Impact - Poem for Marilena Librescu

In Israel, we visited with Marilena Librescu, who is the wife of Liviu Librescu, the Professor who saved a classroom full of students on April 16, 2007. I wrote this for her.

Impact
What effect can one dollar, one person have on the world?
Liviu Librescu, an education, father, husband, companion, friend, proud Israeli, Hokie, and a Hero
Impact
Courage, more than just a word; rather an action.
A fraction.
Of what we will ever experience
The Holocaust, Immigration, and then the Ultimate Sacrifice
But, there's still life...
Within our souls, our minds, and our thoughts
Impact
On his students, on America, on Israel, and around the World
A choice, a voice.
His heart, a start
His passion, his action
His wisdom, our knowledge
Impact
Brilliant, yet humble, sincere, and kind
A family man who was genuine all the time
Honorable, the epitome of Ut Prosim
Time is frozen...
The past is never dead, it isn't even past
His memories will last.
Forever, living within our souls
Forever, growing our minds
Forever, realized in our thought
Our angel lives today
Impact

Brandon Carroll

Returning Home

by Josh Spodick (notes) Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 10:49am

40 Students
8 Israeli Soldiers
1 Guard / Medic
1 Tour Guide
2 Staff Members
1 Bus (with an extra spare tire)
Countless unforgettable experiences

A bunch of best friends in a home that is always welcoming

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Upon returning to the U.S. after an incredibly long flight; after going through customs; after finding all the people in the group; after sorrowful goodbyes around the luggage carousel filled with promises of road trips to see each other soon; after stopping for breakfast on the way home; after giving gifts to my parents; after going through all of the pictures with them; I laid down in bed with the intention to take a nap after 10 days of sleep deprivation. I found myself unable to fall asleep despite the exhaustion. I was left with a feeling in my chest. It was an odd feeling. A hole; a vacancy that was difficult to fill. What could it be? Of course I’m sad it’s over, and I truly hope to remain close with everyone on my bus, but why do i feel this way now? Why is the absence of the group so overwhelming? Why can’t my exhaustion overcome the sorrow and just let me fall asleep and dream as if I were back? All of the people on the trip that I met have touched me in a way not easy to do. The collective experience we all shared is one that will live with me through to the chapter eternal. I now know the true price of this “free trip”. It comes with the cost of this vacancy; this longing to return to Israel with all of my new found close friends.

Day 8

When one thinks of a soldier, the idea of a strong, tough-minded person comes to mind. This didn’t seem quite so when most of our Israeli soldiers held tissues and shed tears at our first stop of the morning: Mt. Hertzl Cemetery. Yet, they were not the only ones – many in the group had glassy eyes, some even with sunglasses to hide them. But as we went from grave to grave, story to story, it dawned on me that the tears of our supposed strong companions were not only for the loss of those they knew and did not, but tears of thanks. Such a small country with so few soldiers faced so much adversity and won. Those soldiers who have fallen were their main source of daily strength. There was no more doubt – we stood amongst eight of the very strongest people this world could ever find us.
At the end of our tour of the cemetery, the emotions did not stop. It was time for us to say goodbye to our soldiers, our friends. Many of the kindest words were exchanged, followed by some joking and laughter to keep us all from feeling more of the weight of the heavy day. After many a picture, we were forced to walk away.
The bus was not quite the same after that. Eight seats were now empty that should have held eight integral parts of our family. The only thing that kept us going was knowing that Facebook would keep us together while we are an ocean apart. There were also promises that they would see us off at the airport Saturday evening.
As if Birthright did not see enough heavy heads, our afternoon stop was to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum. We first saw the nicest and sweetest old man from Holland who spoke to us about being a survivor. There were jokes throughout his speech which all found extremely refreshing in juxtaposition to his heart wrenching story. We then went on a guided tour throughout the amazing museum. The artifacts that they managed to collect under the roof of greatly-architectured building was astonishing. Due to time restraints, we were unable to see it all which upset many.
The whole day made each and every bus member thankful for their life and the way they lead it.

