Travel
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Reb Nosson’s Gravesite In Breslov, Ukraine
During our Passover trip to the Ukraine, we had the opportunity to the gravesite of the very great Reb Nosson, the student of Rebbi Nachman of Breslev. This was my second trip to this special location, and while this time winter still had its grasp on the area, the beauty and peaceful countryside location was just as lovely as I remembered. You can see my recent posts showing the Old Cemetary In Bratslav, The Soliterman Family Mill In Bratslav, and Mass Holocaust Gravesites In Bratslav, to get an even better look at our visit. The Ukraine is a very interesting country, with lots of rich (and sad) Jewish history,…
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The Old Jewish Cemetary In Bratslav, Ukraine
On our recent Passover trip to the Ukraine we had the great privilege of visiting some very special gravesites of spiritual leaders who made great contributions to Judaism two hundred years ago plus or minus. Interestingly enough I had the same very distinctive “coming home” feeling I had 18 years ago (on my last visit) at several places, one of which was the old Jewish cemetery in Bratslav. Now you may find it strange that I had such feelings in a cemetery, but according to Jewish tradition the cemetery is called a “Bais HaChaim”, house of the living, meaning that once souls have departed from this world they are still…
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The Old Soliterman Family Mill In Bratslav, Ukraine
Last week I had the wonderful opportunity to revisit the town of Bratslav (Breslev) Ukraine, and while my last visit a good 18 or so years ago was during the summer, this time we arrived as winter was just departing so the trees were bare and the landscape brown and I thoroughly enjoyed this special site just as much as I did the first time around. While the reason for our road trip from Uman to Bratslav (about 2 hours drive) was to visit the gravesite of Rabbi Nosson Sternhartz (more on that next week) I couldn’t help but soak in the gorgeous surroundings which includes this very large…
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Mass Holocaust Gravesites In Bratslav, Ukraine
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day, Yom HaShoah, so I thought I’d mention some of the tragedies of the Holocaust that occurred in one of my very favorite spots, Bratslav, Ukraine. Our family was very fortunate to have the opportunity to spend the Passover holidays in Uman, Ukraine this year (my first time ever not at home) and despite quite cold winter weather and main roads in the countryside that are full of deep potholes, we rented a van and a driver and made the trek to Bratslav (one of those places in the world where time seems to have mostly just stood still) with the primary intention of visiting the…
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Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial In Kiev, Ukraine
Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yom HaShoah. Every year I try to post something relevant to this very sad day, and this year I am sharing photos that I took just two days ago on my first visit to the Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial site in Kiev, Ukraine. As always, there are no words to express the horrors of the injustices inflicted upon the Jews in Europe. Standing at the very site of the greatest mass killing of its time, on a hilltop within the city of Kiev, one can barely imagine how roughly 33,000 Jews were brutally murdered over the course of just two days. And yet, it did…
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A Visit To LaChine On The Saint Laurence, Montreal
One thing you’ll discover if you visit Montreal is that there is water everywhere, which in my book is a wonderful thing. The city of Montreal is actually on an island, which means water all around, and when the weather warms up the city folk make the most of it by enjoying lovely parks on the water just steps from home in many cases. On a lovely Sunday after visiting Habitat 67, we took a drive to the area known as LaChine, on account of the historic canals that were once built with the hopes of traveling over the seas to China! Unfortunately we didn’t actually visit the museum or…
