Tel Aviv is a
cosmopolitan city and there is definitely a co-existence of people from north
Africa, Palestinians, descendants of different Jewish tribes from all over the
World including about thousand families who emigrated from Kerala one of the
southern states of India.
My first stop was the famous great synagogue at Allenby. The
famous architect Yehuda Magidovitch designed the Synagogue funded by the Rothschild’s. The stained glass windows are a marvel, which
depicts the synagogues destroyed during the holocaust. I always feel sad when I
enter any synagogue be it the one in Budapest, or Worms in Germany, they stand
as the evidence of the atrocities committed to innocent people during the
holocaust.
On Memorial Day May 11th, I visited Jerusalem,
the holy land and the most coveted city from the ancient days where the three
major religions have their sacred places worship and relics from the past in the order of its origin. Jerusalem is the capital city of Israel and
the city is divided into the “old” and the “new”. The Israeli Knesset or
Parliament is located in New Jerusalem.
The Holocaust Memorial Museum is a must see place. I paid homage to
the 6 million Jews who were killed during the holocaust, the most cruel genocide
of the civilians. The children’s memorial was quite fitting with stars in the
sky dome and it is heart wrenching when we hear the voice mentioning the name
and age of each child. The memories are sad but the children of the Israeli tribes
have sprung up against all odds and built a country from the scratch. Amazing development and technology.
From the viewpoint at Mount of Olives, I
could see the old Jerusalem shining with its famous landmarks from Judaism,
Christianity and Islam. Time to enter the old city that beckoned monarchs, merchants
and pilgrims from the ancient past. The city that survived both natural and man-made
calamities is there in front of me and I could not wait to enter the cobble
stone streets. Next in Part 2.
PEACE ON EARTH
All content copyright © by Sobana Iyengar.
