This year, two great bright holidays coincided - Christian Christmas and Jewish Hanukkah. Both are celebrations of hope, joy and light in the darkest time of the year. For me and my country, these are indeed the darkest times.
These photos are from my last trip to Krakow. I wanted to see the kirkut (this is what we call Jewish cemeteries), which was located within the old town. The kirkut was part of a route that connected the sights associated with the Jewish community in Krakow.
Jews have a tradition of putting a stone on the grave of the person you visit. It's similar to our tradition of bringing fresh flowers. Obviously, in the climate of Israel, fresh flowers would have died very quickly.
This is a photo of a refugee centre.
Ghetto Heroes Square. In 1941-1943, this place was part of the Krakow ghetto. Jews were kept here before being deported to concentration camps.
"From our path there is no turning back..." When I used to read stories from the Nazi concentration camps, I didn't think that this story could happen again. But it did, and more than once. It has repeated itself in Syria, and it is constantly repeating itself in Ukraine. This is because in 1945, one evil won over another. The winners are not judged. That was a mistake. The Soviet regime remained unpunished, so now the Russian military can repeat these crimes against its own human kind, and Russian propaganda blames the victims for their crimes. While most of the world watches, too weak to act. But Ukrainians will continue to fight for their existence and their freedom.
A mezuzah on the wall of a synagogue. Inside, there was usually a parchment on which the 170 words of the prayer ‘Hear O Israel’ were handwritten.
Just a street in Kazimierz.
A small cafe. I liked the window sill decor.
Synagogue.
The signage of the workshops that used to be here a long time ago was recreated. Now there are cafes inside.