Friends, I would like to share with you some details about the incredible and edifying experience I was afforded this summer. In the spring I was humbled to learn that I had been selected to participate in the 2008 Brandeis University Schusterman Center for Israel Studies Summer Institute. (I want to thank Rabbi James Rudin, Dr. Arthur Kirk, Fr. Tony Kissel, and Deacon Bill Ditewig for their encouragement, support and assistance in the application process). The month-long Program afforded me the opportunity to join 19 of my peers, selected from around the world, at Brandeis University in Boston, Massachusetts for two and a half weeks of interdisciplinary study and scholarship exploring various dimensions of and issues pertaining to Israel Studies. Our time at Brandeis was followed by a week and a half of travel throughout Israel. The only stated mission of the Program is to teach the Fellows about Israel so that they, in turn, can return to their home campuses and teach others.
While at Brandeis and in Israel, the rigor of reading, study and scholarship was not only humbling and edifying, but reminiscent of graduate school. It was as if I learned about a year's worth of graduate studies condensed into this single month! The scope of our studies was impressive and wide, including Israeli political culture, sociology, literature and music, as well as Zionist and Jewish feminist thought, and issues pertaining to the Holocaust, Israeli democracy and relations with Arabs. My teachers were leading scholars in the field drawn from Brandeis University, Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University, Haifa University, Emory University, American University and the University of California in Los Angeles, to name only a few.
Our time in Israel was marked by visits to the Israel Museum, the City of David and the Old City, Yad Vashem, the Supreme Court and Knesset, Qumran and the Dead Sea, Palestinian villages, Tel Aviv and the Rubin Museum, etc., again, naming just a few of our destinations. At each locale we were met by dignitaries and/or scholars who provided us with on-site instruction and dialogue.
Additionally, the Fellowship enabled me to meet, spend time with, and learn from significant persons within the American Jewish Committee (AJC), our Center's collaborating partner. Dr. Steven Bayme (AJC's Director of Contemporary Jewish Life) was not only one of the visiting scholars who taught us Fellows about Israel and World Jewry, he also shared time and meal fellowship with me, expanding my knowledge of the AJC and its work. Dr. Bayme also introduced me to a resource, which I am currently reading, that is continuing what he began (Let Us Prove Strong: The American Jewish Committee 1945-2006 by Marianne R. Sanua). Rabbi David Rosen (AJC's Director of Interreligious Affairs) took time out of his incredibly busy schedule marked by an itinerary of extensive international travels to spend a morning sharing breakfast with me as we overlooked the Old City and discussed both the past relationship and future possibilities between the Center and the AJC. His grace and warm reception placed me at ease and allowed me to make inquiries openly and candidly, as well as to absorb his great wisdom which, in turn, fueled my desire to think of new and meaningful ways for our two organizations to continue to work together. Also, the AJC's Israel/Middle East Office (Beit Moses) hosted the group of Fellows for an evening session exploring the archaeological history of Jerusalem, and also provided a lovely dinner. The hospitality of Tzippi Barnea and Yael Avnon is to be commended.
The privilege extended to me to participate in this Fellowship has, I believe, enriched my abilities to better serve the Center and our students, for it has done much to broaden the range of my knowledge in matters of Israel and Jewish studies; has provided me with a wealth of resources and contacts; and has connected me to our AJC partners. The Fellowship has already yielded much fruit as the Center is in the process of developing and offering courses/certifications in Israel and Jewish Studies; is working with the AJC in developing its Programs for the upcoming year; and has lead the Director and Assistant Director of the Center to greater immersion into research, scholarship and web design and production in support of the Center's educational mission.
Beyond the Fellowship proper, I extended my stay in Israel for some personal time. Time spent in prayerful and reflective visitation to the great and holy sites of our Jewish and Christian Traditions imbued me with a sense of inner calm, peace, hope and centeredness. I return rested and full of zeal to continue our Center's work of promoting dialogue and mutual understanding and respect between our two great faiths. This summer experience has proven transformative for me both intellectually and spiritually. It is my hope, desire and prayer that this life-giving experience for me translates into service unto the Center that is life-giving to it and to those whom we serve.
Warmly,
Michael J. Tkacik, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies
Associate Professor of Theology
Saint Leo University