-Stefanie Kaplan, Binghamton University

Day 6

When we heard that the wakeup call this morning was at 7:30 am, everyone cheered. Compared to 6 am the day before, this was sleeping in. After we ate breakfast and got all the luggage in the bus we left Ashkalon and headed south towards a kibbutz. This kibbutz was special because back in 1945 during Israel’s War for Independence, a group of 18-21 year olds lived here and secretly operated an underground bullet-making factory. We got to climb down into the basement where the bullets were made and learned about how despite the constant danger of being caught by the British, these people made over 10,000 bullets every day to help Israel fight the war. We then left the kibbutz and stopped at a roadside market where we ate a delicious lunch of schwarma. Afterwards we traveled to a bunch of ancient ruins and underground caves where some of the Macabes used to live. We climbed through a few of the caves and looked for pieces of clay on the ground that were from pottery pieces from that time. Finally, we rode an hour south to the desert! A tribe of Bedouin people live here and this is where we are spending the night. We walked out away from the tents to the middle of the desert just as the sun was setting. We all spread out and just sat on the rocky ground, not talking, soaking in the fact that we were in the Israel desert. Then we were given a presentation by a Bedouin man and then all sat in a tent on floor mats and were served dinner. Tonight we are going to a bonfire and then all sleeping in a huge tent. Hopefully we don’t freeze.

Tzedekah Day 5

Our fifth day in Israel showed us all a side we rarely hear about from the news; we called it Tzedakah (the Hebrew word for justice). The day began with an early wake-up in order to leave the hotel, followed by discussion time. This discussion involved the poverty in Israel that is rarely seen by tourists. Our first stop of the day was “Pitchon Lev,” an organization very similar to the Salvation Army. Here we divided into two groups, one was in charge of sorting clothing while the other group did inventory in the food bank. Then it was back on the bus to stop for a quick lunch before we headed off to the green house in Ein Shemer. Upon arriving in the greenhouse we were given a short tour. It was here that we learned that all the projects and experiments occurring in this greenhouse were conducted by student’s grades 7-12. We were then given some homemade tea and taken into a room where we talked about art and expression with one of the greenhouse workers, who is also a modern artist. After a short presentation we were all given the opportunity to create our own art on the canvas of hats. Let’s just say that we should leave the art to the artists. Our last and final stop of the day was to visit Marlena Librescu, wife of Professor Levi Librescu a Holocaust survivor who heroically gave his life to save his students’ lives on April 16, 2007. Marlena welcomed us with opened arms to her home located in a beautiful retirement community. We were also fortunate enough to meet Jamal, one of the students who Professor Librescu saved with his actions. After this heartfelt visit we got back on the bus and made our way to Ashqelon and our hotel for the night. Upon arriving at the hotel we quickly grabbed dinner and headed to the marina for an hour of free time, before heading back to the hotel for the night.

Day 4 in Israel

Bob Loblaw’s Birthright Blog
Today was our fourth day in Israel. Our wake-up call was at 7:00 am, which naturally meant that no one got out of bed until 8:00. Immediately after eating breakfast we were introduced to our soldiers. We are given the privilege to be accompanied by eight soldiers. The girls swooned with joy when they were introduced to the five male soldiers. We then proceeded to the Golan Heights for our jeep tours. It’s a good thing we took last night easy because we can honestly say that we were in for a rough ride. We traveled along mine fields fenced off by signs that said in English and Hebrew “Danger, mine fields” and our tour guide proceeded to tell us that the Arabic translation on the sign actually said “picnic area.” We then were treated to a gourmet lunch at McDonalds. After which we went on a hike in the old city of Tel Dan, the ancient northern border of Israel. Our tour guide walked us through the steps that allowed Israel to identify the city as the one that was written about in the torah; this land was really given to us as our Jewish birthright. We then proceeded to go to a mountain that overlooked Syria in which we were able to walk through a bunker used by the Israeli soldiers. We then watched a short 20 minute film about the Yom Kippur war, although short it was a very intense and moving film. On the bus ride back everyone passed out due to exhaustion from our non-stop day. We look forward to spending time with our new additions of bus 857! More to come tomorrow…. –Steve Holt! (chechaw chechaw chechaw)
Written by: Jared, Allison, and Jason
Spiced up by: Maya and Hadas

