Poland Israel Journey '18

Wednesday, May 9th - Wednesday, May 16th 2018

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Israel - Melissa Dodson

I woke up early yesterday in Poland, after 3 very full very heavy very overwhelming and emotional days of concentration camps and mass burial sites and monuments for the dead and for the living. I ran from one last site to another, camera in hand, cramming in as much as humanly possible because I knew I'd probably never go back to Poland. I never want to go back. The food is not so great and the people are cold and lifeless. There is not a feeling of welcome - of home - on that soil. It must be why my ancestors left that place even before the war. I got to the airport and flew from Poland to Israel on a delayed flight on an empty stomach.

 

I arrived in Israel at 10pm, went through customs passport check and boarded yet another bus. We drove straight to the Kotel/Western Wall. It was after midnight when we got there. All of the emotion of the past few days welled up within me the very moment I began the walk up hill to the Wall. The tears started spilling the moment the ancient stones were in view, I wasn't even close enough to reach out and touch them yet. All of the evil witnessed in Poland bubbled up to the surface and began to be swept away by all of the beauty of Israel. That's how powerful it is here.

 

From the moment I landed and deplaned and stepped on Israeli soil, my heart softened, my shoulders began to relax, I felt my lungs fully expand and contract in an exhale. I came to the Wall and I opened myself to it's power, to it's magic, to it's holiness.

 

I'm not a very religious person but I am a very spiritual person, and there is no denying the power of this place. It is a palpable living breathing force and I feel it in the ancient cobble stone streets and the centuries old buildings and the history and ritual and the people and even in the very air we breathe. So I came to the Wall with all of the horror witnessed in Poland. I laid my forehead on the Wall, eyes closed, palms pressed against the cool stones, and allowed the tears to fall in great waves from within the deepest parts of me. I Allowed the weight to drain. I Allowed.

 

It was the most authentic and powerful moment of this whole trip so far.

 

I walked away from the Wall with a full heart and fresh new set of tears.

 

With a peace that can only be known by standing there.

 

With a heart open to feel all of the emotion and power of this experience.

 

With gratitude.

 

And with smudged mascara streaks across my swollen tired face.