The Department for International Seminars for Educators in English
”It is not for you to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it”
Pirke Avot 2:21
This nineteen day seminar will be first and foremost, a learning experience that will require a tremendous amount of physical, intellectual, and emotional stamina. Throughout most of the seminar you will find yourself sitting in the classroom listening to the pre-eminent scholars in the various fields of Holocaust scholarship, research, and pedagogy.
As intensive as this seminar is, you will merely be scratching the surface of a topic that to this day generates over four thousand books, articles, and commentaries per year. Nineteen days is simply not enough time to plumb the depths of these topics and the questions they provoke.
In order to create the educational atmosphere that we believe is important, this seminar will require a tremendous amount of listening, patience, and humility. Participants come to Yad Vashem from North America, Australia, South America, and Eastern Europe. The international flavor of the seminars allows the educators to experience the diverse understanding and pedagogical imperatives of their colleagues. This imbues the seminar with an international perspective on Holocaust education that could not be achieved in a seminar open only to one specific geographical group.