Ilan wrote the update for Monday’s rappelling adventure followed by Yom Hashoa (Tuesday):
“Lean back”, the man holding the rope told me. The harness squeezed painfully around my thighs, but I did as I was told. As I scaled down the irregular cliff-face, pebbles loosened, rolled, and then fell down into the crater, the bottom of which being a hundred feet below. Amanda and Amit (the boy) waited for me underneath while my classmates cheered me on from above; the man with the rope told me to straighten my legs. In quick spurts I released and then grabbed the slack, my head whipping back with every change in momentum. Suddenly, I realized that there was nowhere left to put my feet - the mountain carving into itself like the sides of a jagged vase. “Do not use your feet!”, I heard from somewhere above. Taking short and deep breaths, I leaned back. Cool shade crept in to loosen my face, and my legs, and then my feet. And then I floated. It felt completely unnatural, but I could tell that the hard part was over. For the first time I saw the town in the distance through a massive hole in the right side of the crater. The roads formed a figure-eight around sunny houses and bright green fields, as cars seemed to move in slow motion through the thick surrounding trees. And now it was time to drift. Down, but constantly being pulled upwards.
It took more than an hour for the rest of the grade to join us at the base (some coming down more gracefully than others). We watched in awe as Isabelle swiftly maneuvered her way down to us, and cringed as Boaz lost his footing and swung to his knees. We heard a scream as Kelly’s hair painfully got caught somewhere in the tangles of the ropes and harness. The growing number of us waiting below weren’t completely safe either, the tufts of sharp nettles growing haphazardly in between cracks in rocks. Not watching where she put her hands, Rachel plopped down on a small gathering of leaves. For the next 30 minutes, burning red dots seared her palm; after that we were all much more careful. Last to come down was Rob, and after a
quick water break, we exited the cave in the direction of the town. We were all out of breath as Elias read us the story of Ehud Goldwasser. In 2006, while patrolling the Lebanese border, Ehud was ambushed and then abducted by Hezbollah terrorists. He and his fellow soldier Eldad Regev were made hostages. This eventually sparked the second Lebanon war, and in 2008, a series of bombing campaigns from both sides. Ehud and Regev were killed sometime amidst the rocket fire. Israel claimed Lebanon responsible for their deaths, while Lebanon shifted the blame onto Israel. The day he was taken was Ehud’s last day of reserve duty.
Kibbutz Lohamei HaGetaot was founded in 1949 by the survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Within the Kibbutz was a Holocaust memorial museum by the same name, the first in Israel. The museum seemed unusually busy with visitors, but then I realized that tomorrow was Yom HaShoa. As we made our way through dark hallways and shadowed exhibits, I realized that I wasn’t experiencing hardly any of the same sadness I felt more than a month ago in Poland. Memorials usually feel hopeless, memories taking precedence over action. In the museum, resistance and remembrance coalesced. They fought for their life, and most lost their lives, but at least they got to choose.
We found ourselves in a dark room with a massive cage of metal bars placed squarely in the center. On the far wall, short quotes translated into Hebrew, English, and Arabic cycled through a slow projector, giving each phrase time to leave its imprint: “I was a tool in the hands of stronger forces”… “I had to follow orders”… “it was according to my oath of allegiance”… “a mere subordinate”. We learned later that they were all spoken by Adolf Eichmann during his trial in 1961. He did not deny his crimes, instead choosing to shift the blame onto higher ranking members of the party. Only there was almost no one higher up than Eichmann. Maybe you could make the (weak) argument that the average Nazi soldier was just following orders, but not
Eichmann. Adolf Eichmann made the rules. There was no one but him, overseeing mass genocide and ethnic cleansing. He saw us weak, and he saw our trust, and cut the rope.
