Yad VaShem - Should you visit? (No and Yes) 

As an Israeli - I've probably been there at least three times. And yet, I have never heard such insightful and deep observations about Yad VaShem itself and its purpose. Thanks, love the channel.

The state of Israel is not simply 70+ years old but much older than that, more like 3000 years plus but with intermittent none self rule

Your point of view is refreshingly different. You are right in saying that too many people focus on the Nazis and not enough on the people and the communities that were lost.

That was very touching Oren, thank you. I am not a Jew but feel a connection because of so many Jewish people I have had in my life. I have been to the Holocaust museum you mentioned in DC, and you are right, there are no words for it. On the brighter side the National Museum of the American Jewish History in Philadelphia is delightful. I appreciate your personal insight on this sensitive matter.

Oren, You did an incredible job of presenting a very sensitive topic. I very much appreciate your perspective. You have given me much to think about....

I visited Yad Vashim near the Holocaust Remembrance day this year and it has been my most memorable visit here in Israel. It on its own has made a deep mark as well as messed up my mind in ways, I can't seem to comprehend. I am not of Jewish heritage and had only known about the Holocaust from books and articles, but visiting it in person had a stronger impact on me.

How the tears fall and my heart races with the sheer horror of how one race can hate another over evil and lies😢 . Blessings to Jerusalem, Israel from The Good LORD Above😇😇😇😇😇

I haven’t been to Yad VaShem since the 1970’s which is so strange to think about, since at that time the Holocaust was only 30 years earlier. The development and growth of Yad VaShem since then looks so amazing, encompassing a much greater vision than when I visited.

Since 07 of May 2021 AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU Museum is reopened to the visitors again after that hard covid19 time we had in Poland. Kindly thanks for your tour. When I will make a trip to Israel I'm going to visit this place too especialy the garden site.

We were there 2019 May 2! Yes my visit long desired. I have read about shoa all my life and am also of Rwandan roots where a genocide happens and so i feel an affinity with those who were treated so unjustly!

Wow! great video as always! Insteresting and emotional, I really respect and honor your commitment with your profession and your country Oren! !Qué viva Israel!

i WAS THERE Feb 2020 (in another world era) and sobbed all the way through. It took me an hour after leaving, to calm down. Israeli soldiers in training are required to go through; most of them come out vowing that they'll die rather than let this happen to Jews again.

I am so impressed by your insight and your calm, factual manner. You make me see the world in ways I have never contemplated before.

I found the Valley of the lost European communities, where the walls seem to weep after going to Yad Vashem a few times. I couldn't go back again to the Hall there, where they read the named of the one million butchered Jewish children, it just broke me up. I was living in Munich quite a while ago and did visit the site of Dachau, a terrible experience, but a Jew needs to experience that. I'm English, my mother's family have been were since Oliver Cromwell let the Jews back, and my father's family since the mid l890's from Russia and Poland. They don't teach about the Holocaust here. btw Eichman was captured in 1960 not the fifties. I agree with all you say. People have been so used to Jews just lying down and dying, it comes as an unpleasant shock when they fight back and won't let it happen again. I'm not religious unfortunately but you are in my heart, just keep safe.

I remember when I was there. I went through the whole museum and when I came out on the other side, I saw a group of young Israeli IDF soldiers. Its truly remarkable... "Never Again"

For me the Valley of the Communities was the most impacting part of our visit to Yad Vashem. My husband & I travelled independently to Jerusalem in 2019.

When I visited in 2019 I was so saddened, inspired, and awestruck by Yad Vashem. BZH I will be living in Israel in about 3 months and I can't wait to go back and experience it again. I've been to the Holocaust museum in DC and while it is a great museum, it doesn't compare to Yad Vashem. Thank you for your channel and showing our beautiful motherland 💖💖💖💖

I visited in 1985. I was 25. I was totally overwhelmed. It remains one of my most vivid memories. We were all so silent after this visit ... It is a moving place of memory and essential to visit to commemorate yesterday and understand today and to pay homage.

