Two hours to takeoff

We arrived a JFK at 12:30 for our 6:40 pm flight. Jill and I both were anxious about avoiding Thanksgiving Sunday traffic. Always better to leave extra time!

Going to Poland on our way to Israel brings up so many conflicting feelings. Visiting the country whose Jewish community experienced such horrific losses feels like an obligation, a sacred pilgrimage to pay tribute to the lives that were lost and the lives that were saved. I have had the honor of knowing and working with many survivors of the Shoah. Last year, I began working our community's survivors and the second generation to plan the annual Yom Hashoah commemoration. I have heard their stories throughout my career in JCCs but this is the first time I will visit the camps and learn about the Holocaust through a different lens. Less and less survivors remain with us as each year passes. We all must take very seriously our obligation to continue to tell the stories. I know that this experience will provide me with more tools to be able to do that through the work we do at the JCC.

Our overnight flight on Lot Airlines to Warsaw arrives at 9:30 AM and we start the day with visits to the Jewish Cemetary, the ghetto, the Nozyik Synagogue and the Heroism Walk before checking into our hotel. Will check in tomorrow. David