much appreciated. Their respect & kovod shown to my father was a true reflection of their personal upbringing & middos, a credit to the respective Yeshivos they represented,& a praiseworthy acknowledgement of the superlative high standards & expertise you seek & find in your top-notch leadership cadre. Their menshlichkeit, patience, superb pedantic knowledge, relationship skills with such a wide variety of kids from various backgrounds made this a true learning experience for me & my father, with much emotional fulfillment. .My father was treated like a favorite Zeidy by the kids,& very much enjoyed telling them stories, answering all their questions just as he would with his own eineklich. He was too busy, surrounded by the boys, to know he was exhausted. My father and I will also remember the promise you kept to us in arranging for our private tour to his ancestral home in Radomsk. Not only were we able to find his family home intact & explore the old neighborhood but we were able to visit the Radomsk cemetery & find his maternal grandfather's Kever and daven there as well as daven by the well-maintained Ohel of the 3 Radomsker Rebbes. What joy & sadness he felt, coming back after 63 years, something he never ever expected to experience again in his lifetime. Thank you for providing this bitter-sweet opportunity to him and me! From a "behind-the scenes" professional's perspective, you and your team made sure " alles hut geklopped" ( everything functioned smoothly).We will strongly recommend your trip to students, parents, and private groups-whomever asks. My father may even consider a repeat performance.

May Hashem grant you Gezunt, Koach, & Arichas Yomim.

With all our Hakoras Hatov and best wishes to you for continued hatzlocha in all your endeavors and good health.

Sincerely,

MOISHE WARGON

( Son of Mr. Yizchak Wargon- Witness)

Dear Michael,

An experience leaves an impression far greater than words scribbled down in ink or a picture vividly depicting a scene. Although an experience isn’t tangibly physical, its memory is far more permanent, far more lasting. It seems to stay with you longer than a book or a picture. It becomes ingrained in you, part of your being, meshed into the kaleidoscope of mental thoughts that define who you are.

Why does an experience bring about such a change? Why is it able to penetrate so deeply into the self, as if it strikes the very heart? What is it about being there, at the very place that some part of history took place, that makes it so special. Why doesn’t reading about it in a book, or seeing in a picture bring about the same effect? The answer is simple. When one goes through an experience, simply by being there, every sense is able to contribute. The eyes make sure to capture the scene; the nose remembers to take note of the smells; the hands are able to get a feel for the place; the ears pay vigorous attention to the various sounds; and the mouth gets a general taste of what one is going through. When every sense is in use, it is able to trigger the mind far more easily, thus setting off a chain reaction of thoughts and emotions. A complete sense of the place allows one’s emotions to be looser, more ready to react and spring free than ever before. Thoughts, emotions, feelings, and ideas begin to clash, as if they’re sitting on a boiling pot ready to explode. No picture will get you so heated up. No book can illicit these same type of emotions. Someone who sees a painting in the Louvre instead of on a postcard will no doubt feel a greater sense of awe. For the same reasons do two people sharing an experience together automatically feel closer. Experiences are what does it for human beings, plain and simple.

I would greatly like to thank those who made the Poland experience possible for me. I truly believe that the many stories I’ve read or the abundance of pictures I’ve seen barely came close to what I felt sitting in Birkenau that last Sunday afternoon. Being able to be there, walk the same fields, see the same trees, smell the same scents that these six million did before their death really made the lessons they meant for everyone that came after them extremely clear. The emotions and feelings soaring through me crystallized what I needed to do and how I needed to change for the sake of those that no longer have the chance. There in Poland, in the least place I expected it, I became a better person.

There is no time to sit and weep. I don’t think those that survived, survived so we could mourn our lives away. They intended for us to be strong. They intended for us to rebuild, to do something with our lives. We must contribute and take a stand – make it count. Every last second of our lives is a Bracha that we exist, and to waste it away would be an insult to those that died. Not only are we obligated to complete the great purpose we were given in life, but we must pay careful attention to the smaller details as well. If those in the Holocaust could risk lives for family and friends, would a simple hello to a classmate be asking too much? The smaller bits of Chessed Between Man and Man demonstrates the true essence of what kind a person someone is. And we must remember to incorporate these aspects throughout our daily lives.

