My Journey to Urfeld

October, 1995 

My journey to Urfeld, dear friends, was long and full of pain

My journey to Urfeld first passed through Dachau and Auschwitz.

Oh my God why was this journey so long and harsh?

"My God, my God, will it never end? …"

Wrote poetess Chana Senesh;

And I, what do I ask?

Oh my God, where were you then

When death wandered freely through the streets?

Were you then intent on considering absolute justice?

And is that what caused your delay on the way?

Or were you also powerless to save,

As man's nature is evil from its inception…?

Today I am marching straight towards Urfeld;

Urfeld's autumn is wondrous in its color

And the lake glitters and gleams.

Is this a new way through which we are passing?

Do we have the strength to walk together?

The shore and the lake, the rustling leaves

And the accumulation of years breakout

Like a tempest within me.

My friends, yes, my Jewish-Christian friends from Urfeld,

The flame of love bursting forth from you

Has become for us a river of light and warmth

And a renewed hope in mankind.

A river on which we will sail together

To distant lands that will never end…

Yair Palgi, Urfeld, 1995