Today, the rubber really started to meet the road for us travelers. I do not mean for our drivers, but really for ourselves. We walked all over the city of Vilnius today, and I would like to share a couple of my thoughts.
First, I just want to give to you a very brief summary, so you will better understand what the entire day entailed. We started our day bright and early. We soon disembarked and made our way through the old city. Along the way we noted several important landmarks. Our first destination was the Parliament building, known here as the Seimas. Here, we went on a tour and learned more about the system of government which they employ in this beautiful country. After this, we were quite hungry from our walk. So, we settled in and ate lunch at a small Ukrainian place. It was quite good, but quite slow, due to 23 people descending upon them. Following this, we made the trek back to the hotel so that we could prepare ourselves for Shabbat. We attended Shabbat and Shabbat dinner at an Orthodox Synagogue, and we were given the opportunity to meet several of the Jewish people who call this synagogue home.
I have several thoughts that I would like to share about today. First, in respect to the Seimas, I found it interesting how close their governmental setup was to our own setup in the United States. I do thank that this might have in some part been due to the fact that we were seen as the "anti-Russians" as was told yesterday at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Something neat to think about is a point that Ruta has brought up several times. The government here has taken advice from the United States several times. However, it does not seem that they ever question what the Americans tell them to do. She does not mean to say that what has been done is wrong. She just wishes that their could have been more questioning going on, so that her leaders could have come to conclusions on their own. I can certainly understand that.
I quite enjoyed the Shabbat celebration as well as the dinner. As a Catholic, I have always grown up in post-Vatican II church. So, to me, I have never known a church that considers the Jews responsible for the death of Christ. But, obviously, this was the case for nearly two thousand years. So, I can certainly understand any lingering animosity that the Jewish people hold towards us. Individually, I have nothing but respect for the Jewish community. I thought that the celebration was wonderful, and I would very much like to attend one again. One thing that was unpleasant was a man who spoke to Rabbi Abie afterwards. He was quite upset that the Rabbi had brought a bunch of Christians into their house of prayer. After hearing this, i disagree with the man. However, I understand him as well. And I see that their is much bridge building that is yet to be done between the Christian and Jewish people. I think that we all are hoping to be a part of that!
-Alex Tokarsky
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