Yad Vashem - our introduction to the course

So the million dollar question is what is the main purpose of this study tour? The obvious answer is to study at the International Centre for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem. And I do think that each of us has our own reasons for wanting to get a deeper understanding of this terrible period in our modern era. My reason lies in my teen years when I became fascinated by the plight of the Jewish people through avidly reading Leon Uris' books. I was repelled and fascinated by the manifestation of evil that occurred during the Nazi period, and it has certainly helped to shape my interest in human rights and the need to stand up for what you believe in. I'm also really intrigued by how people endure terrible trauma and yet find the resilience to keep going. So I think that an immersion in how to teach the Holocaust and to make it meaningful is certainly an experience that I will never forget and I am indeed very privileged to be here in Israel on a scholarship.

There are three elements to the seminar: the historical background; the pedagogical aspect on how to teach it; and the experiential element, which includes listening to survivor testimonies and visiting various significant places in Israel. Our first lecture focused on developing our understanding of the key values that animated Jewish faith, through their historical experiences and narratives. The fundamentals of the Jewish faith was explained and I found it really interesting to see it constructed through the eyes of the religion and the biblical texts.
The most riveting lecture was from the Pedagogical Director of the Centre who challenged us to focus on 'how' we were to give meaning to the Holocaust; how were we 'to rescue the individual from the piles of bodies?' How could we give a human face to the victims?  How do we teach the trauma of the Holocaust without traumatising students?  Her main thrust was to connect the students with many of the moral dilemmas that people needed to face and choose one path over another.  And to use the testimonies as authentic sources to search for understanding. We want students to empathise, not judge and we need to teach it with complexity not simplicity. Questions need to be asked, like 'How do you offer compassion and comfort to each other during a time of trauma?' 'What does it mean when people can 'give' to another in a world of chaos?'
We need to distinguish between history and memory. We need the history as the foundation but we also need to think deeply about what to teach and how to teach it to honour the 'memory'.

Well, our introduction certainly laid a strong platform for us to think about what will be the focus of our educational projects, which will be the outcome of our seminar, and how can we bring our students 'safely in and safely out'.

Walking tour of the Old City of Jerusalem

Jerusalem - the city of pilgrims - which three religions claim as their holy land; a city of such magnificent heritage buildings that your eyes can barely focus on any one thing, but constantly dart all over the place as they find more fascinating sights to feast on.  Today, I was in my seventh heaven as a group of us Gandel scholars decided to go on a 2 hour walking tour of the Old City.  The 30 minute walk to the Jaffa gate was pretty interesting as we checked out the various type of shops, but once we approached the old city, the sense of excitement mounted.  This was more like what we expected from our visit.  All buildings are constructed from the same golden coloured sandstone, which creates a soft sense of antiquity, but the types of structure provide a vibrant mosaic of architectural styles - shrines , massive ramparts and walls, Roman arches, moats, Crusader walls and glistening domes and minarets.  Our guide just happened to be a rabbi, an orthodox Jew and originally from South Africa.  He had a very dry sense of humour and gave us an excellent running commentary.  We walked through the Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Armenian quarters along ancient stone footpaths that wound tantalisingly around corners, beckoning us to explore further.
We did not go into any of the holy sites, but had magnificent rooftop views of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Dome of the Rock, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Mount of Olives.  The Western Wall was packed with people praying and it was such a thrill just to know that we were were standing and observing scenes that we had all seen in photos, but were actually exploring on foot.  'Wow!' was the most common word heard as we followed our guide.

One of the funniest things we saw was a bunch of Jewish kids shimmy up a cypress tree to get their soccer balls, their yarmulkes falling off their heads and being rescued by their friends. Three of them climbed up high and started to shake the tree vigorously, causing a cascade of dried needles to cover their friends below, who were totally unconcerned- their entire attention being on what the ball was doing. Their teacher sauntered out at one stage, but just ignored them and headed back inside - duty of care certainly not evident - obviously a regular occurrence. No wrapping this lot up in cotton wool. Eventually the ball was liberated from the clutches of the tree, and their soccer game could continue. We could then return our attention to our guide.

We did actually lose one of our party in the winding streets. Poor girl was terrified but it was actually pretty easy to get out. People were very friendly and helpful, especially as they were trying to get us to buy their wares in the suq. After the tour ended, we went into the Muslim quarter for divine falafel and fresh pressed juice. The food so far is so good - lots of Mediterranean titbits, like cheeses, olives, tahini, hummus and lots of salads.

We then got accosted by a charming young Arab man who insisted that we tried all his fantastic spices, giving us tips on how to use it in our food. He then shared his coffee with us, which he explained was freshly ground Arabic coffee plus ground cardoman. So delicious. Of course, by this time, we were huge mates and Skye was only too happy to bargain for a good price on the stunning camel leather handbags. Fun.

We loved meandering around, with no real sense of where we were going, but finally decided to find our way out and return to our hotel. We had walked from 10.30 - 5.30pm. A huge day, aching legs, but very satisfying first exploration of Jerusalem. 

Fahrenheit 451 lessons

Yesterday Stuart, my son, gave me Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury to read. I wasn't that keen as it is set in a bleak dystopian future, and I am on holiday after all. But being the dutiful mother that I am, I complied, and I'm glad I did. It was first published in 1951, in the dark days of McCarthyism where individual liberties were being destroyed under the guise of making the world safe for democracy- one of the many great ironies of the Cold War.  Creativity was stifled as the witch-hunt for communists scoured Hollywood and other creative industries. Obviously there are also echoes of Stalin's attempts at thought control and mass manipulation.  He creates implied links between the book-burnings undertaken by the Nazis and the suppression of thought and questioning during this period in the US.  I was reminded of the famous comment, 'Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings.'

