Tuesday - anti-Semitism

Tuesday consisted of 8 hours of lectures on anti-Semitism. It covered history from the ancient world to the modern one.

My very favorite Tuesday session was the last one on Intellectuals and anti-Semitism in the Modern World. He allowed a question and answer session at the end and it was so very interesting. One thing that he stated that I would like to use in class discussion, and something people frequently ask me about, is what makes the Holocaust unique as compared to other genocides. His answer (and I'm not 100% I agree with all of it, but that's what will make it great for students to analyze):
1. the fanaticism leading up to the genocide
2. the racist/religious approaches
3. an established hatred that was worldwide
4. the intensity of the destruction
5. the speed of the destruction

Tuesday night we got to go on a tour of the Western Wall tunnels. This is something the girls and Kraig and I didn't get to do, so I was really excited and it was truly an incredible feeling, to be underneath the modern world and so much closer to the historical one. I loved the thread that connected the history presented in the day's sessions with the very real physical world.

It was also fun to do something with our entire group and be able to spend some time getting to know people.