Very insightful. I've been to Yad Vashem twice. Once with the recent renovations and then just before it was renovated. The last time I visited I found all of the paraphernalia in the first building so overwhelming I had to leave. The memorial sites are a beautiful tribute to our family that were murdered. On a side note, I lived in Berlin for a year and was fascinated with the history there. I took a non-Jewish tour first as a general get to know Berlin. The non-Jewish tour guide talked about how Berliners in particular are mandated to learn about the Shoah in school. He also said that the reason all the memorials around the city were in German and not other languages is so Germans are confronted on a daily basis with their collective horrible history. So they never forget what happened and will never repeat it. Thank you for your videos!

I found the children’s memorial desperately moving - by far the most moving part of the site, even though it is relatively small. I believe that, by a series of lights cleverly multiplied with a number of mirrors, there is one dot of light for each of the children who were murdered; approximately one million.

That mirrored remembrance hall looks pretty striking on video? almost like stars rising to heaven? just my humble opinion... I think it's worth seeing just for it's significance. Loving this channel...

I wish you could be my personal tour guide!

As usual, you give a wonderful tour and a unique perspective. It is insightful and I learn so much. Of course, I will forget and have to watch again. 😊 Many, many thanks

As a Filipino, visiting 🇮🇱 is more practical because it's visa-free for up to 90 days 😊👍

We were not taken to this very important place during our group tour to Israel by Cox and Kings. Very interesting and informative video 🎉

This was excellent. I totally agree with your points. I have been researching my own family history, and it really is all about the people and communities that were destroyed. That is why Yad Vashem's mission is memory and education.

You are a cracking tour guide Oren! Not only do you know the where, but you also know the how, the why and the whole saga. You offer a bigger package than just touring, and not for tourists only. Israelis too could benefit and learn about their country from you.

Another EXCELLENT production! Thankful that you went while tourism was low or nil, so that we can see the facilities & sites & trails & horizons & etc - not see thousands of Tourist bodies & hear tons of background noises. Thank you, Oren - Yala bye (or something like that) ...

Excellent as always, and thank you so much for sharing your insights and thoughts, it sets you apart as an excellent tour guide for Israel.

Oren, thank you so much for your perspective. I was there in 1999 with my husband and we spent a day at the memorial. The children’s memorial brought me to my knees. I thought the whole place was very well done, thoughtful, and elegantly respectful. I’m hoping to go back again before I die. Please keep doing your videos. I love them as do so many others.

What a beautiful video. Your perspective is so touching and humanized. History is made by people, families, their dreams and their fights for survival, not by the ones we read on books Congratulations for your sensibility

Just returned, May 2023, from touring Israel. We went the the remembrance center, but didn’t see a lot of what you showed, thanks

Yes. Go to Yad Vashem - its really important. We must never forget. And we should honour their memory whether that is in Israel Europe or the States.

Thank you sir for this video, it was very moving. My wife and I visited this museum twenty years or so ago, I will never forget the house where the names of the children were called out continuously night and day. It haunted me for years. Having also visited the holocaust museum in Washington DC, I can agree that this one is more of a memorial and place of remembrance.

Thank you. Your videos always give me food for thought.

100% anyone going to Israel should visit. Yad Vashem and Mount Herzel were two of most meaningful places I have ever visited.

When you entered the area of the children, in the dark with millions of little lights- I instantly thought of Abraham looking up at the stars as GOD promised him to count the stars if you can,for that will be your children, your children’s children, more that the stars in number. The evil acts and the lose of the innocent breaks me ,deep in my spirit, but, in GODs place, I can see HIS open arms and the rejoicing angels as millions of HIS chosen peoples, Abrahams sons, the Promises of HIS covenant, are welcomed HOME. Praises to Our GOD YEHOVAH.