Appreciation for family is yet another lesson I took from these great heroes. Never take your parents, grandparents, siblings for granted. These are the people that will do anything for you without a thing in return. These are the people that want the best for you through and through. How many times do you hear a story about the woman who tried hiding her baby from the German oppressors, or sisters being torn about – one sent to the right, the other to the left? They would have given anything for family – and because we still have ours today, would it be so difficult to say a simple ‘thank you’ or ‘I love you’ from time to time?

Finally, the message that I felt every survivor was begging to get across was the importance of the land of Israel. Each one seemed to be pleading with us not to take our homeland for granted now that it has become a state. Those in the Holocaust would have done anything to have somewhere to go, a place to call home. They had no where to turn to! They were comfortable in Poland, many times they were over a majority of the population. Yet the underlying anti-Semitism sprang up nonetheless. Despite the “good” relationships they had with their neighbors, the hate was only laying dormant waiting for the prime opportunity. Well, it came. And we have six million people lost from our beloved nation to show for it. We must take advantage of Israel, because there were those who would have done anything to.

These are only a few of the messages which made a lasting impact on my life forever. Again I want to thank everyone who was able to make this Poland experience possible for me. I do not know if I will ever have the chance to go back, but I will never forget this trip, the emotions and feelings it brought about, and finally my pledge for change. Thank you.

Tamara Freiden

MMY- Bus #102

APRIL 2008

Hi Michael,

I wanted to thank you so much for making my past week possible. Before Heritage, I never really thought about Poland or considered going there. I remember when you came to speak at my school (way back in November-ages ago!) and I wasn't even planning on going to the meeting! I had many excuses over why I didn't need to go to Poland, and I only went to the meeting at the urging of a friend. As I'm sure in many cases, after the meeting I was hooked. The past week went by expediently fast, and it almost feels as if it didn't happen. But it did, and I'm so grateful that I had the experience of the lifetime. After going to Poland, I have become aware of so many things, but most of all I realize how grateful I am for everything in my life, and how happy and proud I am to be part of such a beautiful and resillient nation. Baruch Hashem.

I know that you work incredibly hard to make Heritage work and run the way it does, and you should know that you do a fantastic job. Heritage IS your baby, and you've done an amazing job raising it. I wanted to thank you for making my experience the absolute best it possibly could have been, and for enabling me to have such a connection with my Heritage.

Thank you so much,

Sima Horowitz, Bus 101

Shaalvim for Women

Michael,

I want to truly thank you for everything. Heritage is truly an incredible program and I feel priviledged that I was able to attend. I don't think that a single person can go on Heritage and not come out a changed person. The lessons learned are ones that I hope to take with me for life, and the experience is one that will be engrained in my mind forever. Thank you for everything you do for Heritage. Every day that I was there I realized just what a task it must be to run such a program. Every single participant appreciates every minute of work that goes into the phenomenal Heritage program. You were 100% right about Vicky- she is the most amazing woman. She's so knowledgeable and knows how to convey the information in just the right way. She's so passionate about what she teaches. She truly understands the Heritage journey in its entirety and you can tell that she has made it her personal mission to pass on the information. . She is truly incredible.

Bus 101 would not have been the same without Tati and Jonty. They are two of the most amazing and inspirational men I've ever been around. They always knew what we needed to hear. They are so friendly and always knew exactly how to take care of us. They are such knowledgeable people with a true passion for what they teach.

Thank you again for everything. Heritage was truly an amazing experience.

