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The Wandering Jew
The Wandering Jew Journeys to Holland
Part II
By Hershel Lieber
Mechel and I feeding the pigeons in Dam Square
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
Pesi’s mother, a’h, at the Floriade A tongue-in-cheek postcard from the Hans Brinker Hotel Aish students at the Diamond Exchange
walking among the exhibitions, many with moving vehicles and flashing lights and sounds. The children especially enjoyed this exciting attraction.
On Friday, we went to the Joods (Jewish) Museum and the Portuguese Synagogue. This historical part of our voyage was spiritually rewarding and a great lead in for the coming Shabbos. We shopped for food for the seudos and prepared our Shabbos meals. Mechel and I went to the Lekstratt Shul for Kabbalas Shabbos and met a heimishe Yid, a former shochet named Mr. Krakauer. We returned to a beautiful Shabbos tisch complete with matamin and madanim, zemiros and divrei Torah.
The next morning, we left the two girls sleeping as the rest of us all headed to shul. The davening led by a chazan from Israel was uplifting, and we were invited to a kiddush at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Katz. After our seudah at the hotel and following a rather long nap, we had traditional Dutch herring for Shalosh Seudos and headed to shul for Mincha and Maariv. After havdalah, we relaxed in our room and played a game with the children.
Sunday was our last day in Amsterdam, but it was quite cold. The only major thing we did was visit the Anne Frank House, where we were given a tour of the Frank family’s hiding place. We explained to the children the significance of this hidden room which characterized the tragedy and horror of the Holocaust through the vision of young Anne.
Our Holland segment of our trip ended when we boarded the plane early Monday morning for our next destination, Warsaw, Poland. We felt that this portion of our trip was a success in terms of our children’s learning experience. What was very rewarding was the benefit that my mother-in-law gained from these first few days; we witnessed the start of her healing process after the loss of her life’s partner.
2008
The success of me leading Aish Hatorah college student trips in 2007 to Budapest, Bratislava and Vienna was a forerunner to being asked to lead similar journeys the following year. Two tours were scheduled back-to-back for May of 2008, where university students toured
Brussels, Antwerp and Amsterdam.
Pesi and I arrived together with the first group on Monday, May 19. In Belgium, we took the students for a bus tour of sites in Brussels, which was followed by a sumptuous lunch at Hoffy’s in Antwerp. Then we were off to Holland for two days.
Our Holland itinerary started with an overnight stay in the beach resort city of Scheveningen. I managed to take a quiet walk with Pesi on the deserted boardwalk before beginning an orientation session. We spent the balance of the evening with everyone introducing themselves and playing a game designed to promote a feeling of camaraderie. The next morning, we were off to Amsterdam.
We checked into the Hanks Brinker Youth Hostel, which was faithful to its motto, “It Can’t Get Any Worse.” The closet-size rooms were clean, but other than two single beds and one wooden chair, there were no furnishings. Forget any amenities! The hostel was jampacked with teenagers and young adults with the typical dress and hairstyles that carried the message of anti establishment rebellion. Jeans, tattoos, piercings, and dyed hair in a spectrum of colors were the order of the day. Staying at a youth hostel was surely an experience that we will never forget.
Immediately after checking in, we launched a hectic two-day period of sightseeing and activities. The first day we took the group to visit a diamond cutting and polishing factory, which was intriguing. This was followed by a tour
of the Joods (Jewish) Museum and the famed Portuguese Synagogue known as the Esnoga. A bris was taking place there, and the students – all new to Jewish traditions – were fascinated by being able to witness this ritual from the balcony.
Our visit to the Anne Frank House was a very moving experience, and the emotional pain it triggered was followed by an extended period of complete silence. We took the group to the Carmel Restaurant for dinner, and it took a while before the regular chatter and kibbitzing of the students resumed.
The next morning, after preparing a boxed breakfast for the group, we took them for a boat ride on the famed canals. From there, the bus took them straight to the airport for their flight to Israel. There, they would immerse themselves in a month-long studying and touring program to acquaint them with their Jewish heritage.
After spending a Shabbos with friends in Antwerp, we met the next group on Monday, August 26th and retraced the identical European itinerary in the cities of Brussels, Antwerp and Amsterdam. When we bid farewell to the second group, we set out for a two-day trip to Luxembourg and headed back to Amsterdam for Shabbos. On the way back home, we made a short stop in Maastricht, where we walked around this medieval university town and stopped at the market to buy flowers for our Shabbos hosts.
Our host, Reb Meir Gottlieb, was the proprietor of a guest house where we stayed over Shabbos. We were invited for all the seudos and had a wonderful and inspiring experience during our stay. Reb Meir, a Gerer chassid, and his wife were great hosts, and we shared many acquaintances. I managed to go to the mikvah before davening at the Yeshiva
| JUNE 30, 2022 The Jewish Home With Reb Meir Gottlieb. I didn’t have my hat so I wore his Gerer kapuliscz
Preparing boxed lunches for the Aish students Pesi with a few Aish students With Rabbi Meir Just, chief rabbi of Amsterdam
and Kollel. There, I met other people with whom I found a common connection, including Rav Ephraim Padwa, their rabbi. Besides the beautiful seudos at the Gottliebs and a long walk with a rest stop at the park, we took naps and spent time studying Pirkei Avos.
On Motzei Shabbos, we went to visit Rav Meir Just, the Chief Rabbi of Amsterdam for over forty-five years. We were trying to establish if he was in some way related to Pesi’s maternal grandmother, as they both shared the family name, Just. We spent a good half-hour with the elderly rav but could not actually confirm a family relationship.
On our final day in Holland, we went for a short visit to the town of Delft which was only an hour’s ride from Amsterdam. What a lovely village with Dutch-styled houses colorfully bedecked with tulips and other flower! The name Delft is associated with the beautiful and expensive pottery produced in that locale. The history of these cobalt blue glazed ceramics started in the 17th century and continues to this very day.
We stayed in Delft for a very short time and were sorry that we had to leave so soon. We then made our way back to Antwerp, where we ate at Hoffy’s and headed to the airport in Brussels.
This two-week journey was jampacked from the beginning to the end. Besides leading two student groups through Belgium and Holland, enjoying a Shabbos in Antwerp, a Shabbos in Amsterdam, a day in Ghent, two days in Luxembourg, a morning in Maastricht, and an afternoon in Delft, we met so many different people and enjoyed some great experiences throughout our journey.
Hershel Lieber has been involved in kiruv activities for over 30 years. As a founding member of the Vaad L’Hatzolas Nidchei Yisroel he has traveled with his wife, Pesi, to the Soviet Union during the harsh years of the Communist regimes to advance Yiddishkeit. He has spearheaded a yeshiva in the city of Kishinev that had 12 successful years with many students making Torah their way of life. In Poland, he lectured in the summers at the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation camp for nearly 30 years. He still travels to Warsaw every year – since 1979 – to be the chazzan for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur for the Jews there. Together with Pesi, he organized and led trips to Europe on behalf of Gateways and Aish Hatorah for college students finding their paths to Jewish identity. His passion for travel has taken them to many interesting places and afforded them unique experiences. Their open home gave them opportunities to meet and develop relationships with a variety of people. Hershel’s column will appear in The Jewish Home on a bi-weekly basis.
