Tue , first day.

Today I am starting on a journey to Poland as a part of a 2 weeks trip with a women group I have been a part since January.

The group name is Kol Isha, it is in Hebrew – Woman Voice.

It is a first cohort of this Oshman Jcc initiative , where a group of women studying Judaism in a secular way, about women with women.

it is very exciting and I am enjoying it so much! 

We will be meeting 2 other groups  that are part of the program – one in Poland and One in Israel. 

This is my very first ever trip with a group beside my family so it’s all very new, exciting and also many thoughts and feeling with starting in Poland and specifically in Auschwitz.   

As part of our journey, we had a preparation session for our visit to Auschwitz and I could feel the dread coming up in me as I think of my heritage and my family connection to the holocaust.  

My maternal grandparents , Etel and Yosef left Poland at the beginning of the war. Years ago , my brother gifted us with a detailed presentation that tell the stores or the path of our family and where they were during the Second World War.

I am holding it with me , looking at it , knowing I am coming back to the place they left because of anti semitism.

As I was listening to the wonderful female Rabbi who led the discussion , what I felt strongly is how much I was feeling and how much will come up during the visit, but also how much I am learning to be in my own reality , my life today , where there is a lot to be joyful and grateful for 🙂

I know that what I can do for those who are not here anymore, is to LIVE and to LOVE and to be Joyful , something that was taken away from them and that is what we are commended to do remember them and who they were. 

Another part that was coning up for me was to arrive onw this trip with open mind to meet the people from Poland not as a rep of my family history, but as myself wanting to learn more about their experiences and their lives. like myself, they grew up on the stories of what happen that are based in one’s reality, and I want to offer us the gift of being present , if I can say that, put the past on the side ( not to forget , but to have an open mind ) and see what is happening today. 

As a group, I could feel this is something that is there for each of us and it will be a journey to support one another as we move between feelings and reflection, and jet lag:)

So …..

I am not sure how it will all unfold , but I feel how much this trip is a huge step in my healing process as a woman .

Being on this journey with wonderful amazing women is allowing me to really explore what it means for me, in my own life, to be a woman, to feel deeply, to be supported by women, to support women, to hold the space of love as women. 

I am super excited and a bit scared of this trip, but I know this is all coming as another layer of my journey !!!

All my Love and Joy on this amazing trip , Relli