Palmach

Now, the Palmach (you really need to hear me say it because I'm getting really good at the throat clearing sort of sounds that the Israeli's make) Museum... WOW. I am so aggravated that we didn't bring Emma and Kelsey here in October because the would have LOVED it. It is a tribute to the Palmach, the partisan fighters who were the first version of the Israeli Defense Force. I am amazed at their story and the bravery they exhibited with so little during those early days of freedom. The museum itself was incredible, because you progress from room to room, following a video that is the story of a group of them. However, each room is like a movie set and the video projects on the wall (or screens, or tents, or rocks). There are even SMELLS! The part where they were sitting around the campfire talking, we were sitting on logs and the ROOM SMELLED LIKE A CAMPFIRE. I am ENAMORED. 

I also really loved something else that happened. As we went in, there was a wall of black and white photos. I glanced at them as we went in and appreciated them for their beauty. I was even remotely interested in the subjects, but not profoundly so. When we came out, we walked by those photos again. I couldn't make myself walk away because those photos... they meant something. Those PEOPLE meant something. I now had a connection with them. I took a photo of part of the wall (second from the bottom here) and realized that is exactly my goal in Holocaust Literature... I want my students to connect, to connect PERSONALLY with the subjects. If I do that, I have accomplished something valuable.