I am writing to you from Jerusalem.
That is a simple sentence but it conveys a huge reality.
Jwcatlanta just completed a trip to Poland. We went on a very intense journey guided by Tzvi Sperber of JRoots. Tzvi has an exceptional grasp of the Holocaust tragedy and shared many heartfelt messages and teachings along with all the horrific facts he imparted.
Our group of diverse Jewish women from all across Atlanta supported one another through this journey. We literally leaned upon one another as we were depleted by the horror our brothers and sisters experienced. This group came together as one as we were inspired by the strength and resilience exhibited by our brethren as they endured the most incredible brutality.
It’s a really tough journey, one which takes a long time, if ever, to fully process.
I don’t think I would have made it through without the loving family of sisters who accompanied me on this trip.
I was gifted with a personal highlight of having the opportunity to stand and pray at the grave of an ancestor,
Tzvi Hirsch Landau, who passed away in 1839 and is buried in the Warsaw cemetery. When it seemed possible to find the grave I was hopeful but having been in that part of the cemetery before, I knew it would be difficult if not impossible, to find. Tzvi told us how to recognize the grave and then had all 50 of us pan out to try and find it. At that moment I became very emotional and almost desperate to find the grave. All of a sudden there was a shout, someone had discovered it. I was so deeply grateful for the group effort and the reward was to be able to share some of my family history at the burial site of the man for whom my grandfather and son are named. It was a moment of brief but intense prayer, made all the more poignant by the presence of my family of sisters.
And then after this heart wrench of a journey, I was privileged to go on the next stop to Israel to visit my elderly Mother.
What a heart stopping privilege it is to walk out of Auschwitz to travel to the Land of Israel.
The Jews of the Holocaust would’ve done anything for the opportunity to continue on their travels, far away from planet Auschwitz.
This week’s Torah portion, a double header, is Matos/ Masei.
Wouldn’t you know it-Masei talks about journeys. It relives the trip from Egypt (latter day Auschwitz) to the Land of Israel. The Torah lists all the stops the Jewish people made along their travels.
There are many explanations given for this listing.
The Sfas Emes, a Polish Chasidic Master of the 19th century, explains some of those reasons.
He teaches us that sometimes a journey means going away from something. The Jewish people were going out of Egypt and their journey was about leaving Egypt and all the negativity it represented.

So too, we who are on the journey of life, sometimes need to leave somethings behind. We need to focus on leaving our own Egypt, which was a very narrow place and look forward to the expansion of ourselves-the uplifting and bettering of ourselves.
Another reason given for the listing of all the stations is meant to represent to us the various stations of our own lives. Sometimes it takes us a long time to reach our destination of the next stop in self improvement. Sometimes it may be a road long traveled till we can reach a better relationship or repair a family rift. It may feel like we will never get there, it may feel scary and it may feel as though the goal can never be reached.
But as this litany of stops and starts in the journey if the Jewish people illustrates, don’t give up - the goal of reaching the Promised Land is within your grasp.
Today I went on an errand for my Mother. She asked me to purchase some tubs of sorbet for Shabbat. When I spoke to the young man behind the counter he was quite abrupt, almost surly. He responded to my request with a curt nod.
Having just been bolstered by conversations and learning in Poland about judging favorably, I assumed he must be having a rough day.
As I waited at the register for him to finish the work, I noticed a picture of one of the hostages with a chapter of Tehillim/Psalms next to it. We are always carrying the hostages in our hearts and prayed for them in Poland at the holy sites we visited. So I took the card in my hand and started reciting the Tehillim.
He must’ve noticed me.
Because all of a sudden this surly young man transformed before my eyes.
Maybe he thought I don’t care.
Maybe he thought I’m not really family.
Maybe he thought I wouldn’t know about this terrible journey because I am clearly an American.
But after I said those Tehillim, everything changed.
He started showering me with blessings.
He called me Neshama (an endearing term which means Soul)
He called me Neshama many times - and it felt so connected.
Because at the end of the day, although we go on many convoluted journeys that go in fits and starts, we are ultimately one family.
As we end the book of Bamidbar/Numbers, we say
Chazak Chazak vNischazek.
We are coming to the end of one journey, may we be strengthened, and we are embarking on a new one, may we be strengthened!
And may we send strength and condolences to our dear past President Bonnie Fitch on the loss of her beloved Father.
Shabbat Shalom and so much love from the holy city of Jerusalem