תשרי תש"ע

October, 2009

Dear Machal Students and Parents,

For sixteen years, Michlalah, in conjunction with its Raab Holocaust Center, has included a trip to Poland as an option for its students.

Michlalah has chosen Legacy Tours to be the operator of the trip. Their excellent reputation, based on past accomplishments with Michlalah and others, promises a most comfortable touring experience: tourist class hotels, luxury coaches, professional tour guides, delicious Glatt Kosher catered meals, and more.

This program is planned completely in conjunction with Michlalah with the same care as all other aspects of your program. It seeks to enhance and distill everything you will learn during the year. Veteran Mechanechim Rav Yosef Cohen, our experienced Group Leader together with Rav Ben Zion Kermaier and the other staff members who accompany the group are keenly aware of the necessity of bridging the depth of learning you will have had and the intense experience of the 8 days spent in Poland.

Michlalah has chosen to offer such a trip to assure the experience in Poland will be a Michlalah experience. The distinctive mixture of Torah and academic excellence that is the hallmark of your Machal year is the defining point of the planning and operation of the trip. Together with your friends, and with the guidance of your Rabbanim and teachers, the trip will continue your Machal experience. Each trip has been unique, leaving an indelible mark on each of the participants. Indeed it has been cited as one of their most formative experiences for everything they have done and decided later.

The world of the Shtetl was in Poland. The Litvish Yeshiva world before the war was in Poland. The great dynasty of Ger was in Poland. Tragically, most of the extermination camps of the Nazis ימ"ש were also in Poland. Michlalah not only covers the sites, but the breadth of this trip is accompanied by an unparalleled depth of Torah learning and experience.

Our trip includes visits to cities that had a major Jewish population (Warsaw, Cracow, Lublin), leading Chassidic centers (Kock, Ger, Lejansk), Shtetls and Towns (Tykocin, Pishischa, Tarnow, Ropshitz) and Shoah-related sites (Treblinka, Majdanek, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Lapuchowa Forest) and Kevarim of our Gedolim and Admorim (Rav Chaim of Brisk, Netziv, Kotzker Rebbe, Chiddushei HaRim, Sfas Emes, MaHarShal, Chozeh of Lublin, Rav Elimelech of Lejask, Ramoh, Bach, Tosfos Yom Tov).

You will find information and enrollment forms attached to this letter and further details are available from the Machal office.

Rabbi Dr. Chaim Pollock
Rosh Machal