Youth in Israel making a difference

Listening to the synagogue choir chant the ancient Hebrew prayers crying out for mercy and deliverance, the crowd of over one thousand supporters began to weep. We were at a memorial service held in a 16th century Lutheran Church in the center of Hamburg, Germany where local dignitaries, politicians and community leaders had gathered to commemorate 60 years since the liberation of Auschwitz. I was deeply moved.

I had never considered the shame that the German people carry because of the Holocaust. Year after year in Israel we remember the unimaginable sufferings of our loved ones and families in the atrocities of the Holocaust. For some of us the memories are daily. Nightmarish. Yet here were German government officials approaching the podium weak-kneed and in tears speaking of the shame and sorrow that they felt because of what the Germans had done to the Jews. It was a new experience for me to see Germans weeping.

Upon returning to Israel, my wife and I attended a gathering of German and Israeli pastors for three days of worship, prayer and listening to the Lord. During the worship I had a vision of a young Jewish boy and a young German boy holding hands, walking through Auschwitz, crying. It was clear to us through this vision that the Lord had given us a mandate to help the younger generation take this journey, through the pain and the shame that the Holocaust has left on both German and Jew, and to bring healing. We call this vision "Yad B'yad" which is Hebrew for "Hand in Hand."

Yad B'yad has been taking groups of sixteen to eighteen-year-old Israeli youth every summer to Germany for the past three years. In pairs they spend a week in the home of a German family learning about German culture and experiencing German hospitality. They meet together in groups for prayer and Bible lessons about reconciliation and how to keep their hearts clean and pure for God. This is vital preparation that helps them build their faith in God, as well as their trust in one another; faith and trust they will need to brave the trauma of Auschwitz.

For years, Israeli high schools have been sending youth to Poland to learn about the history of the Holocaust. But according to one Israeli city council chairman, "Children coming back from these trips suffer from nightmares, anxiety and even some cases of depression." He admits, "There are many problems and unresolved issues with the current high school trips to Poland." The Department of Education of that city has asked Yad B'yad to lead a school program to help bring healing and resolution to our mutually painful history. They see Yad B'yad as a way to deal more appropriately with Holocaust history.

Many German government officers and education officials are also asking us to lead Yad B'yad journeys in their communities. This summer we are sending two youth groups and a group of university students. Guiseppe, our Jaffa School of the Arts director is training the youth in a dramatic presentation to be performed in Germany for the Yad B'yad kids to tell the story of how the Lord is helping them overcome the past and create hope for the future.

Yad B'yad is bringing the power of the Gospel for reconciliation into the mainstream of our nation. Our youth are taking the lead in showing our people "a much better way." They are making Yeshua a relevant and constructive force of hope and of healing for our nation and for the German people. It is as Yeshua said, "Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be called sons (and daughters) of God." Matt. 5:9