A visit with a group of friends to the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage in Cleveland personified the museum’s mission as “The Museum of Diversity & Tolerance.” In fact, on that day, we could have been its “poster children”. Our group consisted of Emily, of Japanese descent; Sharon and Lillie, of African descent; Dale, of German descent; and me, of Jewish descent.
It was a serendipitous experience as we took part in the museum’s first-of-its-kind Holocaust Survivor Memory Project. In August 2017, 92-year-old Cleveland resident and Holocaust survivor Stanley Bernath traveled to Los Angeles, where, during a 2-day, 10-hour span, he answered questions while being recorded by more than 10 cameras from a variety of angles. The state-of-the-art technology created a hologram-like projection of Stanley that can respond to more than 400 unique questions about his experience during the Holocaust.
Unbeknownst to us, beta testing was taking place the day we visited. The beta testing is an important part of the technology’s process, working out bugs so that when visitors come to the museum in the future, the technology will work fluidly.
There we were that day – a group of five women, whose ancestors were mortal enemies – each asking Stanley difficult questions. “Have you forgiven the Nazis? How did you survive your time in the concentration camps? What do you want future generations to know about the Holocaust?”
The questions and answers were painful but, according to the grateful docent, were vital for the long-term success of the project. Our group, she also noted with enthusiasm, was extraordinary based on our divergent pasts.
Yet, for us, it was more about our common present and our hope for a glorious future. Each of us, with different physical DNA, have the same spiritual DNA for we are all sisters, daughters of the Jewish Messiah Yeshua — Jesus.
I was reminded of Yeshua’s words in John 17:21. “I pray that they will all be one – just as you and I are one – as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.”
That day, at the Jewish museum of diversity and tolerance, Yeshua’s prayer was answered.
Dale, Lillie, Sharon and Emily, under a Chuppah canopy, where a Jewish couple stands during their wedding ceremony. Truly, as believers in Yeshua, we are the “Bride of Christ”.
His Love Endures Forever Blog 