Summer 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.

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