Barbara Haber

Special to the Jewish News

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that some of the Dead Sea Scrolls had also
been found on Masada, one daughter said,
"The Romans destroyed the Temple and
three years later Masada; and yet we are
three generations standing here, almost
2,000 years later, reading from the same
Torah. From generation to generation, the
Jews have survived:'
All were stunned by the images of the
Holocaust at Yad Vashem. One grandson said,
"I felt no responsibility for my fellow Jews
before, but now I do feel the responsibility"
A granddaughter said, "We wouldn't be here
today if the Nazis had been successful in kill-
ing all the Jews. It is important that it never
happen again:'
All of us loved floating in the Dead Sea,
swimming in the waterfalls at Ein Gedi,
kayaking down the Jordan River and jump-
ing the waves in the Mediterranean. We took
a jeep ride on the Golan Heights, stopped at a
memorial to fallen soldiers at Gadot and saw
and spoke to some of the recruits, many of
whom seemed hardly older than our grand-
children.
The commander of the group of Israeli

Science in Rehovot and seeing
Adam, Mitch,
soldiers was Carly Sirlin of
the solar energy project where
Jody and Dan
Bloomfield Hills, Hillel Day
it is attempting to capture the
Boorstein floating
School, Andover High School and
energy of the sun, liquefy it
in the Dead Sea.
Michigan State University. That
and transport it was meaning-
chance meeting was a thrill for
ful for our environment. Jews
her and for us; and we were all
continue to strive for tikun
interested in her experiences in
olam, the repair of the world.
the army. After viewing the Golan, we could
This trip was a life-changing experience
all understand its strategic importance to the
for all of us. It allowed us to bond with our
defense of Israel.
faith, with Israel and with each other. Each of
On to Tel Aviv, celebrating its 100th
us came away feeling prouder than ever to be
anniversary — a bustling and thriving
a Jew and connected to Jews in Israel and all
city much more secular than Jerusalem.
over the world by the bonds of common cus-
One of the most moving visits here was to
tom, history, culture and faith. I don't think
Independence Hall where the docent made
history come alive as she described the 1917 any of us will ever forget it. E
Balfour Declaration, the United Nations
Barbara Haber is a Huntington Woods resi-
approval for a partition plan in November
dent. The family trip ended Aug. 31.
1947 and the declaration by Ben Gurion of
the State of Israel on May 14, 1948. All the
things we had known about and studied
became more vivid by being in the place
where they occurred. The flag designed with
the blue Jewish star at the center is a badge
rip oers:
of honor, not the yellow star of shame.
Jonathan and Barbara
Visiting the Weitzmann Institute of

ur first stop in Israel was in front
of the B'nai B'rith "Scrolls of
Fire:' As I gazed on the other 13
members of my family drinking a glass of
grape juice and singing the Shehechiyanu,
strong emotions coursed through me. It was
two years ago that we began planning this
family trip to celebrate the 2009 b'nai mitz-
vot of three of our six grandchildren: Paige
Hamburger, Madison Goodman and Mitch
Boorstein.
The model of Jerusalem and the Old City
at the Israel Museum gave us a solid founda-
tion for the first part of our trip. Our B'nai
B'rith guide, Moshe Goldin, gave us a history
lesson. Imagine how real the Temple was
to our grandkids when they saw the actual
remaining arch of the Robinson Gate and
walked on the stone street Herod had built.
We solemnly wrote our prayers and placed
them in the Wall. Later, we returned for
Shabbat and with the sounds of the men
praying in cadence, the excitement mounted.
The women danced joyfully and
we joined in singing and danc-
ing with them. One son-in-law
said that the defining moment
for him was Shabbat at the Kotel.
A grandchild said, "After coming
here, I felt overwhelmed by the
number of people who share my
beliefs. At the Western Wall and
the Old City I felt closer to God
than ever:'
The next day when we visited
Masada, all were moved as we
stood where the lots were found
indicating who would kill the
Left: Madison and Jami Goodman, Adam Boorstein, Justin Hamburger, Jonathan and Barbara Haber,
other remaining men so the
Romans would find no Jew alive Mitch Boorstein and Paige Hamburger at the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem. Right: Kim Goodman, Jody
Boorstein and Wendy Hamburger at the Western Wall.
to be taken as slaves. Learning

4N

Haber

Jody (daughter) and Dan
Boorstein, Birmingham;
grandsons Adam, 14, and
Mitch, 12

Kim (daughter) and Mark
Goodman, Roslyn, NY.,
granddaughters Madison,
13, and Jami, 11

Wendy (daughter) and
Douglas Hamburger,
Franklin; granddaughter
Paige, 13, and grandson
Justin, 11

September 17 == 2009

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