Tamar Garbow- Bus #101

Shaavbim for Women

Important Telephone Numbers for Your Information
Heritage Yeshiva Seminar

Yeshiva Seminars- Important Telephone Numbers:

Michael Berl- , Director, Heritage Seminars
011-972-544-872-094
Ayelet Youngster- Coordinator- Eastern Europe- Gesher Tours
011-972-544-323-383
011-972-3-532-0286

Warsaw:
Men:
Gromada Centrum Hotel
Tel: 0048-22-582-9900
Fax: 0048-22-582-95-27

Women:
Novotel Centrum
Tel: 0048-22-567-3150
Fax: 0048-22-567-3135

Lublin:
Men:
Husar
Tel: 0048-81-533-5120
Fax: 0048-81-533-0536

Zamosc:
Women:
Jubilat
Tel: 0048-84-638- 6401
Fax: 0048-84-638- 7 32

Zamoisky:
Tel: 0048-84-639-2516
Fax: 0048-84-6392886

Krakow
Men:
Regent: Bus #200
Tel/Fax: 0048-12-430-6234

Wyspianski- Bus #202-#202
Tel: 0048-12-422-9566
Fax: 0048-12-422-5719

Women
Qubus
Tel: 0048-12-374-5100
Fax: 0048-12-374-5200

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HERITAGE TO PRAGUE

Itinerary:

Jewish Synagogue/Museum Tour

Maharal Statue

Maharal Cemetery

Chevrah Kadisha

Nodah B’Yehudah Gravesite

Alt – Neui Synagogue

Prague Castles

Golden Lane

Old Town Square

Charles Bridge

Terezin 

The Fee:  $225 All inclusive

Includes:  Historian, Food, Bus to Prague, Security, Resident MD, All entries into sites, Flight to Tel Aviv

Registration: By January 15, 2008

A minimum of 2 buses of students is required to coordinate the program

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Family Ties

Young Israel of Oceanside, NY Travels to Poland & Prague

Sixty–one years after the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the need to bear witness grows stronger with the passing of each Holocaust survivor.  The clock is ticking.  Those of us who are children of survivors feel time slipping away as fewer eye witnesses are left to attest to the horrors inflicted by the Nazi death machine on the Jewish people.  Some children of survivors feel the need to assume the responsibility of their parents to become a “witness” to keep the legacy alive.  Some who are not children of survivors feel the need to learn more, as they have had a perfunctory Holocaust education or have had very little contact with survivors and Holocaust history in general.  Many of our children, the second generation born after the Holocaust, have gone on “Heritage” trips to Poland during their year of study in Yeshiva or seminary in Israel. They come home from their trip transformed by what they saw when they visited the death camps and communities that were once the center of Jewish life.  As parents we have a hard time truly grasping the magnitude of what they experienced.  We often ask: “Why can’t there be such a trip for adults?”  We are enthralled by our children’s experiences and we are haunted by our parents’ histories. But without seeing for ourselves, we just cannot fully comprehend. 

Recently, some members of the Young Israel of Oceanside decided that it was time to go to Eastern Europe.  We felt the need to learn as much as we could, to see what our children have seen, to go places that we could barely imagine – Birkenau, Majdanek, Treblinka, Belzec, and to see what we have only seen in black and white photographs.  But we also wanted to learn about the beauty of pre-war European Jewry.  We wanted to reconnect to our family roots, to find the old family home, to forge family ties and see where our families lived.  With these goals in mind, in July of 2006, the Young Israel of Oceanside embarked on a just such a “Heritage” trip. 

After much research, we signed up with Michael Berl, Director of Heritage Seminars, and his top notch professional staff to guide us through this journey. Every detail of the trip was coordinated by Michael and two of our members who acted as liaison for the entire group.  No detail was overlooked. In addition to Michael, who handled the logistical operations of the group, we traveled with a survivor of several concentration camps, Rabbi Moshe Halpern, an historian, Dr. David I. Bernstein, educational consultant and senior historian at Heritage and Dean of Pardes Institute, a junior historian, Michal Porat, a food coordinator assuring the highest level of Kashruth, two security guards, a physician, and a Polish guide.  There are not enough words to describe the dedication and commitment of this incredible group of people whose mission it is to memorialize the dead and pay tribute to the life that once was.