Zefat and Shabbat

On day two, we all woke up to an early start at 7 o’clock, still a little jet lagged. After a hardy breakfast, we hopped on the bus and took a 40 minute windey ride up to Zefat. From the top of the mountain, we got a beautiful view of Lake Kineret, the only lake in Israel and all of Tiberias. The mountain was covered in a white rock with green grass, in between, which looked really neat. Once we got up to Zefat, the weather was a little on the chilly side with a little rain. We learned that Zefat was one of the four holy cities in Israel. The streets were made of stone with a draining system and there were tzedakah boxes all around, in which all of the students donated. First, we strolled the narrow streets, peeking in the alleys and dodging the hasidic Jews who came our way. We made our way to a grotto where all sat and listened to our tour guide tell the story of how Kaballah (which began in Zefat) grew. We then went to the synagogue named in honor of the creator of Kaballah which was absolutely unique. Inside the temple, there were shrapnel holes in the beema from where bombs exploded right ourside.
Next, we got a little break to look inside the shops and finally, the fog started to rise, showing a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains and valleys. A man on the corner was selling delicious pomegranete, which most students got and were raving about. The candle shop on this street was incredible, selling beautiful havdallah and hannukah candles. After our shopping venture, we checked out another synagogue and learned its history. we got another break in which we roamed the streets, looking at different shops that sold beautiful Judaica gifts. I (Ari!) got a two hundred year old Siddur on the street for super cheap.
On our ride back down the windey road, we had fun times on the bus before stopping for a delicious lunch of falafel and shwarma. Our next stop was the cemetery in which many famous Israeli heros were burried. The view overlooking the cemetery was beautiful as we listened to some of the life stories of the diseased.
We made our way back to the hotel for Shabbat candles and dinner. We joined together with the other buses we are traveling with in order to celebrate our day of rest in Tiberias. After candles, we went into our respective services and called it a night. We spent the night together with our group and getting to know others. AHHH what a trip….more to come tomorrow!!!

Taglit Birthright Bus 857 Begins the Journey

Birthright Bus 857
After facing 15 degree New Jersey weather, getting questioned at the airport, searched up and down, we learned firsthand how thorough El Al security can be. Aaron Punim and Justin Gorkawitz were randomly chosen by El Al security to switch ID’s to test the gate interrogators. Aaron’s interrogator picked up on the falsified documents while Justin successfully fooled his with the assistance of Aaron’s sister, Danielle.
After being reduced to canned sardines for 10 hours, we finally landed in the beautiful land of Israel.... 70 degrees. Hello there parents, this is Chad Meyers, Aaron Punim, and Rachael Kester reporting from Israel on Day one.
It was a rough day to say the least, with our day starting as soon as we got off the plane (it was 7 am when we landed). To those who slept little on the plane (this guy (chad)) it would be a struggle. We started in Jaffa, an old Arabic city that existed before neighboring Tel Aviv was more than sand. With a beautiful view of the sparkling Mediterranean, we took our seats and were introduced to our tour educator, Gal, and our security person Shirom. With the smell of a cool spring air in our noses, we were left with half an hour of free time after our initial welcomes, and explored the surrounding area with glee.
We started with Jaffa, with its churches made it feel just outside the realm of true Israel, and soon departed for the beginnings of Tel Aviv. The first Hebrew city, Tel Aviv sprouted literally from the sand to becoming the thriving center of culture it is today. We watched/passed out a video on how the city came to be, and visited the room where Israel was officially declared a country. It was very surreal to leave the building after seeing pictures of that house in the middle of the desert, to viewing towering skyscrapers that stand today. It truly brought a new meaning to the building of a nation. I believe that many of us have a new connection to Eretz Israel; as Ben Gurion said, Israel is a state that belongs to ALL Jews! (meaning us too).
Rewarded with an hour of free time, we soon explored the open markets and festive activates of the city. Haggling was done, falafel was eaten, and no one got lost. Mission accomplished. We ended our long day with a trip to one of the most historic areas in all of Israel, the spot were Prime Minister Rabin was shot and killed. Rabin, the leader of Peace with Palestine, was close to finally solving the conflict and bringing calm to the area. With his death brought continued violence and no clear solution in sight.
3 hours in the bus later, we arrived at our hotel in Tiberius to celebrate the New year and Schluff. Day 2 tomorrow!