Today is a big driving day. The kids could use some rest and most are sound asleep by the time we reach the highway. We are blessed once again to be travelling with Ernest and Ella Ehrmann. I make my way down the aisle to check up on everybody. One of our Herz boys asks me if I have a siddur - he didn't have time to put on tefillin and wants to do it now. I bring one from Ronen. A few moments later, I notice another boy putting on tefillin. The one teffilin and one siddur is passed from boy to boy. Our Herz boy helps those he need assistance. Ernest notices the action in the back of the bus and joins the boys. The bus is so quiet, so beautiful, so reflective. It looks like a gorgeous day today. Ronen says the weather is fitting for our morning event!
The kids sleep for an hour and wake up with increased energy. We decide to play a bus wide game involving teams of 4 or 5. We build the teams by mixing friend groups with the goal of mixing everyone up. No complaints. The announced prize is met with enthusiasm and laughter. Members of the winning team get to sleep in an extra 15 minutes and receive breakfast in bed delivered by their chaperone. Remind the bus that the chaperones and Ronen are team number 5. If we win, a representative from each of the losing teams has to do wake-up duty. Game on.... The bus is loud, full if energy and laughter.
We arrive in Ligansk to learn about the Chassidut Movement of the 1700 and 1800s. The entire Montreal delegation squeezes into what looks like a tiny house. In actuality it is the grave sight of Rav Elimelech of Ligansk. Rabbi Poupko explains who Rav Elimelech was - one if the founders of Chassidut. The revolutionary philosophy of this movement was the belief that the simplest Jew could achieve closeness to God and an elevated spirituality through simple acts like song, dance, and human kindness. Study and prayer are not the only ways to get closer to God. Rav Elimelech wrote a beautiful prayer about seeing the good in every person, thinking positively and fighting negativity. Legends of goodness and kindness surround both the old Jewish town of Ligansk and the famous Rav Elimelech. The story goes: during the Nazi error, the Nazi entered Ligansk and ordered the Jews to destroy the grave if the Rav. They refused. Next they ordered the Poles to destroy the grave. They too refused. Next the Nazis ordered their own into the town. When the Nazis raise their ax above the grave, the ax head falls off. Every year, on the anniversary of Rav Elimelech's death, thousands of Chassidim from around the world visit his grave. They do so in order to be inspired by his qualities of kindness, humility and compassion. Ronen teaches us that, if fact, in Judaism this is the purpose of visiting a grave - to be reminded and elevated by the deceased's positive attributed and pass them on in your life. The kids are mesmerized and enchanted by the stories of the beautiful Jewish town and the famous Rav. Ronen teaches us a joyful nigun associated with Rav Elimelech. We catch on to the new tune quickly. Our singing get louder and louder until we too are lifted spiritually.
Next stop Belzec. "Was it a concentration camp, a labor camp or a death camp," the kids ask. It seems odd to hear these words from their mouths. Such harsh, ugly words coming from such innocence. We pull up the the Nelzec memorial sight. The skies cloud over and it begins to rain. Bizarre. We walk to the train tracks... always tracks, and huddle around Ronen.
Ronen starts with cold hard facts: half a million Jews were murdered here in a period of 9 months, 71 transports brought Jews in cattle cars, method of murder - gaz, Jews were not burned after death but rather buried in holes in the ground. The Nazis ran out of space within 9 months and closed the facility. Only one person survived from Belzec (by escaping). The kids listen in stunned silence - no questions, no comments. We walk the short distance from the tracks to the memorial site in 30 seconds. Ronen tells us that Jews arrived in Belzec and went immediately to the gaz chambers - no selection, no labor camp. The memorial is impressive - stark, grand, cold and imposing. We trace the steps of the Ligansk community we visited this morning. Walking together slowly down the narrow pathway listening to the Shema we go deeper and deeper into the horrors if the Shoah. We are now standing where the gas chambers used to be. We stop to light a yizkor candle. Ronen removes a package from his pocket and places it near the candle we just lit. He brought soil from Israel to place in this place of remembrance - this holy place. The rain continues. The thunder grows louder. We are cold and wet yet unable to move. I read El Maleh Rachamim in English and Ronen follows by reciting the prayer in Hebrew. We climb the steps to the top of the memorial sight keenly aware that those who entered some 70 years ago could not climb out. The tears come as we walk the perimeter of the sight reading all 71 names of transports. Nothing remains of the camp. The Nazis destroyed the chambers and planted trees where bodies used to be. The kids are drained after experiencing the highs of Rav Elimelech and the lows of Belzec. We board the bus in silence and begin our journey to Lublin.
Monica Mendel Bensoussan
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