This Shabbat I finally got a chance to talk with the congregant
who went to the summer program at the
Shalom
Hartman Institute this year. I had considered going, but it was
hard to get useful information about the program in advance, and it was
a lot of money to spend on a shot in the dark. (It would have cost
3-4 times what I spent to go to NHC.) My rabbi speaks highly of SHI
in general (he's involved in a different program there), but didn't
know details of this specific program. So I've been eagerly awaiting
a report from the field.
She had a wonderful time, and from her description of the program I
think I would too. The group was fairly small (~50 people?) and broken
up into groups for study (so it's not all lecture-hall style). It
sounds like the groups were fixed, which can be good and bad; she
said there were some groups that came there together and they stuck
with each other, reducing mingling opportunities for everyone else,
but that it didn't get in her way. She has promised to let me look
at the class materials she brought back; it sounded like a good,
text-heavy program, neither overwhelmingly advanced nor "101" stuff
that's too basic for me. She said the days were fairly full, which
I consider an advantage.
Last time I posted about this I got a comment from someone at SHI
(who, unfortunately, didn't leave contact info). I assume I showed
up in web-site referrer logs. Anyway, if you're out there and see
this, I'd like to talk with you about information you could put
on your web site that would help people who are looking for you.
(Psst. Could you indicate dates for next year's program?)
If I have any readers with experience with this program (or SHI
in general), I'd love to know about it!