Feel the pain of destruction

Dear Sivan,

This is Michal Avera-Samuel, 42 years old. I am Executive Director of Fidel, the Association for Education and Social Integration of Ethiopian Jews in Israel. Until the age of 9, I lived in a world where the Temple was standing

Like my parents and all my teachers, I grew up in the belief that following at the destruction of the First Temple, the Second Temple was still standing in Jerusalem. We believed that the city is made of gold, in the literal sense. I heard stories of priests practicing their homework in the Temple, my bed stories were about the sanctity of Jerusalem and I prayed for the merit of returning to Jerusalem, the spiritual center of the world.

component of our education in Ethiopia, for children and adults. Absolute truth was pbaded down from generation to generation, that we were obliged to be pure in heart and practice so that we would one day be worthy to come to the Temple. This gave us the strength to survive the treacherous trek through the desert.

We dreamed of Jerusalem by burying our family and friends who did not survive the journey and leaving our possessions to the bandits of the desert. During the operation Moses, my family and I continued to walk, despite our hunger and thirst, happy to know that after so many generations we had the merit of standing at the gates of the Holy Temple, the place chosen by God

. Jerusalem and, two thousand years after the event, we discovered that the Temple had been destroyed. To this day, I am unable to fill the huge void in my life. I remember when my father saw Jews driving their cars to Jerusalem on Shabbat. I could really "hear" his desolation.

The years have pbaded, I have aged and I have realized that in fact I had gained experience. I had the privilege of growing up with a Temple that was standing up. When I formed my personality, I had the honor of having the goal of being worthy of the Temple. My parents lived until an advanced age and their purpose in life was to be pure enough for Jerusalem. It was me, as opposed to the generations of Jews since the destruction of the Temple, which deserved to grow differently. I and those who have been raised like me can honestly feel the pain of destruction, we fully understand how the loss of the Temple affects our lives. "