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JERUSALM--A country carved out of stone is unlike anything I have ever seen. It reminds of an idea commonly held in the art of sculpting - particularly in the day and medium of Michelangelo - that figures are "liberated" from their marble blocks. But it's not the kind of liberation that comes from letting go. It's the kind that comes from great strength, focus and ingenuity. Not to mention commitment.

From the Mount of Olives' lookout

The way the old and new blend to complement each other in Israel reminds me of Edinburgh, Scotland. On Princess Street there are new buildings on one side and old ones mixed with beautiful gardens the other. Scottish architect James Craig and subsequent visionaries had the idea that ancient times and modern day could inhabit the same space harmoniously. They were right.

Harmony was the theme of the tour today as well. Yuval Ron emphasized that in our orientation but he didn't have to. The group whose geography ranged from California to Europe echoed that very sentiment in their introductions. The truth in the group's words came to life as a schedule change was made after an inquiry about Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum and exhibit hall in Jerusalem. A group of near 20 people - with Zev (our guide) and Yuval's help - agreed to go to Yad Vahem today!

The sleek and proud architecture of Yad Vashem.

(Gethsemane and the Old City are rescheduled for later in the week.)

I have to be honest. Though I wanted to go to Yad Vashem, I arrogantly thought there wouldn't be anything there I hadn't already learned. I had been to the Holocaust museum in Washington D.C. - an amazing place - and to a concentration camp in Germany. I had seen countless movies and documentaries. I had done several Holocaust projects in school. In short, I think I had Holocaust burnout.

Shame arose in me as I toured Ya Vashem. There was much I didn't know. I realized it wasn't so much Holocaust burnout as the unconscious need to avoid the sheer pain of learning more, of revisiting soul crushing horrors.

Genocide does not make the Holocaust unique. Tragically, there has been genocide of many peoples in history. It is that Jews (in addition to homosexuals, Catholics activists, Jehovah's Witnesses and nomadic Roma) were systematically killed in Europe, Asia and Africa. Their murders were not contained in one region or even one continent and many governments and populations across the globe conspired in the killings.

But not everyone. Reading the names of courageous individuals and populations who had worked to save Jews at the risk of their own lives was a powerful and emotional moment. Among these were Muslim Albanians. Yad Vashem currently features an exhibit with this very story.

Click here to read about this exhibit that travels to the United Nations Headquarters in New York, January 2008.

The final room of the museum is dark with Hebrew letters projected on the wall. From these letters emerge quotes about the Holocaust experience ranging from the physical to the philosophical. I'll leave one with you from Jean Amery, an Austrian-born essayist.

"The word dies wherever reality demands absolute dominion."

Miraculously the word was resurrected in the writings of Jews and others who lived the Holocaust.

Our word is our vote. Our letters to the editor. Our blogs.