The Jewish Home | JUNE 30, 2022
The Jewish Home | JUNE 30, 2022
94
62
The Wandering
Jew
Journeys to Holland Part II By Hershel Lieber
1992 July 28 was just two months since my father-in-law, Reb Ezriel Kroen, a”h, was niftar. My mother-in-law, as well as the entire family, were still in shock over his passing, though he was sick for almost two years. One is never ready to accept the inevitable. Pesi and I had already been going to the Ronald Lauder Summer Retreats in Poland since 1988 to lead kiruv projects on behalf of Polish Jews. Our plan for the summer of 1992 was to be there for four weeks. We thought it would be therapeutic if my mother-in-law joined us. She would be meeting different people, speaking the Polish language which she knew very well, and could put aside her daily grief even if only for a short time. Surprisingly, she was interested in joining us, and although she never liked or approved of traveling, she actually welcomed this suggestion. Our fifteenyear-old daughter Chavi, her friend Rivky Kahan and our nine-year-old son Mechel were also on board to join us for this escapade. We arrived in Amsterdam early Wednesday morning and took the airport train to the station near the Novotel. There
were no taxis available, so we walked for blocks on end, half bent over as we endlessly wheeled our old-style luggage. Our rooms were not ready when we arrived, and when we ultimately got them, we spent four hours in a deep slumber. We went down late that afternoon and took the boat ride on Amsterdam’s famed canals. After eating the tasty supper that we brought along, we called it a day. The next day we treated ourselves to a very special attraction. Floriade is an international flower and entertainment show held every ten years in Holland. This was the year that the event was being held. We traveled there by train and spent a total of five hours oohing and aahing at the gorgeous floral displays. There were acres upon acres of varieties of flowers from dozens of different countries in a rainbow of colors and in an array of scents. We were blown away from the beauty that greeted us from the moment we arrived until we said farewell to the last petals. On the way back, we stopped in Madurodam, a park featuring hundreds of miniature models of famous Dutch buildings and landmarks. It was a lots of fun
Mechel and I feeding the pigeons in Dam Square
Chavi (r) and Rivky (l) on the canal boat
Our family at the Dam Square
Pesi at Madurodam
