Where I Learn
Around this time every year, I am driven to find a place inside during my lunch break because of the cold weather. During the warmer months I spend every lunch hour on a park bench learning next to a memorial made from cobblestones from the Warsaw Ghetto. I stare down at these cobblestones when I finish learning each day. Despite the fact that these cobblestone seem out of place in their North American surroundings, I try to imagine them in their former location and I think about all of the people who walked over these cobblestones before being sent to the gas chambers in Treblinka.
Every day for the past few years I return to this park bench and learn. Perhaps one day I will learn why I am drawn there and what my learning accomplished in this place.
Cobblestones from the Warsaw Ghetto
10 Comments:
Wow... a little intense for a daily routine!
How did those cobblestones get to where you are?
They were brought over from Poland for this memorial.
Wow is right. I am not sure how I would approach such a place. I can only imagine your learning there must bring some measure of nechama to those who walked those stones in the ghetto...if you don't mind saying, what feelings are brought up for you when you are there?
MCAryeh: I think learning in such a place helps me concentrate better than in a place that did not have any significance.
Those stones which bore witness to such a catastrophic event still echo through time.
A simple but poignant piece. I think in our modern busy world we sometimes forget our past is right under us and needs to be remembered. It's refreshing to see someone looking to be tought by the past. Keep up the good work. I enjoyed this.
Tamara & Gammys Perspective: Thanks for your comments. I appreciate your thoughtful words.
Dear ASJ,
I read you piece very early Friday morning and was so inspired that I began editing a poem that I wrote nearly twenty years ago. I just finished it for the now Sunday night just before 8:00 and posted it in Ben's honor. Thank you very much. I remain,
Sincerely yours,
Alan D. Busch
Alan: Thank you for sharing that poem.
Zion Report: Indeed you are correct. Thank you for the comment.
Very Powerful...very holy.
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