Nancy Siegel
December 05 Israel Seminar
Where do I begin to tell you about my Melton seminar experience in Israel? My husband and I toured Israel in March 2001 and, as Jews, felt a connection to the land and learned so much from our very informative, knowledgeable guide.
However, this trip was different. I have not been able to stop praising and talking about this very special program. The connection was still there and
the learning was still there, but in a more meaningful way. This structured, well-thought out seminar was of the highest quality, an excellent combination of education and tourism, so that the past and present were well integrated. Most of this was due to the wonderful educators - well-trained, well-informed enthusiastic leaders of discussion.
Our group of mostly Melton graduates included a few spouses new to the experience. We were divided into two groups of 15, each with its own 
facilitator and instructor. We visited many different sites - some of the same ones I saw in 2001, but I viewed them differently. Unlike the excellent 30-week text driven classes of the Melton Mini-School in Dallas, each day we visited a different historical site where the instruction included history, literacy, poetry, Tanach, Talmud and current streams of present day Israeli life.
We toured the southern wall of the Temple mount and sat on the steps where the priests once sang psalms and worshippers ascended and descended to the Temple. But as we sat there, we read a psalm of ascent that would have been recited there and discussed it. We read from the Misnah about who was obligated to enter the Temple. Studying the texts on the sites added an exciting dimension and enhanced our connection.
At Qumran, we read from the texts of the cult that lived there and discussed their importance in the growth of Judaism and Israel. Then we moved through history to the development of Israel and Judaism as we know it today.
One moving place was the cemetery of the Kinneret Kibbutz in the Galilee. We studied the concept of kibbutz and its relationship in the development of the State of Israel. Reading letters and diaries of those who experienced the early years was very touching…especially the letters of those who eventually committed suicide because there was no life to go back to and life on the kibbutz was so very hard and the letters of those who were rejected by the kibbutz because they could not do the work.
One night we had dinner at the home of the Melton director in a suburban settlement on the other side of the Green line. Present was a neighbor who said he would never live in any other place than over the Green line and another gentleman from a nearby suburb inside Israel proper. Their discussion of the giving back of land gave our seminar needed input on understanding the issues facing Israelis today.
Our group celebrated Sabbath together… lighting candles at David’s tomb, singing to welcome in the Sabbath with our arms around each other and then stopping at the Western Wall to pray. During Shabbat dinner, we discussed interviews that we conducted that morning. By two we canvassed various neighborhoods asking questions about their views on Israel. We all enjoyed the exercise and when we compared notes we reported different answers depending on the politics and observance of the interviewee.
Each day brought new revelations about Judaism and Israel.
