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A
Dream Come True
July 7, 2003
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Hospitality
at Morey Schwartz’s house
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Jackie
and Eric Land
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"Have I told you Jackie today yet that this trip is awesome?"
is the question Melissa Ash from Washington DC asked Jackie
Land, Director of the Mini-School in Washington DC
for the ten days she spent on the Melton Israel Summer Seminar.
The motto of the group "we can't find the terminology to
describe how unbelievable the seminar is, such superlatives
have not yet been invented for the English language" was
heard over and over again.
"The
excitement of the Washington D.C. Morasha
Summer Seminar is hard to describe", said Jackie "the
participants do not stop thanking the Board of Jewish
Education for Greater Washington, the Mashkon
Initiative in cooperation with the Jewish Federation of Greater
Washington and the Florence Melton Adult
Mini-School for the opportunity to experience Israel
from the Dead Sea to the Golan the Mini-School way."
These
exciting ten days touring around the land of Israel came to
a close at the Beit Ticho restaurant in Jerusalem. Jackie,
on behalf of all the participants, thanked Haim Aronovitz
for being a teacher, mentor, and role model to all and for
making this trip possible, and Tamar Katz
for her friendship, warmth and care throughout the ten days.
In turn Haim thanked Jackie for her efforts to organize this
trip. Yonatan Mirvis added his thanks to
Jackie, Avi West, Barry Krasner, the sponsors
of the group and the participants themselves for their high
level of commitment to this trip despite the situation in
Israel. All around the table were basking in the glow (zohar)
of Zohar Raviv, their tour educator who transformed
the Melton two year curriculum for these participants into
an experiential curriculum. For Zohar "this was an opportunity
for the texts to receive a 3rd dimension and to become a narrative,
not merely a story and the chance to create an atmosphere
where the student becomes sensitive and aware of the complex
diversity of the Jewish narrative and to help them join the
dialogue."
It
was hard for the participants to single out that one special
moment from the 12 days filled only with highlights. The lighting
of the shabbat candles in Jerusalem, the opportunity to stand
up and be counted as a Jew, being inside the crowd, not on
the outside, the personal sharing with those who are not with
us anymore, sharing with fellow participants and Israelis
who opened their hearts and their homes, were just a few of
those magical moments. Dennis Arnsdorf summed
up "after four visits to Israel this was the first time."
The group returns to Washington with a deep "ahava"
(love) for the land of Israel, a love they will certainly
pass on to their students and colleagues. This was for all
a dream come true.
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