When talking in advance of the professional development day at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center, there was a clear benefit to these professional meetings, in which the employees of the education and archive departments of Ganzach Kiddush Hashem received invaluable tools to improve the holy work that they deal with and speak about every day.
The response was impressive and the lectures were fascinating. The employees of Ganzach Kiddush Hashem moved through the wings of the building that overlooks the walls of the Old City and the tomb of King David z”l. In ancient Jerusalem, the employees were impressed by the innovative activities of the Begin Center and drew appropriate conclusions.
The lectures revolved around the form of presentation of the museum’s content and in the training center, emphasizing a modern learning environment on the one hand, and ensuring proper and appropriate content on the other hand.
Ganzach Kiddush Hashem, whose leaders and managers now hold in their hands the reality of a new building and its development, connect to the mishnaic teaching that “the wise man learns from everyone.” The amazing plans are frequently updated, and based on the effort and diligence put into the project, it can be concluded that with God’s help, the Creator of the World will complete this building in a perfect and eye-catching way, so that its benefit will be clear and tangible, and so that every Jew, of every age and level, will find something he connects to within it.
The pogram was clear and scheduled in advance, and the benefit, as mentioned, was great, but at the end of the study day, when the heart-wrenching presentation of one hundred and fifty new photos from the dying Warsaw ghetto, which were transferred by the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Museum (which maintains close cooperation with the Menachem Begin Heritage Center) to the Begin Center, those present could not withstand the emotional load and many of them shed tears of grief, bewilderment, and shock.
Suddenly figures appeared in front of the eyes; faces, foreheads and eyes of our own chasidic Jews, in the most tragic moments in our history. Suddenly the people with the chasidic hats were seen, humiliated by the Nazis, beaten to the ground and battered, degraded. Their heads were lowered and their eyes were beaming. The Jewish spirit was never broken, but the grief is piercing for the heartache caused to them, to those beautiful and pure Jews. For the first time, those present saw such clear, new, and unfamiliar pictures of respectable Jews crowding the places that all exist today and are known to most of the Ganzach Kiddush Hashem employees as they know the back of their hands…
We suddenly see the familiar streets of dying Warsaw and there are good Jews, chasidim and people of action, kneeling under their burden, enduring the hardships of the decrees, but their eyes are righteous and pure. A kind of Jewish pride that did not leave them until the last moment, a pride that stems from the stubborn faith of the people of a stiff-necked nation, those who are strong and steadfast, those who never yielded!
A heartfelt thank you goes to Ganzach Kiddush Hashem CEO Rabbi Zvi Skulsky and COO Mrs. Rachel Yud for organizing the event and its contents. Thank you to all the employees of the holy Ganzach Kiddush Hashem institute; as usual, their participation was full and impressive. Once again they proved dedication and commitment to our goals. With such a team, we will G-d willing go far. Special thanks to our academic advisor, Rebbetzin Esther Farbstein, for her respectful and helpful personal participation, and last but not least, to Mrs. Devorah Surasky – the professional development coordinator of Ganzach Kiddush Hashem, who spared no effort to produce a meaningul study day full of content.
Thank you to our dear hosts: Ms. Adi Farkas – deputy director general, Mr. Lior Gelbard – head of the education and museum department, Mr. Yossi Swed – the center’s content developer, and Ms. Chani Klein – director of education, and the rest of the staff and guides of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center for their great hospitality and wonderful guidance.