As usual handled history in your own sensitive style, very informative and a brilliant insight to what should be important. stay well and carry on with educating all of us interested audience.

Oren, thank you so much for this video and your deep insight in things that matter. I am a not a Jew. My grandfather died in Dachau in 1945 just before the end of the war. I have been at Yad Vashem twice and also in Budapest where I have seen this little peace of bread, not eaten, but in honor of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

My last trip to Israel was about two years ago. I planned to visit the Biblical Zoo for the first time, but the weather was bad that day. So I went to Yad Vashem instead. I'm glad I did. There is so much more than when I last was there many years ago. Certainly I recommend a visit to Yad Vashem. BTW, don't make the same mistake I did. I took a taxi from my hotel to Yad Vashem, and a taxi back. On my way back, I noticed the Jerusalem light rail stopping nearby. It is the last stop on the Har Herzl line, and it costs less than a taxi.

I love all your informative videos & look forward to watching them. You’re great. Thank you Oren! Safe travels!

Today May 10, 2021, with the news in Israel I am thinking of my visit a little over a year ago. I am reading the news, and praying for the people of Israel. I am not the most religious of people. The highlight of my Christian sights tour, was the visit of the US Embassy in Jerusalem. GOD be with you friends. BTW I bought the books on amazon, worth it, even if you are going on a guided tour.

Thank you Oren. Your videos are the best. I've been in Yad Vashem, in the Holocaust museum in DC, and the former camps in Germany and Poland. The museums are interesting, but visiting Buchenwald of Auschwitz is impressive. Your take on Yad Vashem is very well explained. For people who are visiting Israel for more then a week I do recommend it.

I only wish Americans were as familiar with their history as you, Oren, are with Israel's. That is so important. I love your videos, and the special insight they offer that just can't be heard anywhere else. You have a special gift. Keep em coming! The world needs to know. Thank you.

Thanks so much for these videos! I'm coming to Israel for a whole year and your videos help me know what I can get up to :)

Thank you, Oren. I appreciate your thoughtful and honest opinions. People little realize what a great civilization was destroyed by the Nazis in both Ashkenazi and Sephardi Europe. But its tragic flaw was that it could not defend itself.

stunning .. totally stunning , I was there is 2016 and will return in May 2023. Im in awe of your insights Oren

I really enjoy your video, many information I got, so helpful. Thanks

Thank you! Your tour was very informative and brought tears to my eyes. Tears of joy! I hope to travel to Israel someday but I'm 70 so I'm running out of time.

You are an excellent guide and special person Oran. Thank you for your calm and thoughtful education. Take care.

Thank you for explaining your reasons for No and Yes were very moved by this And understand more now .

God bless you for your work- be safe!

As you know, the terms "yad vashem" are taken from a quote in Isaiah 56:5 “to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name”. There is also another Yad - memorial, Yad La-shiryon in Latrun, where you made another very good video. For me, the most moving place is the Children's memorial. There are the flames of the candles which are reflected endlessly in a play of mirrors in three dimensions, like a galaxy of remembrance, and the calm voice which recites the names of the children ... and each flame is a child whose life has been stolen. I come out in tears and broken. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel museum. It ends up on a peaceful view of the Judean hills. There is blue sky, there is light, there is life... Israël is back home, until the end of the times. Am Israël haÏ !

I'll visit it when I have the opportunity again to travel.

Thanks Oren, for putting so much of yourself into this video. I have been to the valley of the communities myself and felt the same. After one visit I went to the bookshop and bought all of Kazetniks books. Salamandra gave me the same feeling which is why I think it is the best book of the series. So many people and culture and diversity lost, it is truly heartbreaking. I am not Jewish but I have always felt very much at home among Jews and in Israel. The world is a poorer place without those communities.

