Helga Weisburger

July 2005 Israel Seminar

As a short introduction, I would like to mention that my desire to participate in the Melton Israel Seminar started with the Melton Adult Courses.  I had the advantage of having family in Israel, of having a Bar Mitzvah in the same month of July, of having lived for several years there, and of having gone back to visit many, many times. 

But this was different, and I didn’t know what to expect.  I made the decision with some trepidation:  would I be able to keep up with the schedule, would I befriend people (I was traveling alone).  My fears were all unfounded. To begin with, the 10-day course was incredibly well organized. 

Zohar Raviv, our guide, teacher, and friend has one of the most brilliant minds I have come across.  He lectured freely and his depth of knowledge was incredible, but above all, his enthusiasm and love for the land, the Bible, and for teaching was contagious.   Besides Zohar, there was Haim Aronovitz who accompanied us on our trip up North, and shared Zohar’s knowledge and enthusiasm.  Yonatan Mirvis lectured on the demographics of Jerusalem and guided us in the study of the Parsha for the week.  Last but not least, Julia Schlamm who, like a den mother, took care of all the minute, administrative details – no small task. 

I truly believe that that is where the strength of the Melton program lies.  The talent of the teachers and guides who love what they do and who transform all those who come in contact with them. 

Our group of 24 was comprised of people (single and couples) from different parts of the world, different walks of life, different ages, and different backgrounds and interests. 

We were all handed out the whole curriculum for the 10 days, just like we got the first 2 years of our Melton course.  Each day had an outline of the areas we would cover plus additional reading material which I didn’t always get to read.  Thanks to this talk, I’m now catching up. 

I will not go into details of every day’s events, but I would like to share with you those moments which touched me the most. 

We started with an afternoon visit to the Hebrew University and learned about its history.   Here is an excerpt from a speech by Chaim Weismann recollecting the ceremony of the laying of the foundation stones:   “And so, in July 1918, a modest but memorable ceremony took place.  On the afternoon of the 24th, the foundation stones of the Hebrew University were laid on Mount Scopus.  The physical setting of the ceremony was of unforgettable and sublime beauty.  The declining sun flooded the hills of Judea and Moab with golden light, and it seemed to me too, that the transfigured heights were watching, wondering, dimly aware perhaps that this was the beginning of the return of their own people after many days.  Below us lay Jerusalem, gleaming like a jewel….” 

And so, our seminar began.  Part religion, part land, part people, part politics, and part poetry.  It touched all of us in different ways but it didn’t leave anyhow untouched.  I finally realized that my soul and my Jewish identity were being challenged in so many wonderful ways. 

We looked at Jerusalem from different angles, historically, demographically, poetically, as when on a beautiful Sabbath afternoon, we read the poetry of Yehuda Amichai sitting on the ground in a park.  Walking around the city,Zohar stopped at one of the gates of the old city and pointed to an object pinned on the side of the arch.  That was, he said, a mezuzah forged from weapons by soldiers in 1967 after the bloody battle for Jerusalem.  It occurred to me that those soldiers thought of Isaiah 2:4 “…and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks…”  They may have hoped that this would be the end of all wars.  But, of course, that was not to be.  I felt such pride in those young men that, as fierce as they had to be in battle, showed their desire for peace by making such a significant gesture. 

In Qumran, we heard the story of the Essenes and walked through the archeological sites.  That day we saw Massada and discussed the concept of collective suicide.  Then came the Dead Sea where some swam and others socialized over a cool drink.  

The day in Tel Aviv was particularly touching.  We started with a lecture while at the beach, overlooking the Mediterranean.  We toured Neve  Tzedek, the oldest neighborhood beyond the walls of Jaffa, followed by the most moving experience in Independence Hall, where we heard Ben Gurion’s voice reading the Declaration of Independence,  everyone in the cabinet singing the Hatikvah which tells of the Jewish heart,  the longing for Zion, and Jerusalem, and, finally, the Chief Rabbi reciting the Shachiyanu prayer.  There was not a dry eye in the room.  Slowly, slowly I began to realize that you cannot separate Torah from the land, its history, its reality and its people.  And that is where many of us started our struggle trying to find our identity.  Zohar, talked about the eternal triangle:  Torah, land, and people, and how interconnected they are.  Some questioned this premise and expressed their own emotional conflicts.  We didn’t know each other, we might never see each other again, but the camaraderie and openness that developed was very special.  We each shared our personal narratives and journeys. 

In Tzfat, we heard a lecture on Kabbala, and as much as Zohar tried, I had trouble understanding it. 

Then came Tiberias and the Kinneret Cemetery where we sat by the grave of Rachel and read some of her poetry. 

In the Golan Heights, we met a young Palestinian Israeli who shared his experiences as an Arab growing up in Israel and, although not everyone agreed with some of his arguments, the exchange was respectful.  We talked about borders and what they are all about.  Do we relinquish biblical land for the sake of reality??  And now that we have it, should we just give it away?  Of course, we didn’t arrive at any satisfactory solutions.   The Gaza expulsion was on everyone’s mind and Yonatan Mirvis hosted us in his home in Efrat where we heard a debate between two young men, each with a different take on the event to take place soon after. 

Finally, what can one say about our visit to Yad Vashem?  Zohar lectured on the history of anti-semitism – its evolution and the different approaches to it.  Finally, we walked through the historical museum and through our tears we saw the horrendous exhibits, but at the end of this horrific tunnel, in front of our eyes, was, again, our bright, beautiful, and holy Jerusalem.

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