Reflections on the organized portion of my trip #1

After thinking more about the posts I wrote about Yad Vashem, I think it's important to give a little more depth to my earlier comments.

At dinner last night my group's guide said that first and foremost, he believe's a good guide is a good educator. I think it's a great insight, and after experiencing him for a week, I agree. This is especially the case when you have someone that hasn't visited the sites you are visiting, which was the case for several people on my trip.

I just want to make the distinction between the importance of teaching people about historical sites, and facilitating a experience so as to have historical sites/museums leave as deep and lasting an impression as possible.

What was particularly impressive about the guide I had on this trip was that his knowledge spanned the three main monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). He did a great job of weaving the stories of the three groups together. Building off of this, it is not surprising that he was an excellent educator - several people on the trip repeatedly commented on his encyclopedic knowledge of the sites we visited. I also admired him for admitting when he didn't know the answer to a question.

While I think it's possible to both educate and facilitate an experience leading to a lasting impression, they are not the same thing. The former relates to knowledge, the latter to a feeling. On this trip I think my guide was excellent at the first, and good at the second. It's going back eight years since I was on a guided trip in Israel (we also went to Poland). I remember only a few facts, but still remember the feelings my guide's story-telling stirred within me.

At some level the these two concepts are mutually supporting, but I wonder if it's possible to be "the best in the world" at both. Either way I am lucky to have benefitted from truly excellent guides on both of my organized trips to Israel.

Now for the solo portion of the trip!