Your videos always give me something to think about, and I always learn something new. This video was no exception. I had never thought about what you said, about Israel in the context of the Holocaust. Yes, I always knew that the establishment of the State was not because of the Holocaust (although the timing of the foundation of the State arguably was affected by the urgent need to re-establish the Jewish homeland, but this is another topic). It was what you said, in addition, really struck home: how much better the world would be, how the strength of Israel would have been increased, had the Holocaust never happened. You articulated what I always knew but had not formulated in words. And yes, this is absolutely true, too: Israel is the Jewish homeland because: Israel was, is, and always will be the Jewish homeland.

Hi Oren, I have heard that Israel will start opening for tourism this month, if they haven't done so already. I had two questions: 1) I heard that they are only opening for groups right now but I cannot find which groups are able to get in right now. Do you know of any tours for this summer? 2) Any idea when they will open for individual (independent) travelers? I would like to come one my own and just join a group for day trips after I arrive. Thanks so much for any help. I love your channel

I absolutely enjoy your guided tours of Israel. I hope that I can visit your country in October, and I hope you can be my guide for a day or two

Thank you so much for your insights. I am new to your site but I have learned so much history. I would love to book a tour when I return.

You are offering the most sensitive, insightful interpretation of Yad VaShem I have ever read, heard, or seen. You have deepened my understanding. Thank you from NYC.

This tour you just shared gave me a completely different view of Yad Vashem. I had never thought of it this way. Thank you. I've lived in Jerusalém for half a year, long time ago and never visited it. At that time, I thought it would be unberably sad to go. Next time, I will.

Thank you very much for this video. Your explanation is clear, informative and interesting.

Excellent tour and I learn several interesting facts even after visited Yad Vashem 3 times in the last 9 years . The pavilion of children is unbelievably moving. The valley of the lost communities should not be missed. I am a docent at the Montreal Holocaust Museum that is one of the best museums to learn about the Shoah.

I appreciate your thoughts very much. Thank you for taking us through Yad Vashem.

Thanks so much for this. You do a remarkable job.

I would go. I love to learn the history of other nations as well as my own. The history I love the most, is not so much the big names, but the common people. Their stories are more important to me. May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you for showing us this.

Powerful! Thank you your journey through this lesson in history. Shalom!

Oren, how is the situation right now there? Is everything OK?

I did visit Yad VaShem on my last visit to Israel in1994. But as you mentioned I didn't see or even know about much of what is there. My mother's older sister insisted on staying in Germany feeling she could simply use a false identity and would be able to live as a Christian as the supposed "distant cousin" of a trusted Christian family. My mother never was able to learn what happened to her sister, even though my mother worked for the US government translating captured documents when they were preparing for the Nuremberg trials. Many years later when Yad VaShem made their records searchable online I was able to find the papers attesting to her deportation, internment and murder in a camp in Poland. When I have seen footage of Jewish people being shipped in cattle cars I see them through Auntie Eva's 17 year old eyes. Yad VaShem is the only "grave site" we have for her. Thank you Israel.

Thank you for the explanations.

I have watched a few of your videos and I like them. This video takes the cake though. I now see a different side of your intellect and integrity. Thank you for this video.

Shalom . Happy Feast of Shavout. Shalom aleichem.

I am so glad you showed the communities, it has always bothered me about holocaust deniers, it is so easy to see the evidence, all you have to do is go to Amsterdam and look at the street names and who lived there before and who lived there after the war, we lost neighbourhoods where even when I grew up (in the late 50's) the memory was still there of those that had lived there and had been taken...it was only fairly recent that I discovered a complete branch of my family that had been taken to Auschwitz....I still wonder and probably have no way of ever finding out ..if the boy my grandmother hid for a few weeks was a family relation in some way, we know he survived as did his mother and sister but ofcourse we have lost track. Yad Vashem has always been on my' have to visit when in Israel' list and now even more I do hope to come to Israel but I am one of those who will not take the 'vaccine' too many risk factors for me, will I even be able to visit without it?...would like it if you could keep an eye on those rules and regulations!

