Today was a “museum day,” something I have not done quite this way before. We began at Yad VaShem, the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. This is one of the best designed museums I have ever visited. A person can walk through the story of the Shoah from the beginnings of anti-Semitism and the rise of Hitler through the horrific events in the ghettos and death camps. There are numerous video interviews with survivors who tell their stories, many of these devastate me even though I have heard them several times. If you have the time to read the hundreds of displays you will have a full education in world history surrounding the Holocaust. While there are a few this that betray a bit of a slant, overall I think this is a museum all people should experience.
I am always interested in the reactions of my students as they encounter the story in more detail than an American usually hears. I think this group is one of the more serious I have had the pleasure of leading, and they asked several excellent questions along the way. I was surprised, however, that several did not really realize the Christian community not only was silent when the worst was happening, but participated in the crimes of the Holocaust. One asked me when the Nazis started coming after Christians. My response (“these were the Christians!”) shocked the student.
For those who are a bit younger, it is impossible to imagine the kind of police state that could enforce the crimes against humanity described in detail in the Yad VaShem. To me, this is the question the present generation must deal with. The events of the last week in Baltimore indicate a peaceful nation can be torn apart suddenly. The Christian church cannot be silent about racism against any people nor should we actively participate in attacks against people based on irrational prejudice.
For the first time in many years I took a group to the Israel Museum. After walking around Jerusalem yesterday, most on the students were very interested in the model of Jerusalem from the Second Temple Period. While there a few odd things in the model I don’t quite understand, it is a wonderful teaching tool and most of the students actively participated in our discussion at the model.
We walked through the Shrine of the Book, the hall that houses the Dead Sea Scrolls. Most are Sectarian, although there is a nice display of 1QIsaa showing the best features on the book. This Dead Sea Scroll exhibit is good, but anyone who has studied the Scrolls should have a good grasp of the displays already. I do recommend some time spent in the lower level, which tells the story on the Aleppo Codex. (I do not recommend spending much time in the “nano-Bible” room.)
We walked over to the main museum and I let the kids have something to eat and the walk through the archaeological wing at their own pace. I naturally skipped lunch to spend maximum time looking over the excellent collection. I would estimate an interested visitor could spend several hours in this section alone! There are too many highlights to list here, but I thought the early history of Canaan was particularly good, and there were several important inscriptions on display from the later Second Temple period. There might be a rumor going around I “giggled like a school girl” on one occasion, but that remains unconfirmed.
We start early tomorrow at the Mount of Olives. It will be a long walking day, but very exciting.
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