In the morning, the siren for Yom HaShoa blared for two minutes while we were in Sfat. We stood in silence and reflected on the Shoa, taking in the views of the city. The birds were less still, blindly circling the sky as if to get as far away from the sound as possible. Later, we toured two ancient synagogues, learning about their deep connections to Jewish history. The first was the studying place of Joseph Karo, the creator of the Shulchan Aroch (the Sparknotes version of the Gemara). The second was a recreation of a famous synagogue in Spain, some even believing that the original lifted, and flew all the way to Sfat. After a Pizur, we meditated with a goofy Hasidic man, singing songs and learning about Jewish Mysticism.
We ended our day in Sfat listening to a Kabbalic artist explain to us the basics of Kabbalah, the much more spiritual facet of Judaism. By inputting the sound waves of a shofar into a computer
software, he was able to create beautiful paintings. He gave us a chance to buy some art, but I’m pretty sure everyone passed.
Throughout the day, Rob repeatedly asked us what we thought the meaning of life is. Instead of putting more effort into my summary, I decided to pool everyone’s answers together into a fun
little list. Those that didn’t answer I ambushed later in their rooms. It is not in any specific order:
Sadie: The meaning of life is becoming the best version of yourself and helping better the world around you.
Talia Silberman: To me, no one is born with a meaning to their lives. As people grow up and go through life experiences, they discover their meaning of life and what they should be doing in
their lives.
Rachel: I think the meaning to life is to be the best version of yourself in order to help everyone around you be the best version of themselves and leave the world better then you found it.
Gabi: I don’t really know if life has a meaning but if it does have one I think it’s to experience it to the fullest. There’s so many people and each person is unique, and I think it’s important just
to live life in their own way and hopefully leave a positive impact once they’re gone. I don’t really know how to explain it well lol but that’s the gist of it.
Daniel Shapiro: To improve the lives of others in the short time we have upon this verdant orb.
Shayna Goldwasser: My answer is idk and 42. Like I have no answer and I'm fine with that.
Sabrina Smokler: There are two ways in which life can go: always searching for something greater and never feeling fulfilled until you’ve reached your end goal, or following a code of values you choose to follow and allowing yourself to thrive within those values.
Isaac: To have kids.
Sam: I think the meaning of my life is to make art to improve myself and the world around me.
Dash: I think that there is no meaning of life. That we are here for no rhyme or reason whatsoever. We are simply just here by chance. So make the most of it and don’t let someone
else tell you how to live your life.
Raff: Meaning of life is to fulfill your dreams and take the right (moral) path to achieving them.
Kelly: Spreading kindness and treating people with respect.
Isabelle: I think the meaning of life is to leave the world better than you found it, even if incrementally.
Other Daniel: Meaning of Life:
1. Fulfillment for one’s self.
2. Making an impact on the world (anything from a huge discovery to the smallest act of kindness).
Boaz: There is no meaning, it is on you to search for fulfillment in life
Sophia: To experience and understand as much as you can.
Tali: Appreciating our natural capacity for kindness. Recognizing this capacity in not only yourself, but in others. Action will spout from gratefulness and trust.
Grace: The meaning of life is finding happiness and continuing on your legacy in the world.
Sophie: to add a little bit more goodness and kindness into the world, no matter how big or small the gesture.
Sara: The meaning of life is to be kind.
Elias: I think that the meaning of life is for people to make a lasting impact on the world while they’re here, hopefully positive, and I also think that as long as the human can be raised in a decent environment, it is our responsibility to have kids to create future generations.
Amanda: The meaning of life is to be happy and live life to the fullest and experience everything.
Betty: There is absolutely no inherent meaning, but in order to effectively live, we must first look inward and learn about ourselves intimately, since you’re put on the planet with yourself as sole
eternal companion. so what do you care about, what informs your behaviors, what will you spend your life pursuing? etc. and only when you’ve established a solid relationship and foundation with yourself can you really look outward to find direction, make genuine connections with others, & learn how to channel your passions - sort of making a center of balance, for everything to revolve around. so, otherwise short, “know thyself”.