TOLI in the News

Show Me:

Reflections on the Ride Home

April 4, 2012

In her essay, “Split at the Root: An Essay on Jewish Identity,” Adrienne Rich recalls sitting alone in a theater watching films of the allied liberation of the Nazi concentration camps. Rich writes, “I had to try to figure out by myself what this did indeed mean for me. That…

Perspectives: Day Ten, April 3, 2012

April 3, 2012

We are all trying to put the last two weeks into some kind of perspective—not only how we can take our experiences into the classroom and our satellite, but how our experiences in Poland and Israel with continue to impact other areas of our lives. We began our last day…

The Sublime & The Silly: Day Nine, April 2, 2012

April 2, 2012

The Sublime Masada – “They’re ridin’ camels like they’re their cars!” As we journeyed from Jerusalem to the Judean Desert, we were intrigued by sudden terrain changes, majestic mountains, Bedouin villages, and the locals saddling up their camels. When we arrived, 12 brave members of our party decided to hike…

Olive Trees & Reconciliation: Day Seven, March 31, 2012

March 31, 2012

From every corner of the Romanesque Catholic church in the Arab village of Abu Gosh we hear the harmony and contradictions of Israel. It is not the song we often hear in the news, which tells us that this is a land of chaos and I am reminded the solution…

Day One in Israel: Day Six, March 30, 2012

March 30, 2012

DAY ONE IN ISRAEL By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they carried us away captive required of us a song…. How shall we sing the LORD’s song…

Meant to Be: A Special Visit to Lodz on Day Five, March 29, 2012

March 29, 2012

because life is a wilderness and they were savage because life is an awakening and they were alert because life is a flowering and they blossomed because life is a struggle and they struggled because life is a gift and they were free to accept it ~ from the poem…

Two Poems: Day Four, March 28, 2012

March 28, 2012

Yad Vashem: Hand to Heart for Assia   We remember a young girl fleeing her Polish town, her home as Germans came and neighbors panicked, cried, prayed before the ravine.   We remember this girl as the baker’s door opened, pulling her in, coffin lid closing,…

Indifference is the Enemy: Day Two, March 26, 2012

March 26, 2012

We began our day with a local specialty of current juice and a bountiful breakfast. A late start was due to a mix up with our luggage and an easily resolved conflict with hotel security surrounding the Israeli soldiers staying at our hotel. Once our bags,…