We are in Israel! 

After much longing and waiting, we have merited to bring the JWCATLANTA Trip 14 to the Holy Land. 

This longing is a microcosm, a mere speck, of the yearning that our ancestors experienced for centuries as they could only dream of coming to the Land of Israel. 

In this time of expedited travel and global connectivity, we have become complacent and have taken for granted our ability to come and go at will. Until we couldn’t!

Suddenly travel came to a full stop and the doors of our Homeland were closed and our count was no longer accessible to us. 

And now, in the blink of an eye, the doors have opened and we have merited to return. 

May we never again take this privilege for granted. 

Sivan Rahav Meir, noted news correspondent and Torah teacher reported last week on the passing of Binyomin Zev Wertzberger, a Holocaust survivor who came to Israel after the war and who personified this message. 

He would often speak of his horrific experiences in the Mathausen concentration camp. Every day, a Nazi guard would rant and rave at the prisoners saying

“ you think you are going to  Jerusalem? The only way you will get to Jerusalem is through the chimney of the crematorium”

Binyomin survived the war and ultimately moved to Israel. When he retired from the workplace he began a prominent second career - as a member of the custodial staff of the Kotel, the Western Wall, a job he viewed as the ultimate privilege. 

Every day for 20 years, Binyomin wielded his broom with regal pride, carefully tending to the holy stones, meticulously collecting the notes that had fallen from the cracks in the Wall, and serving as ambassador of good will and cheer to visiting dignitaries and regular folk alike.

Sivan writes

“Each morning he put on his custodian's clothes with holy trepidation, as if he had merited to work in the palace of the king. He treated the stones of the Kotel with a special love. He explained that each time he cleaned them he felt like he was taking revenge on that Nazi officer. He was accustomed to quote the verse *'and you will see the good of Jerusalem'.* (Psalms 128:5) He understood this as a command to always try to see what is good”.

Tonight as our group approached the Wall the emotions were palpable and this feeling of great privilege and blessing overcame us. 

We felt a sense of coming home. 

The Kotel is the place where many prayers and supplications have been offered. Those prayers have left a lasting memory on the place just as sound waves leave an invisible imprint as they hover and shimmer eternally. One can feel those sound waves, as they are  reverberations of the millions of heartfelt prayers that have been offered here for centuries. How blessed we are to merit adding our own tears and prayers to this eternal symphony and score. 

Binyomin may have left us, but the reality of Netzach Yisroel, the eternity of the Jewish people that he epitomized, has been forever embedded on the Kotel stones. He taught us that it may take a long time, but the Jewish people will ultimately prevail with Gd’s help and return to Israel. 

How blessed we are to participate in the opportunity to come home. 

Shabbat Shalom and so much love!