A very impressive and important video. Thank you very much.

Oren, so deeply appreciate your tour. I hope you’d also tell us more about your WWII tour at some point.

Wow, this place has changed. I went there when I was 14; I am now 38. At that time anything to do with the holocaust was difficult for me to process, and I walked straight through without lingering. I would be able to appreciate it more now. Maybe I will go back at some point. Thanks for sharing.

Very solemn and enriching to walk this tour with you Owen.

Oren, your videos are so interesting and very informative. Thank you

Hi i live in Canada and have been watching your RU-vid videos, I also follow the watchman news. And I am praying for all of you now with what you are going through. May God Bless and keep you all safe. 🙏

I really really liked what you said about your unease with world leaders being brought to Yad Vashem where they often seem to say that Israel only exists because of The Holocaust. I strongly agree with everything that you said in this video. Thank you for all of your videos. I am a huge fan.

Thank you so much for the tour and information - please stay safe.

Very affecting video, Oren. Thank you. I read today that Pope Francis has named a Polish couple, Jozef and Wiktoria Ulma, as martyrs. They tried to hide Jewish neighbors, and were murdered by the Nazis for their sacrifice. May G-d bless those killed in the Holocaust, including the righteous folk who sought to counter evil with good.

Very educational and informative! Thank You!!!

Great Video. I have relatives in Slovakia and visited them and Slovakia. There is nothing better than personal tour guides to show you the unseen local sites rather than the bus tours types only. It is very sad what happened to your people and sadly Nationalism is a huge problem along with other ancient hatreds. The Gypsies/Romanies are hated just as bad in parts of Europe as Jews were and mankind is stupid and ignorant in his beliefs but that will never end. I did not make it as far as Poland but I am glad to see your Memorial sites and hear your stories of the Holocaust. Keep up the good work.

Your little video got me burst into tears.

Although I’ve been there a few times, you do present a unique perspective on the meaning of Yad Vashem. The only point with which I disagree is concerning Yiddish. It isn’t a dead language at all. The Haredim in Israel and America, for better or worse, are a growing community, and Yiddish is their language.

Very moving video Oren. Thank you.

Shalom Oren. I’m Tracy from 🇨🇦. Thank you so much for creating and sharing this video with us. It’s much appreciated. I do understand the clarification you made between this type of museum versus the ones of the camps. I agree with you that it’s equally important to learn about the Jews prior to WW2. The lights and reading the names of victims was emotional to watch. (Also, prayers & thoughts for Israel 🇮🇱)

So insightful, and I cannot agree more. Thank you.

I have visited this impressive museum. How well this dark period is visualized. It made a deep impression on me. We'll talk about it when you're my guide.

This was a moving video. Thank you.

I’ve been to Sachsenhausen near Berlin. I will be visiting Yad Vashem next week. As a gay, Jewish Freemason, I have many reasons to visit.

Thank you. I have been to the Washington, DC Holocaust Memorial and I very much appreciate you differentiating between the two. Todah Robah.

Wonderful explanations as always Oren, I am South African living in Cusco, Peru. my brother & family & Dad live in Israel & I will be taking our daughter to visit for a month in July for her first visit - my last time was in 1998 & I didn't get to Yad Vashem. with your very informative videos our visit will be a richer one, thank you so much.

As usual, an informative tour, and only one disagreement. Yiddish has not died-there is a revival in North America and Europe. It must never die.

💖thank you for enlightening us on more truth, we never knew this.

thank you, oren, for another thought provoking and engaging video. always something to think about. I'm hoping you and the family are safe and stay that way. very sad about what's happening in Israel.

Hat's off to you Oren: that is some video you made! Thank you so much; when I finally get to visit Israel, thanks to you I will take a whole day to look at all Yad Vashem.

Yiddish was my first language

Beautiful overview and tribute to the Jewish communities in Europe which were destroyed. I enjoy your videos.