Also featured in the novel is another way to get people to stop thinking that is still so relevant today - to crowd thought out with inanities- endless, meaningless chatter from the TV and other modes of mass communication, the cult of celebrities, narcissistic postings of selfies instead of a curious eye looking beyond one's own image, and governments taking more and more control,  limiting people's rights while ostensibly keeping them safe from innumerable external threats. One can see many examples from history and yet it seems we dismiss these lessons and blunder on.

Humans have developed and progressed through their ability to communicate and therefore we have established collective learning over thousands of years, rather than having to reinvent the wheel each time. Yet, there is so much that we ignore from the past. But some lessons should never be forgotten. On ANZAC day, the motto is always 'Lest we forget' which is very powerful. And I guess why I have always been interested in Holocaust studies is because it is THE most powerful lesson of the 20th century of man's potential to be incredibly inhumane- and I've never quite been able to get my head around it. And yet, like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, man's indomitable spirit emerges.
Bradbury writes, "Even when we had the books on hand, a long time ago, we didn't use what we got out of them. We went right on insulting the dead. We went right on spitting in the graves of all the poor ones who died before us...... And when they ask us what we're doing, you can say, We're remembering.  And some day we'll remember so much that we'll build the biggest goddam steam shovel in history and dig the biggest grave of all time and shove war in and cover it up. Come on now, we're going to go build a mirror factory first and put out nothing but mirrors for the next year and take a long look in them."

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR6pGSeCfJWEd_xuTQ_cnib1CRRFL_cj__HvnfL4soKuNbWVIrYYS4VqK_5GV3crsGubCVcimXyz2oCaIOvUX4sm84WgfYc-KLFoAK3up8t5gujlZfHLd1KYZsStTO8ajX96_qDvHanaKo/s1600/book-burning-in-the-ussr-and-nazi-germany.gif

So I guess that we have to keep on remembering - the bad and the good. Those awful perpetrators; those tragic victims; those who turned away as it wasn't their problem; those amazingly courageous people who made it their problem; and the incredible survivors who continue to provide testimony to ensure that we don't forget. And let's take those powerful lessons from the past, and try to be kinder to each other, more accepting and reach out to each other. We always have a choice and I have been really heartened by the Twitter hashtag #illridewithyou in response to the awful hostage siege in Sydney yesterday. Vilifying a group of people because of the actions of a single person is a slippery slope to  hatred and persecution, and we can do better than that. And while there are people out there using social media in such a positive way, and it's gone viral, it's evident that there is still so much kindness and goodwill in people that can be tapped into. Maybe some lasting good will endure from this awful hostage event. And here's to remembering. 

Pre-tour reflections

Today is the first day of the December holidays and it's time to start thinking more about this exciting adventure that I am about to embark on. I've completed my four assignments which were a prerequisite to the study tour and they certainly were very valuable lectures, laying a strong foundation for what lies ahead. It was fun being a student again and doing some academic writing myself, rather than teaching how to do it and marking - I know, it sounds a bit lame, but it was quite confirming for me. You know one of those inane teacher comments - those who can do, and those who can't teach - so it's good to see that I still can research effectively myself.

I do think that this scholarship is going to be a gift that keeps on giving. Our first meeting at the Sydney Jewish Museum was a brilliant and heart-wrenching intro to what we can expect to be experiencing at Yad Vashem. Being privy to the curators and main education staff there was indeed a privilege and gave us a rare insight into what pedagogy lies behind the construction of the exhibits. We also very briefly met a 94 year old Holocaust survivor - he is indeed an inspiration. Meeting my fellow students was also valuable as we were able to connect and start building relationships; essential as we will be spending a great deal of time together and sharing such a unique experience.

Another fantastic opportunity arose out of my interview and that was an invitation to take my students to attend the Courage to Care exhibition at Logan Central library. This organisation has put together a very powerful experience through the dedication of volunteers, and it uses some of the amazing stories from survivors of the Holocaust to share the message that there are perpetrators, victims and bystanders, and that it takes courage to care enough for others to show acts of kindness, support and basic humanity in times of need, and we all need to make choices to reach out to others.  We were so privileged to listen to the very moving testimonies of Holocaust survivors and hear how much of a difference people could and did make in the midst of all the horrors. My students were so moved by this experience and found it very empowering. Lots of them committed themselves to being more courageous and empathetic in the future, and not to be bystanders. I realised that going to Yad Vashem was going to provide me with many challenges on an emotional level after that experience, and I'm sure it is going to be quite momentous and mind-blowing. For anyone who is interested in finding out more about Courage to Care (ordinary people, extraordinary acts) you can check out their website wwwcouragetocare.com.au

A week ago, one of the volunteers at the exhibition phoned me to say that her brother lives in Jerusalem, and when she told him about me going over there to study, he said that he would love to meet up with me and show me around. How fantastic to meet some locals and see how they live. I'm feeling very grateful for all of this 😄

So I will enjoy my couple of weeks of R & R at the beach before heading out to Dubai on 26th December, arrive in Jerusalem on 27th and our course starts on the 28th. I hope to use this blog to record my experiences and reflections, to share them with others if they are interested, and to make sure that I don't forget any of the details of this fabulous opportunity and trip of a lifetime.

I hope you enjoy my journey too 😍😍😍