So classes have started. Well Sunday was my second first day of school at HUC, but this I think was the real first day. I'm taking ten classes this term. I know it's a lot, but I enjoy them all.
Ok but back to last week first. Last week officially started our fall term at HUC. We had a day of Elul (a Jewish month, the one right before Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur) programming, mostly learning about the high holidays. We spent one session discussing the various new years (there is more than just 1, some argue that there are four! even more cycles of repentance). Then we moved into the music of the high holidays, where I being in the choir sang a few songs. Then we learned about unetaneh tokef, a prayer said during Yom Kippur, and the implication of that prayer in this country, especially after the Yom Kippur War on 1973. Watch this video to hear a beautiful rendition composed by a member of a secular kibbutz who lost several of its members in the 73 war.
The following day, we began our Israel Seminar class with a trip up north. This tiyyul focused on zionist visionaries and how Israelis today have adopted some of the same ideologies. Our first day, we went to a lookout over the Kinneret (sea of Galilee) just to get a visual of what this land can look like. then we went to Kinneret farm, an agricultural school for women in the north where we learned about Rachel, the hard life she had (she was kicked off essentially from her kibbutz because she was too sick to contribute to the community and spent four years wondering trying to find a place to live before she died of TB. After learning about Rachel, we went to the Kinneret Cemetery (a beautiful cemetery, not that cemeteries are beautiful places, but the serenity in this place was incredible). Then we had lunch at mincha services at Kibbutz Ginnosar in front of the museum that houses an ancient boat dated to the time of Jesus (we visited this museum on my first trip to Israel in 2003). After lunch, we went to Tel Hai, which was probably the worst experience of the trip. The tour guide was awful. Rarely did he finish a sentence and the gadgets and gimmicks used on the tour detracted from everything. It was a really unfortunate experience and it wasn't until I was back at school did I actually understand the significance of Tel Hai. For more info, look here. After this less than wonderful end of our day of touring, we went to the hostel for some free time (I played basketball) before dinner (a cookout) and an evening program consisting of propaganda films from the early pioneers.
Day two was our opportunity to talk to people. We met Muki Tzur who told us about life on the kibbutz and how it has changed since the zionist ideologists and first pioneers settled the land. He was really interesting to listen to. After that, we met with three different people in Kiryat Shmona who are actively engaged in social revolution. It was wonderful to hear three very different voices agreeing on the ideas of what needs to happen socially in Israel's future. Finally, we went to Moshav Avivim where we were supposed to hear from one of the founders of this Moroccan village. However, the speaker never showed, so our teacher told us what he wanted us to know and we got to take some pictures with the Lebanese border in the background. After that, we went to a spot on the Kinneret for a cookout, some free time, and a wrap up discussion. It was a wonderful orientation to the fall semester.
I spent Shabbat at Har El, a reform congregation in Rehavia before going to my friends apartment for make-your-own-pizza night Shabbat. Saturday, one of my classmates was hosting a happy-start-of-fall-semester brunch that I attended before going home to do some homework (prep work for my new Hebrew class). It was a wonderful week of school, without any classes :)
Ok but back to last week first. Last week officially started our fall term at HUC. We had a day of Elul (a Jewish month, the one right before Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur) programming, mostly learning about the high holidays. We spent one session discussing the various new years (there is more than just 1, some argue that there are four! even more cycles of repentance). Then we moved into the music of the high holidays, where I being in the choir sang a few songs. Then we learned about unetaneh tokef, a prayer said during Yom Kippur, and the implication of that prayer in this country, especially after the Yom Kippur War on 1973. Watch this video to hear a beautiful rendition composed by a member of a secular kibbutz who lost several of its members in the 73 war.
The following day, we began our Israel Seminar class with a trip up north. This tiyyul focused on zionist visionaries and how Israelis today have adopted some of the same ideologies. Our first day, we went to a lookout over the Kinneret (sea of Galilee) just to get a visual of what this land can look like. then we went to Kinneret farm, an agricultural school for women in the north where we learned about Rachel, the hard life she had (she was kicked off essentially from her kibbutz because she was too sick to contribute to the community and spent four years wondering trying to find a place to live before she died of TB. After learning about Rachel, we went to the Kinneret Cemetery (a beautiful cemetery, not that cemeteries are beautiful places, but the serenity in this place was incredible). Then we had lunch at mincha services at Kibbutz Ginnosar in front of the museum that houses an ancient boat dated to the time of Jesus (we visited this museum on my first trip to Israel in 2003). After lunch, we went to Tel Hai, which was probably the worst experience of the trip. The tour guide was awful. Rarely did he finish a sentence and the gadgets and gimmicks used on the tour detracted from everything. It was a really unfortunate experience and it wasn't until I was back at school did I actually understand the significance of Tel Hai. For more info, look here. After this less than wonderful end of our day of touring, we went to the hostel for some free time (I played basketball) before dinner (a cookout) and an evening program consisting of propaganda films from the early pioneers.
Day two was our opportunity to talk to people. We met Muki Tzur who told us about life on the kibbutz and how it has changed since the zionist ideologists and first pioneers settled the land. He was really interesting to listen to. After that, we met with three different people in Kiryat Shmona who are actively engaged in social revolution. It was wonderful to hear three very different voices agreeing on the ideas of what needs to happen socially in Israel's future. Finally, we went to Moshav Avivim where we were supposed to hear from one of the founders of this Moroccan village. However, the speaker never showed, so our teacher told us what he wanted us to know and we got to take some pictures with the Lebanese border in the background. After that, we went to a spot on the Kinneret for a cookout, some free time, and a wrap up discussion. It was a wonderful orientation to the fall semester.
I spent Shabbat at Har El, a reform congregation in Rehavia before going to my friends apartment for make-your-own-pizza night Shabbat. Saturday, one of my classmates was hosting a happy-start-of-fall-semester brunch that I attended before going home to do some homework (prep work for my new Hebrew class). It was a wonderful week of school, without any classes :)
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