Our eyes have seen the architectural splendor of Krakow, Prague, Vienna, and Budapest and the drab buildings of Warsaw, reminders of the presence of communism;
Our ears have heard the history of these cities and countries- of the monarchs, of the nobles, and the fascists, and those who in their opposition thirsted for and dared to act to live in freedom;
Our eyes have seen where Jews were forced to live, in the ghettos of too many centuries, where we were walled in, yet where life thrived, mostly; for a time.
Our ears have heard of the richness and creativity of Jewish life and then of unspeakable acts of inhumanity;
Our eyes have seen what is incomprehensible- Aushwitz, Birkenau, Terezin and the unending names of so many, many Jews, children, and adults, written on the walls of synagogues as reminders to us and the world;
We hear the piercing silence of our millions; Our journey has seen the sun and its joys, and the dark, dark clouds and their profound sorrows.
We have had our hearts broken; we shall ever remember; we shall worry about the Jews of Hungary; and we shall return to Connecticut to search for the meaning of this journey, yet ever more fervently committed to and active in the work of social justice, of the pursuit Tikkun Olam, the repair of our fractured world, and to our involvement in the imperative of inter-religious understanding.
