July 8, 2010

I have to begin by sharing the insight of my roommate's daughter. She emailed her telling her that we have not received our luggage yet. She emailed her back reminding us of the WHY of being here and what it was like to be told that your belongings would be returned to you once you reached your destination but never did.... a small reminder of why we're here.

Today we spent the entire day at Yad Vashem. It is a sprawling campus with many exhibits and memorials that are interactive as one walks down the streets into catacomb like exhibits. The main museum is quite different from the USHMM in Washington.The architecture is magnificent and well thought out to create an interactive experience for the visitors.

We has several lectures today. First was Shumamit Imber, Director is International studies. A dynamic educator, she gave us a real sense of how to teach the Holocaust in an appropriate and meaningful way to our students.

Our second speaker was a professor: Guy Meron who spoke about Jews and Non Jews in Europe in the 19th-20th Century.

Our final speaker of the day was Prof. Yehuda Bauer who spoke about the "Unpreceedentendness' of the Holocaust. A wonderful speaker that conveyed the importance of the concept of the Holocaust being unprecedented as opposed to "unique."

I felt that the most emotional memorial was the Memorial to the Forgotten Children. You walk in and it is a large dark space with thousands of candles flickering and haunting music playing, and the names of each lost child called out individually. I found out that there was only one candle and the exhibit was filled with mirrors. Hard to describe.

Our evening concluded with a sumptuous dinner and a visit by two Israeli High School teachers who shared their methods of teaching the Holocaust to their students. Frankly, I never gave much thought to the fact that teens today in Israel must also be taught about the Holocaust. Regardless of the fact many of their students' relatives may have a direct connection, they still may not have the information and tools to understand.

The evening concluded with a visit to Ben Yehuda Street to sample the Gelati(yum - pecan white chocolate), and to purchase some gifts. I purchased a skirt to use tomorrow at the Kotel ( Western Wall). We have to dress appropriately with long sleeves and a skirt.

Today was a long day but one that truly gave me a sense of why I am here, why I want to be here, and why I want to teach.