“Wow, everything looks so clean,” my Grandfather said on the way to the airport, “it’s as if the rain washed the dirt all away.” This morning was a very beautiful one. It was cool last night in Cincinnati and now, at ten-thirty in the morning is just barely eighty nine degrees. Today is an important day for me. Today I will begin my trip to Israel. I will travel with Christians United for Israel for the March of Remembrance. This is a new program for Christian students to learn about Judaism and Israel. With the other students from the group, I will visit Poland and then Israel to learn the history of the Jewish People in Europe and across the world. I’ve been so excited about this trip! I’ve actually lost quite a lot sleep to sheer enthusiasm. Imagining the Temple Mount, the Dead Sea and the Church of the Holy Seplicure has occupied much of my time. What I’ve looked forward to less is Poland, the first leg of the trip. I imagine Poland will be an emotional and difficult week. Much of our itinerary for the week is devoted to the study of the Holocaust. I’ve not spent much time thinking about it or imagining it because I can’t imagine what it will be like. That said, I plan to leave Poland in the knowledge that even when things seemed darkest, Good still found a way to prevail. In the end the good always prevails, somehow it finds a way. When ever I leave Cincinnati, I realize how wonderful a place to live it is. I’ve grown up here. I feel comfortable here. I am happy here, but there is a whole world to see and learn about. So, this morning as we drove through the city and crossed the bridge to Kentucky on the way to the Airport I felt thankful for home, friends and family. Right now the Delta Airlines agents are calling for passengers to check in. The airport is nearly empty today, people are coming and going slowly. New York will be a different story. So, now as it’s almost time to embark on the next leg of this journey. In a few moments I will fly from Cincinnati to New York. I am praying that everything will go well, that my bags wont be lost and that I’ll have a great two weeks. “With service to New York-JFK we’d like to welcome passengers to board the plane through the breeze way, zones one and two...” That’s my call. I must board the airplane.

Tags: cincinnati new york 

The first day of what I have come to call, “my fact finding trip to Israel and Poland” began early. I’d not exactly slept that night. I was a little tired, but I was ready to go and explore. I was looking forward to a day in New York. My mother and grandparents took me down to the Airport. It had rained through the night and the day was cool, the air slightly damp. My grandfather said, “wow, everything looks so clean. Mom cried at the airport. I never understand why parents do this. Going through security took about an hour, I had a coffee at the gate. My flight to New York was quick and I was to the hotel quickly enough. In the evening we gathered together and discussed the trip we were preparing for. We talked about the history of the Jewish People in Europe and the Middle East and we were introduced to our guides, who would become our friends. There were a number of fine people who would accompany this Christians United for Israel Student Activist group. We were all excited about going to Israel, most of us were ready for the first leg of our trip as well. We would spend a week in Poland, finding the traces of Jewish life in Warsaw and Krakow. We would visit the where the Jews of Europe had thrived and would confront the places where these innocent people met their end. In Poland we would bear whitens to one of the great failures of humanity. Irving Roth would join us in Poland. He was a born in Czechoslovakia in 1929. I would meet him that evening, when he would speak about his experiences. It was Friday, so we were joined by a Rabbi lit candles for Sahibs.

Tags: cincinnati new york poland warsaw krakow irving roth holocaust