In March, the B’nai Mitzvah class took a trip to Washington, DC. It was a beautiful weekend, with our first “official” destination being the National Holocaust Museum. On the way to museum, our group took a lovely walk from the hotel in Virginia, across the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge, to the Lincoln Memorial, to the new Martin Luther King, Jr. monument, and through the cherry blossoms (at their peak). At the National Holocaust Museum, we met up with members of Machar, a Humanistic Judaism congregation in the DC area. We were escorted by Win Morgan, who is 6th grade teacher from Machar and who is trained to lead groups through the Museum. Win did a fabulous job of helping us navigate our way through the Museum, which can be overwhelming in terms of the amount of material and, of course, the content. Win helped the Mitzvah boys (and families) understand the terrible circumstances that led to the Holocaust, from the perspectives of both the Jews and the Germans, and to begin to grasp the horrors of those times. Later that evening, we reestablished the levity of the weekend by taking the subway into Washington for some late night pizza. On day two, we again joined members of Machar at Arlington National Cemetery for a tour that focused on Jewish dignitaries and members of the military who are buried there. The tour was led by a volunteer from the Jewish Historical Society. All in all, it was a great weekend and an excellent chance for the Mitzvah families to have fun together. Special thanks to Julie Wynmor from Kol Haskalah and Norm Hall from Machar for coordinating this event for us.
