The last two weeks we have been in Jerusalem studying at the Hartman Institute. We are there for the first two weeks in July almost every year. The Hartman Institute http://hartman.org.il, in their own words, is a "pluralistic research and training institute fostering new directions for Jewish thought and education." Every year they hold a seminar for rabbis from outside Israel from all branches of Judaism who come together for these two weeks to do text study together. This year there were 91 participants. If you check out the website you can see how beautiful the spot is! This year the theme was "Sacred Narrative and Collective Memory," and under this wide umbrella we studied various views of Mt. Sinai, Abraham and Moses, some holocaust literature, and lots of other things. The teachers are exceptionally good.

We had a number of extra-curricular activities; one night a singer named Shlomo Gronich entertained us http://www.shlomogronich.com/english.shtml and it was quite wonderful. Check out the website! Another night we went to see an incredible play, Na Laga'at, which means "Please Touch." All the players were either deaf or blind or most likely both. They communicate with one another entirely through touch, hence the name of the troupe. The performance was moving and inspiring and amazing. People who are both deaf and blind are completely isolated within themselves until something like this incredible troupe finds them and then they can communicate. One fellow communicates through someone tapping Braille on his hands! They were in constant physical contact with one another or with one of the "translators" who were hearing sighted people who guided the performance. The players spoke or mimed of their hopes and dreams: to watch birds, to go to a fancy hair salon, to walk free outdoors, to get married! These scenes were acted out on the stage. At the beginning all 12 players were kneading bread, which was then baked on stage. After the performance the audience was invited on stage to interact with the actors. I met an actor and learned how to sign "thank you very much" and held his hands in mine while I signed. He hugged me. Then we ate the bread!!

We also had a lovely day with archaeologists. We went to several sites; the first was Nebe Samuel, a site north of Jerusalem where the biblical character Samuel is presumed to be buried. Here is is a picture from the roof, looking toward Jerusalem in the far background.












A synagogue and a mosque are found in the site, and the site itself was originally a church.Here is a picture of the "ner tamid" (everlasting light) of the synagogue.



Lastly, we visited the City of David, a huge and fascinating archaeological site in Jerusalem. Supposedly the palace of King David is there, but the archaeologist we were with, who is one of the prime archaeologists of the site, doesn't think so. Actually, the whole archaeological tour was taken under the question: Is the Bible real? That is, are there archaeological confirmations of Biblical stories? You can see how that fits under the general rubric of our two weeks. In part of the tour we walked through Hezekiah's tunnel, part of the elaborate water system that was built in Biblical times. The last picture is the guy walking in front of me in Hezekiah's tunnel. Narrow indeed!!! That part of the walk was about 10 minutes. We also visited a newly uncovered site which was a pool with steps leading down to it. In my next life I want to be an archaeologist!!!
Walking through Hezekiah's Tunnel.

We're back in Haifa, and I think I have lots to write about just from the time at Hartman. We are hoping for a quiet summer without the excitement we have had in the past!

Pat