5/9/26 a Grateful Shabbat

 5/9/26 A Grateful Shabbat 

It seems like just yesterday, and in fact it was, just yesterday, that many of us gathered in The Kaufman Chapel at The Davis Academy Lower School to briefly welcome Shabbat (a few hours early, in true Davis Academy fashion) before embarking on our Big Trip. Robert Hunter, lyricist for The Grateful Dead, was spot on when he wrote, “The first days are the hardest days.” After having led more 8th grade trips than my jetlagged brain can tally right now, I’m certain that he had days like today in mind: hard days are days that ask a lot of us, that take all we’ve got. 

Between the extensive travel, the time change, the generally high emotions, and a full day of touring central Prague at the height of tourist season, today definitely qualifies as a demanding day. But when we look back, today won’t be memorable because it was hard, but because it was awesome. As a community, we navigated two of the world's busiest airports. We said goodbye to the familiar and embarked on a journey that requires courage, maturity, openness, curiosity, patience, and equal measures of heart, soul, and mind. You can make the argument that every day asks this and more of us, but days like today are more transparent in making the non-negotiable nature of their request abundantly clear. 

While future blog posts may enchant you with varying degrees of analysis regarding our daily themes, experiences, insights, and key moments, this post will honor the fact that, in spite of our extensive travel and robust touring, today was Shabbat. A Shabbat that began symbolically at The Davis Academy, literally/technically/physically somewhere 39,000 feet above Newfoundland, and ended with a Havdalah service in the serene courtyard of our hotel. Even the most experienced travelers among us have never celebrated a Shabbat quite like this one before. Aided by beautiful weather, the awe inspiring beauty of Prague, we embraced the fun of being with classmates and experiencing freedom and independence that comes with the transition from Middle to High School and with travel experiences like the one we’re embarking upon. 

I’ll end with two small observations. First, Prague, Bratislava, and Budapest are far from random European destinations. These cities, when taken together, will allow us to explore one of the most significant questions that Jews should be asking, but which we often fail to even pose. That question: How have the last 150 years shaped our consciousness as a people, a faith, a culture, and a civilization? There’s great power but also an inherent risk in asking this question because certain topics are unavoidable-- antisemitism, pogroms, gas chambers, communist oppression. No answer is complete without addressing these topics, but even more true is the fact that no answer is complete that doesn’t go beyond these sources of adversity, pain, and anguish. Prague, Bratislava, and Budapest all provide different pieces of a Jewish puzzle that many Jews never fully grasp, let alone experience firsthand. In our case, we will experience a great amount firsthand, but the grasping may look different for each of us. 

For a second and final observation, I’ll note that gratitude is a motivator for human behavior. There is not a person among us, student or chaperone, that isn’t grateful to be here. Gratitude is oozing out of our pores. It’s wonderful to be with a group of people that are grateful-- for their portion in life, for the gift that we’ve been given, for the privilege of being able to travel, and for the fact that we are part of such an extraordinary story-- the story of The Jewish People. 

More to follow. Shabbat Shalom and Shavua Tov.

Our Journey Concludes, 5/19/25

 Our final day in Budapest was spent doing enjoyable things: shopping, cooking, eating, swimming, and cruising. Not a bad way to enjoy a beautiful Monday in May! Coming off our Danube Cruise there were more than a few tears as the reality of the end of the trip and the upcoming graduation sink in. The tears were tears of exhuastion, but also tears of gratitude. For the gift of friendship, the gift of community, the gift of time, the gift of being so profoundly blessed. The adults among us found the expression of emotion truly touching. The kids have been great on this trip and they have made an impact on all our guides, both in Budapest and Prague. 

Having traveled internationally, and with such a meaningful itinerary, our 8th graders join a minority of Americans who have had such impactful experiences in an international setting. Travel is challenging, inspiring, eye opening, fun, and formative. Our trip was all of these things and more. 

This evening we asked the kids why they thought that we, their parents and teachers, had brought them to Prague and Budapest. Due to the bustling part of town where we were at the time, we only had a chance to hear a few answers. Each answer we heard was thoughtful, but likely not as thoughtful as the answers you will get once there's been a bit of processing time. In the coming days please take a chance not only to learn who the kids roomed with and hung out with, but what they saw, what they tasted, what they learned, what they felt, what questions they had answered, what new questions arose for them... If you greet them with heartfelt curiosity, I am confident that you will be rewarded. 

I know speak for all of the chaperones in expressing our gratitude to these 8th graders, our fellow travelors. While some people are repulsed by the thought of traveling with a group of teenagers, we relished each and every moment, even the challenging ones. To see the world through their eyes is to see the world anew. They made it fun, they made it meaningful, and they made it memorable. 

