1. In Intro to Talmud, we are working through Masechet Brachot, Perek Vav (mishnah only for now, gemara to be added next week). It's an incredibly exciting classroom, and with lots of brainpower generated at all times. I'm enjoying the challenge of studying in a way that I never have done before, and the balance between chevruta (partnered learning) and the whole class together has been great.
2. I'm taking a tefillah class, a more extended version of the lunch-and-learn sessions taught by the same instructor last fall at CJHS. Each time we meet, I gain more understanding for and appreciation of the prayers with which I am already familiar.
3. We are reading excerpts from Heschel and learning about the man behind the texts, connecting his words with our own thoughts about God. This is an incredible way to end the day twice a week.
4. My roommate compares our Midrash/Aggadah class to law school (which she did not attend). We are learning, day by day, how the rabbis--from 1000-2000 years ago, not the contemporary ones--approached sacred texts and explained the difficulties of the texts. Although this can be a struggle for us, engaging with our traditional texts in this way is both revealing and enlightening.
5. I'm taking a class on reading Tanach (Bible) and looking at the works of various commentators. This week, we looked at the first narrative in Genesis when Avram told Sarai to pretend she was his sister, not his wife, and how that played out. Hint--not well.
In addition, being a Legacy Heritage Fellow means that I attend a couple extra meetings per week to network with other Jewish communal professionals. In other news, I had dinner with Dina (plus adorable Aharon and beautiful Binyamin) on Wednesday night. It was great fun to spend time with my cousins, and I look forward to seeing them a couple more times while I am here. What a fantastic coincidence that Dina's in-laws live only a couple blocks from me on Korei HaDorot...
Last night, my roommates and I came upon some of our, shall we say, little friends. The best explanation comes from Gwen, who emailed the following to her friends and family today:
"On my first night here, a shriek from the bathroom alerted me to the presence of a "little friend," (LF) our code word for cockroaches (and, truth be told, they're neither our friends nor so little)....Last night, I spotted a LF walking on the side of the dining room table. Robin jumped up and shrieked... and I asked (only slightly hysterically) for a shoe. By the time the weapon was in my hand, he had scuttled away. Flash forward about 1/2 an hour, when we decided to open the table ... and who did we see when we pulled the sides apart? Yes, indeedy, our LF. As you might guess, more shrieking ensued and he disappeared, yet again....[At last,] I concocted a sure-fire strategy: we put the table "back," waited 5 minutes and then armed Robin with the Raid (our landlord's suggestion) and pulled the table apart. As he survived the first spray (ok, so Robin's shrieking may have led to shaky arms) and ran down the table, Robin continued to spray him. I am happy to report that he quite literally bit the dust, after some writhing around."Then, as we LF-proofed the rest of our apartment, we repeated the previous scene two more times. You might notice that I am absent from this narrative. I provided a large amount of moral support, and I cleaned the table afterward.
This morning was enlightening on many levels. First, Stephanie and I went to the Old City super-early to join a women's tefillah group at the Kotel. (Since I am not using any last names or proper names in this journal, I will let you figure out the group. Or ask me.) Going to the Kotel is always an experience. I think the memorable--and frustrating--moment of the day was watching men go into the women's section. I'm not kidding.
Next, we headed to Machaneh Yehuda, where we bought cucumbers (ten for six shekels), challahs, rugelach, and Mediterranean/Asian appetizers. There's nothing quite like having kubeh, egg roll, potato puff, random meat in fried dough, etc. for breakfast!
As we made our way down King George, we saw something amazing--a Magen David Adom mobile blood donor unit. How could we say no? Although I've had trouble the last two times I attempted to donate blood, things went well for me today. Although Stephanie was not able to donate in the end, I gave 500 ml of my blood, and I've never felt so good. I can't believe we did all three of these things before 11:00 in the morning.
Shabbat is coming soon...we look forward to hosting several of our friends for a red, white, and blue potluck Shabbat dinner. Happy Fourth of July, and Shabbat Shalom!
We'll talk soon...
Caroline
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