Today I got to meet with the 11th graders for a double period (1 hr 45 min). We discussed the goals of NATO, the current issues around NATO and whether or not NATO is still an effective alliance. After providing the students with basic background knowledge, the students were given roles of major stakeholders in the debate of the viability of NATO – PM Ogden, Trump, Putin, Refugee representative, Poland, Balkan states. The students took 20 min to research their positions and then began a lively roundtable discussion presented from their specific points of view. It was great to see the students assume these roles, especially since the roles clearly did not fit in with their personal beliefs. The student who took the role of Trump reveled in his role – being very loud, charismatic and using very simple language to communicate his point. I was once again struck by how much the students were in tune with US politics. I was pleased that every student participated and in the end understood NATO’s changing role in the world. It was interesting for me to see how the students perceived Russia’s aggression, and why they thought it was essential for the US to continue to be a part of NATO in order for Russia to continue to be held at bay. I did a similar project with the Senior class and they came to the conclusion that even if NATO member countries could not contribute the required 2% to NATO, the US should still contribute what they can, because in the end it shouldn’t be about money if people’s livelihoods are at stake. The liberal ideology of the students is very clear. They do not support the platforms/reforms of their current government and they value the protection of human rights and civil rights.
I then gave the students 15 minutes at the end of class to write letters to my students at JDS. They were very excited about this opportunity and are looking forward to hearing back from JDS students.
After spending the morning at the Lauder school, we headed to Central Europe University where one of our colleagues gave a lesson about the origin of the Hebrew language as a living language. It was interesting to me to consider the debate between having Hebrew be a sacred language used only in synagogue vs being a language that unites a group of people and is used as a tool to unite that group. We had a nice discussion about what bonds a culture – and how essential is language to that bond. It gave new meaning to me about the purpose of hebrew being taught at JDS.
From CEU, we headed to the Dohany Synagogue. We spent the first hour helping the museum curator find the appropriate wording for English translation for the permanent exhibit. We spent our time thinking about what would a non-Jewish person automatically know/recognize about Jewish culture and objects (kippah, yamulke or skullcap) vs a Jewish individual. As you can imagine with 10 people sitting around the table all focused on the best choice for one word description, it was quite difficult to find consensus, BUT we did it!
We then took our time to tour the Hungarian Jewish Museum as well as the Dohany Synagogue. The synagogue, as stated earlier, is the largest synagogue in Europe. It seats 3000 people. We were all surprised to hear that it is full during the High Holidays. The synagogue’s architect had built a number of churches in the area, so the synagogue has many church-like features, including an organ that, while electric, is played during services. The synagogue is more orthodox in many ways though – with the women sitting separate from the men and no female rabbis.
After the tour, we had our first “free” evening of the trip. A group of us walked to the Festival area to enjoy the local culture – we tasted chimney cake, warm ciders/mulled wine and walked along the shops. It was nice to have some time to just walk leisurely and relax with my colleagues…and eat a little chocolate. : )
