18 | APRIL 8 • 2021
OUR COMMUNITY
continued on page 20
O
akland University’s Israel Study
Abroad program had completed
11 consecutive trips to Israel since
2009 — until the pandemic put an end to
that annual streak in 2020. Since its incep-
tion, I, along with co-faculty members Dr.
Richard Stamps and Dr. Jon Carroll, have
planned these visits, and the program has
been successful due in large part to the gen-
erous support from the Jewish community.
This program began when administrators
from Oakland toured Israel while they were
cementing relations with other academic
programs in Israel. Touring in Israel inevita-
bly means visiting archaeological sites. This
seemed like a nice fit for students who stud-
ied anthropology, archaeology and Judaic
Studies at Oakland, and I offered to lead the
trips, having already been to Israel dozens of
times and worked at numerous archaeolog-
ical sites.
In 2009, students were fully funded
thanks to generous donors. That trip includ-
ed a week at the now-famous site of Khirbet
Qeiyafa, identified as biblical Sha’arayim. An
additional week included a tour of Israel.
The students were greatly moved by their
experiences in Israel, and several of them
returned the following year to continue the
work.
In 2009, Oakland, participating with
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, was able to
confirm the identity of the site as Sha’arayim,
mentioned in the David and Goliath story.
This site was dug for another four years and
exciting finds awaited the students every
year; students also visited such important
sites as Beth Shean, En-Gedi, Masada,
Oakland U. study abroad
team anxiously anticipating
a return to Israel.
Oakland U. study abroad
Archaeological
Discoveries
DR. MICHAEL PYTLIK SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
Oakland students
at the Bedouin tent
experience.
Oakland group
at the Ophel
Archaeological
garden,
Jerusalem.
Oakland students
at Caesarea, 2018
Oakland student
excavates a room
at Khirbet Qeiyafa
Oakland student
at Lachish
COURTESY OF OU
Dr. Pytlik
excavates
loom weights
at Khirbet
Arai, 2019