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Travel & Education: Heritage Seminars
By
Ricki Berkowitz
 Since
the shocking horrors were brought to an end over half a century
ago, memories of the Holocaust have become a substantial component
of Jewish identity for three generations. Its bearing on the World
and Jewish communities can be recognized in the vast amount of
literature on the subject, the hundreds of museums worldwide,
the tales of survivors and witnesses. Yet despite this wealth
of information, there are many who feel that in taking a look
for themselves at the world in which such devastating tragedy
occurred, a stronger connection to the past is formed. As Marc
Blanco, a student at the University of Pennsylvania put it, “After
years of reading and learning about the Holocaust, I had my first
really personal experience only when I saw these sites for myself.”
This year, over 400 students participated in Heritage Seminars,
a program that travels to Eastern Europe and Israel for a first-hand
experience.
The program describes itself as “unique educational experiences
that study Jewish ancestral roots, research the sources of Jewish
life in Eastern Europe and identify with our heritage. Through
extensive visits to the destroyed centers of Jewish culture and
Torah scholarship and a course of creative academic study that
takes place throughout the seminar, participants strengthen their
Jewish identity, awareness, and commitment to the Jewish people
and the State of Israel.” They must enjoy a measure of success
in their mission, because, as Rachel
Fortgang, a senior in Ramaz expressed, she gained a strong insight
from a comparable Poland-Israel program. “After visiting the sites
of Poland, I felt a greater sense of Jewish identity and the importance
of Israel.”
Approximately 40 Ramaz seniors (an orthodox Jewish day school
on the upper east side) participated in Heritage Seminars to Poland
and Israel this May. The first days were spent visiting old Jewish
cemeteries, synagogues in Warsaw and Jedwabene, yeshivot, places
of higher Jewish learning of traditional texts, and the Schindler
factory, attending a Commemorative Ceremony in Treblinka, and
learning from witnesses during evening sessions. During that time,
participants were able to commemorate and even celebrate the heritage
of thriving Jewish communities that once were. Toward the end
of the Poland part of the trip, participants confronted the cruel
realities in Auschwitz, a concentration camp, where a world now
better understood had been destroyed by hatred. Many of the students
continued on to Israel for the next four days to tour Zefat, the
Golan Heights, and Tiberias. In Israel participants were able
to hike, volunteer to help prepare packages for soldiers, and
even had a chance to purchase Israeli crafts Jerusalem merchants
brought to their hotel.
The goal of trips like the Heritage Seminar is to both educate
and inspire, providing participants with a unique opportunity
to encounter the rich legacy of pre-Holocaust Jewry and, as witnesses,
see the site of the devastation of European Jewry. As Jon Krause,
another Ramaz senior explains, “These days, as survivors grow
older, it becomes more important to better understand what happened
during the Holocaust. Actually being there could really lend greater
meaning to our history.” #
Ricki
Berkowitz, an intern at Education Update, is graduating from Ramaz
and entering Brandeis in the fall.
Education
Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001.
Tel: (212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919.Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express
consent of the publisher. © 2002.
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