On a guided tour through Yad Vashem. JERUSALEM — Love it or hate
it, Israel is unique. A young nation created amidst conflict and
sustained under siege, it retains an ethic forged in the famed
“exodus” from Europe after World War II. While Israel exhibits a
superficial commonality with Europe — Tel Aviv has the relaxed
feel of other Mediterranean cities — there remains a hard inner
core. One might question the wisdom of particular Israeli
policies, but no one should doubt the Jewish people’s
willingness to do whatever is necessary not to repeat the past.
The best way to understand that commitment is to visit Yad
Vashem. Established in 1953 as the Holocaust Martyrs’ and
Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, Yad Vashem (the name comes from
Isaiah 56:5) is a 45-acre complex on Har Hazikaron, or the Mount
of Remembrance, overlooking Jerusalem. The site commemorates the
Holocaust, or Shoah (meaning totally unimaginable catastrophe).
To visit the history museum is to journey back into a human
nightmare highlighting the ut