"How amazing, we all do have a lot in common!"

We have been gone for five days and I feel like it has already been a couple of weeks.  Travelling with a group is always fun for me.  It gives me a chance to meet new people and learn about their lives in St. Louis and what brought them on this trip.  

Bob (my husband) has travelled to many of the cities on this tour but he really wanted me to see Prague and we thought that this would be a great opportunity to see the historic Jewish sites.  Let me tell you it was the right decision for us. I absolutely loved Berlin. Actually we decided we would like to bring our children back to Berlin and show them the history of the Jews in Berlin.  What an amazing city.  I never thought that I would enjoy Germany.

When we lived in Grand Rapids Michigan we hosted an exchange student from Germany.  Bob contacted Tom (our student) who now lives in Berlin and he and his family came to worship with us at the Temple and spend some time meeting our St. Louis friends.  It is always interesting meeting local Jewish people.  It was very interesting talking about their parents and grandparents history in Germany. Of course his two children had a bus load of new grandmas and grandpas.  Of course he spoke with Bob and I about their financial problems at their synagogue.  How amazing, we all do have a lot in common!

When I was a student I learned about Terezin a place that the Nazi’s took the Jews before sending them to the concentration camps. But, walking throughout the area, which looks like a quaint village but has a horrible past was quite moving.  It was a beautiful day, sun shining and I felt sick to my stomach knowing what had happened there.  We were taken to one area of one of the small buildings to a very small room.  In this room we saw Hebrew written on the walls and realized this small room is where many of the Jews prayed.  Our group came together to learn about the words on the wall and we recited the Shema together.  When I get home and I recite the Shema I will remember the people praying in this room together during their darkest days.

Rosalie Stein