My First Year Has Begun!

After having such a spiritually amazing trip in Poland, I returned safely to Jerusalem with the infamous stomach bug that has spread throughout campus. Nevertheless, four days of drinking tonic water and taking Imodium settled my stomach and thank goodness, I have my appetite back!

School began on Sunday and I must say that I was quite overwhelmed at first. Maybe it was just back to school jitters, but I really was concerned about balancing everything and not having time to myself. Yet, as I reflect upon the past week, I realize that as long as I utilize the time I have throughout the week, I will be fine and will continue to enjoy what I am learning.

I began my day with Hebrew. On Sundays, I am taught by a different Hebrew teacher than the rest of the week. Her major focus is for us to expose ourselves to Israeli culture and politics through the news. Each week, we'll practice reading newspaper articles and learn more practical vocabulary outside the average grammar related words. I found it very difficult to apply my Hebrew to a more practical form of study, but after walking myself through the text and learning the new words, I was able to adjust to the new texts.

Next, I had Biblical Grammar. I only have this class one day a week (as I do most of my courses, with the exception of Hebrew and Bible), so it is primarily an introductory course. My teacher is the same teacher I had during my ulpan, who also is my "main" Hebrew teacher throughout the week. As a result, both of these classes will be challenging but I am fortunate to have one of the best Hebrew teachers on campus!

I ended my Sunday with Bible. Each class we'll go over a text with in the Tanakh and discuss in detail certain passages. For the first time I am actually translating some of the text rather than just reading the English, which is a really neat experience as you are able to see what the text literally was trying to say.

On Monday, I had Hebrew, Bible, and my Liturgy class. Liturgy will be probably one of my most difficult courses, as I will be learning and translating unfamiliar prayers, reading commentary about liturgy, and learning about the structure of the service. By the end of the year, though, I definitely will know my prayers! After the Holidays, I will be taking enrichment courses in Jewish Nusach, Torah/Haftarah Cantillation, and the High Holy Days.

On Tuesday, I had Hebrew for 3 hours and then finished my day with History. It will be a lot of reading, but interesting material on the rise to Zionism and the State of Israel. Beginning in a few weeks, I'll be participating in the Community Choir as well.

On Wednesday, I will usually be taking a seminar course on Contemporary Israel. We'll have lectures, discussions, watch films, or go on trips throughout Israel to learn about Israel "today."

However, this past Wednesday we had a Professional Day which was really interesting. We discussed the use of Iyunne Tefillah, poems or readings to supplement prayer. We often find this in responsive readings or meditations. We talked about when to use these supplements, how long they should be, and how to utilize them to enrich prayer for the individual.

In addition, we had a session on writing a D'var Torah, or sermon. One of the most striking discussions we had was about the use of politics within a sermon. Whether it be a statement about the government or politics within the congregation itself, Rabbi Marmur, Dean of the Jerusalem Campus, seemed to be advocating discussing these things in a sermon. I have always had a problem with this idea because I not only want to avoid offending people, but I also feel that it is unprofessional to discuss this type of business on Shabbat, or even the High Holy Days. Furthermore, talking about politics may affect the mood of the service or even inhibit individuals from having a holy experience. Yet, Rabbi Marmur pointed out that with the right balance between sharing opinion and teaching, one can use it as a positive example in a sermon.

We finished our day with learning about the Jewish Bookshelf and explore the major texts that every rabbi should have in their own personal library and slowly learn to use. It is amazing that I am slowly acclimating myself to these sources, and using them as a tool to share and teach will be quite an experience!

Thursday, I had Bible and Hebrew, and was happy to say I finished my first week of Rabbinical School!

More to come about the upcoming High Holy Days and next's weeks programming about them!

Shanah Tovah,

PJ