Reunion of Inaugural CAJE Melton Israel Study Tour

PHOTO: Participants from the inaugural Denver MIST (Melton Israel Study Tour) gathered for a reunion. l-r Back Row: Claudia Barunstein, Nora Schrutt, Fred Barnet, Jack Feuer, David Wahl, Phyllis Hanfling. l-r Front Row: Lorraine Rothchild, Beth Barnet, Marsha Feuer, Carol Traut, CAJE Melton Director Sue Parker Gerson

Photo reprinted courtesy of the Intermountain Jewish News, Denver, Co.

Ten participants of Colorado’s inaugural Melton Israel Study Tour group (known as “MIST”) recently held a reunion to reflect on the memories and impact of their ten-day experience in Israel. In November, these ten adults - Melton students, graduates and spouses - represented Colorado at the November Israel Seminar of the International Melton program.  An extension of the Melton text-based curriculum, this unique seminar offers on-site text learning at locations of historical importance. The seminar’s tour educator, Jonty Blackman, guided these students through 25 centuries, constantly tying the present and past in with the future of the Jewish people.

While the MIST program was developed to fit into the existing Melton Israel Seminar, its structure was also based upon CAJE’s Israel Study Tour for high school students.  Like the teen program, MIST students spent months prior to the trip studying together and preparing for their journey.  “It helped that we had done a lot together beforehand,” reflected David Wahl, one of the MIST participants and reunion host, along with his wife, Carol Traut.  All the participants agreed that the time spent studying together prior to the trip created a cohesive bond within the group, and yet, they also had the opportunity to interact closely with fellow Melton students from around the United States, Great Britain, and Australia. Wahl, who has been to Israel at least twenty times by his estimation, continued, “This trip was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. It was like going to Israel for the first time.”

The MIST itinerary included the experience of a Shabbat in Jerusalem and an overnight in Tzfat, and visits to sites of historical and political importance throughout the country, all the while studying classical texts that brought home the connection of biblical and rabbinic heritage to the present day. Blackman led a Seminar that was rigorous intellectually as well as physically.  Excursions such as exploring the Western Wall excavations and the ancient Roman ruins of Caesarea helped the travelers connect closely to the land and the people of Israel. Students returned home with a more intimate and complex appreciation for the startling achievements and the difficult challenges of the Jewish State and a new perspective on what it means to be Jewish.

Most of the MIST participants had traveled to Israel before, yet had chosen to go on MIST because of the text-based study and the chance to travel with fellow Melton students.  Beth Barnet lived in Israel for a year when she was a child. “We travel a lot and [MIST] was the best trip I’ve ever taken,” explains Barnet. “Everything came together – the group came together, the education came together, the spiritual experience came together. It was a confluence of perfect situations.”

The CAJE Florence Melton Adult Mini-School is organizing another MIST group to be a part of the  Melton Israel Seminar in late October 2007.  CAJE Melton Director Sue Parker Gerson says, “Participants have described the MIST experience as the icing on the cake of the Melton classroom experience, and I agree. It’s so critical to offer people the opportunity to visit Israel and to broaden their Jewish literacy. By engaging participants with texts on-site in the land of our ancestors, Melton has created a program that’s truly unique. It’s really not to be missed.”

Registration information is now available for the next MIST trip and for any of Melton’s many classes and programs. Information: Sue Parker Gerson 303-321-3191 x232 or denver@fmams.org.il.

The Intermountain Jewish News website: www.ijn.com

> More New at FMAMS