WRJ Centennial Trip: Welcome to Berlin!

Welcome to Berlin! What an adventure we had, as the WRJ Centennial Mission group attempted to make the transition from Jerusalem to Berlin. First, we left Jerusalem for the airport at 3 o’clock in the morning! After significant delays at the Tel Aviv airport and the Vienna airport, we finally arrived in Berlin many hours later than expected. May I also mention that it was freezing cold in Berlin with snow on the ground?! Nonetheless, our intrepid group was ready to begin the next stage of our adventure. After all, we are “flexible people”! [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"90351","attributes":{"class":"media-image alignleft size-medium wp-image-13688","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"300","height":"199","alt":"WRJ Rosenstra\u00dfe"}}]]The stresses of travel were immediately forgotten, as we were warmly welcomed at the Berlin airport by our wonderful guide, Stephanie and one of our fabulous hosts, Harmut Bomhoff. As we drove through the city and began to see the sights of this beautiful and interesting place, we forgot the arduous day of travel. As I mentioned, this trip to Berlin was a transition from our days in Israel. And if you have been following our blog, you know that some of our time in Jerusalem was spent in trying to understand the issues of gender inequality in Israel. Specifically, we prayed with Women of the Wall on Rosh Chodesh Nisan and made our voices - the voices of women - heard at the Kotel. How incredible that our first stop in Berlin was at the Rosenstrasse Memorial! This memorial is dedicated to the thousands of women who protested at this spot in order to secure the release of their husbands. In 1943, nearly 2000 men who were married to non-Jewish women were held before being sent to labor and death camps. The wives of these men [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"90356","attributes":{"class":"media-image alignright size-medium wp-image-13689","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"300","height":"199","alt":"WRJ Rosenstra\u00dfe"}}]]appeared outside of the detention station and literally raised their voices day after day, for more than a week! They stood face to face with the most brutal forces of the war, and they prevailed.  All of the men were released and most of them survived the war. This was an astonishing victory – accomplished with the voices of women. WRJ women laid a wreath of flowers, including a ribbon inscribed with the words “Stronger Together” at the base of the Rosenstrasse Memorial. It was a moving moment, reinforcing that our voices are strong and together we can achieve amazing accomplishments. We thank Hartmut Bomhoff and all of our Berlin hosts for affording us the honor of these moments.