Finding Peace in the Cemeteries.
As we traverse Poland I have found peace in unlikely places, the cemeteries, known in Hebrew as Beit Hachaim( house of life).
At home cemeteries are taboo, scary places that people avoid. But here in Poland each time we have stepped through the gates of the Jewish cemeteries, I have been filled with serenity and peace. In many ways these holly places are like parks with lush green grass, large leafy trees, and the beautiful songs of birds.
But so much more that the beautiful setting, the cemeteries represents the normal cycle of life, of community and honoring our dead.
The cemeteries are in complete contridiction to the horrors and terror of the death camps, the ghettos, and the mass graves, that completely suspend reality and the normalcy of life as we know it.
So, unexpectedly I have found, peace and hope for life in the cemeteries.
