Ok, so as I mentioned in my last blog, I'm taking ten classes this semester. So far so good. But with the holidays, I won't have two full week of classes until October, so I've got some time to adjust. Here's the break down:
Hebrew: I moved up to kita dalet, the highest Hebrew level. This classes focuses more on text and reading than on grammar, which should be good for me in the long run. I love grammar, and am kind of upset that I wont have as much, but reading comprehension and talking is something I need to work on. So it should be good. We learned another category of verbs and spent some time reading a story about Berel Catznelson, an early Zionist. We also each have children's books to read (completely in Hebrew) about a time-tunnel and various events in Jewish/Israeli history.
Education Seminar: This is the same seminar that began during the summer, except now we meet every week. The first unit is focusing on definition of education and we are currently exploring how four different theorists think and describe education. This is being done by a series of presentations. Mine is on Sunday about E.D. Hirsch and the Core Knowledge base he thinks every student needs to succeed in school and in democracy.
Rabbinic Texts: In this class, taught all in Hebrew, we are exploring Mishna (rabbinic texts, explanations, debates, justifications for various customs, traditions, and rules in Jewish life). The first class we looked at masecet Rosh HaShana mishnayot 1 and 2, which explore the various (four) new years in the Jewish calendar and what they all stand for. In order to study Mishna, we meet as a larger class to overview the topic, break into smaller couples to discuss the text in depth, and then reconvene to discuss what we discovered. I really enjoy working with my hevruta partner, we work really well together. This is one of the classes that I have really been looking forward to, and it looks to be a promising class so far.
Bible (makrah): This class, also taught completely in Hebrew, explores the text of the Tanakh, translating and understanding the various stories described. My experience with Biblical Hebrew at Penn State is going to be very useful for this class. On the first day, in addition to overviewing the material and the course syllabus, we translated a few sentences of Biblical Hebrew text into Modern Hebrew. I didn't really understand what our teacher wanted us to do at first, but after one person did it successfully, I understood and really see the value in doing this. Not everyone is familiar with biblical grammar and this is a way to help everyone understand what is going on and being said. I'm all really excited for this class. Our teacher is patient, brilliant, and really knows how to teach this class.
History of the Zionist Movement: As some of you may know, history is not my favorite subject. However, this history interests me, and it is taught by a teacher who doesn't make it feel like a history class. My teacher, Jeremy, is also my teacher for Israel seminar. He talks a mile a minute, is very knowledgeable, and focuses on discussions more than lectures. I'm hopeful that this history class will be more fun and interesting than my biblical history class of the summer.
Liturgy: This class is all about the prayers we say, why we say them, and what they mean. Everyone has a lecture together for an hour before we split up into our Hebrew classes for smaller sessions. Because I am in kita dalet, I will have Israeli Rabbinic students in my completely Hebrew-taught class when they start school after the haggim. I really really like my professor. Her name is Dalia Marx, and she is the person who leads the full class lecture before we get to have an additional hour with her. I'm really looking forward to this class, but a little nervous to see how it will change with our six Israeli students.
Israel Seminar: Israel seminar is all about Israel. Studying for the year in Jerusalem kind of makes it necessary to learn about the beautiful country. We've only had one class, in addition to our overnight tiyyul to the north. But I like that our class is focused more on current issues (we have started the tiyyul and our first class with news highlights) than heavy on history, although history is significant to this class as well. We got our paper topics for our end of the year paper, and I'm really excited to write them. One option is to write a ten page itinerary for a trip to Israel, plan each day, have an overarching and daily theme, and justify why you would go to certain places. Not only do I think this paper will be fun, it will also be useful when I come back to Israel or am teaching about Israel in religious school.
Hebrew: I moved up to kita dalet, the highest Hebrew level. This classes focuses more on text and reading than on grammar, which should be good for me in the long run. I love grammar, and am kind of upset that I wont have as much, but reading comprehension and talking is something I need to work on. So it should be good. We learned another category of verbs and spent some time reading a story about Berel Catznelson, an early Zionist. We also each have children's books to read (completely in Hebrew) about a time-tunnel and various events in Jewish/Israeli history.
Education Seminar: This is the same seminar that began during the summer, except now we meet every week. The first unit is focusing on definition of education and we are currently exploring how four different theorists think and describe education. This is being done by a series of presentations. Mine is on Sunday about E.D. Hirsch and the Core Knowledge base he thinks every student needs to succeed in school and in democracy.
Rabbinic Texts: In this class, taught all in Hebrew, we are exploring Mishna (rabbinic texts, explanations, debates, justifications for various customs, traditions, and rules in Jewish life). The first class we looked at masecet Rosh HaShana mishnayot 1 and 2, which explore the various (four) new years in the Jewish calendar and what they all stand for. In order to study Mishna, we meet as a larger class to overview the topic, break into smaller couples to discuss the text in depth, and then reconvene to discuss what we discovered. I really enjoy working with my hevruta partner, we work really well together. This is one of the classes that I have really been looking forward to, and it looks to be a promising class so far.
Bible (makrah): This class, also taught completely in Hebrew, explores the text of the Tanakh, translating and understanding the various stories described. My experience with Biblical Hebrew at Penn State is going to be very useful for this class. On the first day, in addition to overviewing the material and the course syllabus, we translated a few sentences of Biblical Hebrew text into Modern Hebrew. I didn't really understand what our teacher wanted us to do at first, but after one person did it successfully, I understood and really see the value in doing this. Not everyone is familiar with biblical grammar and this is a way to help everyone understand what is going on and being said. I'm all really excited for this class. Our teacher is patient, brilliant, and really knows how to teach this class.
History of the Zionist Movement: As some of you may know, history is not my favorite subject. However, this history interests me, and it is taught by a teacher who doesn't make it feel like a history class. My teacher, Jeremy, is also my teacher for Israel seminar. He talks a mile a minute, is very knowledgeable, and focuses on discussions more than lectures. I'm hopeful that this history class will be more fun and interesting than my biblical history class of the summer.
Liturgy: This class is all about the prayers we say, why we say them, and what they mean. Everyone has a lecture together for an hour before we split up into our Hebrew classes for smaller sessions. Because I am in kita dalet, I will have Israeli Rabbinic students in my completely Hebrew-taught class when they start school after the haggim. I really really like my professor. Her name is Dalia Marx, and she is the person who leads the full class lecture before we get to have an additional hour with her. I'm really looking forward to this class, but a little nervous to see how it will change with our six Israeli students.
Israel Seminar: Israel seminar is all about Israel. Studying for the year in Jerusalem kind of makes it necessary to learn about the beautiful country. We've only had one class, in addition to our overnight tiyyul to the north. But I like that our class is focused more on current issues (we have started the tiyyul and our first class with news highlights) than heavy on history, although history is significant to this class as well. We got our paper topics for our end of the year paper, and I'm really excited to write them. One option is to write a ten page itinerary for a trip to Israel, plan each day, have an overarching and daily theme, and justify why you would go to certain places. Not only do I think this paper will be fun, it will also be useful when I come back to Israel or am teaching about Israel in religious school.
I'm taking three other classes, but I haven't had them yet because of Rosh HaShana. They are Additional texts (part of my Hebrew curriculum), biblical grammar, and 2nd Temple History. Hopefully, they will be just as enjoyable as the rest of my classes, but I won't know until next week.
Up next: The Haggim (High Holy Days) in the Holy Land
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