This blog began with the acknowledgment that I never envisioned writing about an 8th grade trip to Prague and Budapest. It concludes with the acknowledgement that this trip may be a singular phenomenon in the history of The Davis Academy but also with the possibility that we may one day return here. The world is a complicated place and we, as an extended Jewish family, have a front row seat to that complexity. One of our security guards joined us shortly after finishing a 6 month tour of duty patrolling the Israel- Lebanon border. Our Israel-based guides return to Israel with virtually no Israel tours on their calendar. These are heavy times for the Jewish people. These are heavy times for Israel. It is my fervent prayer, which I know you share, that our 8th graders come away from this trip  empowered in the knowledge that they can be a source of light, a source of sweetness, and a source of hope. It's not fair to ask of them that they build a world that is worthy of them, but that's where we find ourselves. I'll end with the confident assertion that this trip to Prague and Budapest will fuel their passion for building that world. 

Budapest, a Complicated Home-- 5/18/25

Before reading further, I want everyone to know that today was a fun day. We spent much of the middle of the day enjoying a traditional Hungarian meal (i.e. Mexican food), sang happy birthday to a beloved classmate, posed for glorious photos with all of Budapest as our backdrop, and just came back from 90 minutes of free time that included dinner and shopping. Having said that, for those who were paying attention, there was also a chance to learn about the Jews of Hungary, past and present. 

For as long as there has been a Hungary there have been Jews at the center of it all. During the Middle Ages, Jews were so prominent and central to the functioning of the country that Hungarian currency even had Hebrew writing on it. As a well established, prosperous, highly educated ethnic community, by the 19th century, Jews made up approximately 25% of Budapest's population. Hungarian Jewry boasts many Nobel Laureates, professors, prominent scientists, artists, authors, musicians, and cultural figures. There are also many Hungarian Jews who played an essential role in the shaping of Modern Judaism, most notably Hannah Senesh (poet and resistance fighter) and Theodore Herzl (the founder of Modern Zionism). Hungarian Jews are proud of their heritage and, in spite of the darkest chapters of our story here, many of them have a deep and abiding love for Budapest, their home. 

The ultimate symbol of Jewish Hungary is the Dohany Synagogue. In a previous post I may have indicated that it is the 5th largest synagogue in the world. It turns out that it is likely the 3rd largest. Not only Jews, but virtually all visitors to Budapest, tour the Dohany Synagogue. During our time there we shared the space with hundreds of fellow tourists, most of them of faiths and traditions other than Judaism. In addition to being an exquisite synagogue, Dohany is also a Holocaust Memorial. In 1945 more than 2,000 murdered Jews were found dead and subsequently buried in mass graves in the courtyard. There is a tree there, made of metal, uprooted from the earth. Each leaf bears a name. When viewed upside down, the tree looks almost like a Menorah. As we sang Hannah Senesh's famous poem, Eli Eli, several tourists stopped to listen. One family from Northern Ireland asked what the song was and said they were moved to tears by our singing. 

How can Hungary be a site of Jewish renaissance given the horrorific way that the Holocaust unfolded here? I was not aware and you may be equally unaware, that due to an alliance with the Nazis, Hungary did not begin to deport Jews until April of 1944, when the war was already winding down in many areas. Between April and July of 1944, approximately 440,000 Hungarian Jews were deported to Auschwitz, never to return. That's an astounding number. Later that year and into 1945, when the alliance with the Nazis imploded and deportations stopped, the Hungarian Fascist Government known as the Aero Cross took it upon themselves to murder Jews on their own. They did so in ways that defy our ability to comprehend due to their complete lack of humanity such as shooting Jews and watching their bodies turn the Danube red. We contemplated this cruelty as we paid our respects at the "Shoes on the Danube" memorial. It was very moving to see our students pay such respectful homage to this painful story. It was also quite moving to see how many yellow ribbons had been added to the memorial. We concluded by saying Mourner's Kaddish, but with the reminder that as Jews we always carry our hope with us and our belief that good will win out over evil. To sweeten the mood a bit, we stopped for a little bit of cake, coffee, and chocolate. 

As previously mentioned, both of our local guides are Hungarian Jews. Since Hungary is part of the EU, living in Budapest is a choice that they have made. Why live in Budapest knowing that to be a Jew here is to live in the shadow of such a uniquely cruel and barbaric shadow? Why live in Budapest when many Jews are currently fearful that the current Hungarian Government seems to be committed to telling a revisionist history of the Holocaust where Hungarians were innocent bystanders and victims of the Nazis when that is absolutely historically inaccurate? Why not find a more stable, comfortable, or safe home? 

For our guides and for more than 100,000 other Hungarian Jews the answer is that Hungary is their home. They love the food, the culture, the energy, the unique sense of humor, the literature... Many Hungarian Jews have lived abroad only to find themselves returning to Hungary, returning to Budapest. Having spent a few days in Budapest, admittedly as tourists, I think our students and all of us who are here on this trip have a greater appreciation for the idea of Budapest as a home for Jews. Our connections here, especially the human ones, means that the story of Jews here is now a part of our Jewish story as well. 

Speaking of home, tomorrow is a day devoted entirely to fun, shopping, bonding, cooking, cruising, and enjoying our last full day together!