In no time at all, we knew that this was not going to be just a “concentration camp” tour. Indeed, it wasn’t going to be a “tour” at all but an educational seminar. We were going to learn about and experience the richness of Jewish life before the war. We were going to walk in the footsteps of and learn about the Maharal, Rebbe Elimelech of Lijensk, Rav Moshe Isserlis and other great figures in Jewish life.  We were going to see the towns where Jewish culture and religion thrived, visit the Yeshiva in Lublin, and understand how Jews lived before the Nazis took it all away.  And yes, we were going to visit the death camps to remember and memorialize the dead.  We came prepared to experience everything our children experienced on their trips, and hoped that perhaps we could begin to comprehend what some of our parents, or friends’ parents, endured at the hands of the Nazis.  

 Our journey began immediately upon landing in Poland when we met Michael Shudrich, the Chief Rabbi of Poland in the Nozyk Synagogue in Warsaw and got our first introduction to Jewish life in Poland today.  By the middle of our first day, we traveled to Tikocyn, to learn about life in the “shtetel,” and the Lupachowa Forest, to say Tehilim at the site of several mass graves. We hit the ground running. 

We traveled through what was Galicia, Poland and traversed over 2400 miles.   Our journey took us from Heroism Street and Mila 18 in Warsaw to Treblinka, where  more than 800,000 Jews were murdered; from Lublin and the Yeshiva of Chachmei Lublin to Majdanek, where the ashes of approximately 70,000 Jews are entombed in a memorial; from the depths of Belzec, a death camp so efficient that it closed and was dismantled by the Nazis when it finished its job of murdering 500,000 Jews, to the emotional heights of visiting the kever of Rebbe Elimelech of Lezajsk where we sang, danced (led by the spirited guitar playing of our own Rabbi Jonathan Muskat), and prayed; from Tarnow where we tried to locate the home of one of our member’s grandmother, to Schindler’s factory and the Remah shul in Cracow; from the despair of the planet known as Auschwitz, where 1.1 million Jews were sent to their deaths, 80% of whom went immediately to the gas chambers, to the uplifting Shabbat in Cracow where we brought yiddishkeit back to Cracow, if only for a brief moment; from the beautiful synagogues in Prague to Terezinstadt, the “model” concentration camp in which over 80,000 Jews were murdered.  

Along the way, we learned so much from the staff, Dr. Bernstein and Ms. Porat. from Rabbi Halpern, our own Rabbi Muskat and from each other.  We each had an opportunity to share personal, reflective moments of our family histories and our own feelings and thoughts about what we were experiencing. Many people shared what it was like to be a child of survivors, or shared family histories of survival and destruction.  Those who are not children of survivors, shared their feelings and were great listeners and facilitators.  We cried together and, amazingly enough, we laughed together. Our emotions were raw and laid bare for all to see; we spoke about our personal histories and we held moving ceremonies at the death camps where we memorialized and remembered individuals and the unnamed multitudes who perished there.

As difficult as it was, we kept pushing ourselves so that we could absorb it all, so we could learn yet more.  Without the emotional support of our group, this would not have been possible.  We coaxed each other through difficult moments and applauded each personal achievement.  We accomplished all that we set out to accomplish, but came to realize that there is so much more to learn, so many more names to remember.

The significance of this trip on a personal and communal level cannot be overstated.  We faced down our fears and held each other up. Yes, we learned about the Holocaust, our Jewish roots and family ties.  But we also learned about community, what it meant then and what it means now.   As one of the members of the group said upon returning the States, “we left as a community but returned as a family.”  These are the family ties that we did not expect to find in Poland but are grateful that we did.

You may contact Carrie Teitcher at heritagect@gmail.com

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