I know it's been a while since I last wrote, and I know that I say that at the beginning of every post, but I just haven't had a lot of time. They keep us pretty busy here in grad school!
So the past week and a half. I left you last when I was making brownies for Shabbat dinner. Three classmates are living in the same apartment in Rehavia (a neighborhood in Jerusalem near HUC). They decided last week to host a shabbaton (essentially an open house all weekend). Friday night there was services and dinner. They planned and organized everything. Saturday after services at school they hosted lunch, two learning sessions, some down time, third meal/snack and havdallah. I only went on Friday night. Services were lovely. They started with Kabbalat Shabbat, the welcoming of Shabbat, with a series of psalms getting our energy up, letting go of the previous week, and really getting into the mood to welcome Shabbat. Then we prayed Maariv (evening service) before dinner. Everyone brought food for dinner and everything was delicious. Good company, good food. After noshing and schmoozing, we sang. Lots of songs. It was a really fun evening. Saturday I woke up to go to services at HUC and went to my friend Ashley's house to hang out for the rest of the day for challah French toast and homework. It was nice.
Sunday, school started again. It's still weird that our weeks run Sunday to Thursday and that Friday and Saturday are the weekends, but I'm adjusting. It was a busy week of ulpan, cantillation, biblical archeology, and education seminar. We had two Ed seminar classes this week. In the first, we explored an article that compared high schools to shopping malls. I thought it was interesting. However, Ed seminar with only two people is pretty awkward. Not that it's much better with three, but we have a very small class. It will just make discussions that much less varied because there will only be so many different voices being heard. But, everyone has ample opportunity to participate. We're adjusting. The second class that week was at my teachers home. She invited us over to her gorgeous (!) apartment ten minutes from my house. I had been there before for a meeting, but we stayed in the living room. This time, we met the whole family, got a complete tour of the house (including the roof with a fantastic view over Jerusalem). It's really beautiful. We then had a potluck dinner (I made spinach macaroni and cheese cups that I found on Pinterest, they were really good if I do say so myself) before settling in for the educational component of our evening. We watched Mr. Holland's Opus. I was the only one who had never seen this before. I really enjoyed it. We watched it to help us better define what education is, and it definitely showed a lot of examples of good and bad (whatever that means) teaching.
This past weekend I went to services at Kol HaNeshama, the reform congregation five minutes from my apartment. I was there with two classmates and about half of the HUC faculty it felt like. We saw a lot of familiar faces, in addition to the two groups who came to visit this shul. After services, I met up with a few friends to walk to Shabbat dinner together. We went to my friend Ben's apartment for a delicious meal with some really nice company. Saturday I spent the day in bed watching movies. I really wasn't feeling well. But a day in bed with lots of water and sleep seemed to help.
Sunday started my last week of ulpan! It's crazy how fast this time has flown. I took my final in cantillation (Torah Chanting) and passed. (All classes at HUC are pass fail, unless you request grades, which seems like an interesting system). Today was my last ulpan class. Tomorrow we have the final and a party. Wednesday is my biblical history final (ugh). And Thursday starts a five day break before the fall semester. A few friends and I are going to Tel Aviv for Shabbat and some relaxing beach time. The first month of fall semester is chock full of high holidays (which means days off of school). By the time we get into a regular routine, it will be October, and I'm coming home for a weekend then! This year is zooming by already! I'll write again during my break this week (I hope!). Until then, shavua tov! I hope you all have a great week!
So the past week and a half. I left you last when I was making brownies for Shabbat dinner. Three classmates are living in the same apartment in Rehavia (a neighborhood in Jerusalem near HUC). They decided last week to host a shabbaton (essentially an open house all weekend). Friday night there was services and dinner. They planned and organized everything. Saturday after services at school they hosted lunch, two learning sessions, some down time, third meal/snack and havdallah. I only went on Friday night. Services were lovely. They started with Kabbalat Shabbat, the welcoming of Shabbat, with a series of psalms getting our energy up, letting go of the previous week, and really getting into the mood to welcome Shabbat. Then we prayed Maariv (evening service) before dinner. Everyone brought food for dinner and everything was delicious. Good company, good food. After noshing and schmoozing, we sang. Lots of songs. It was a really fun evening. Saturday I woke up to go to services at HUC and went to my friend Ashley's house to hang out for the rest of the day for challah French toast and homework. It was nice.
Sunday, school started again. It's still weird that our weeks run Sunday to Thursday and that Friday and Saturday are the weekends, but I'm adjusting. It was a busy week of ulpan, cantillation, biblical archeology, and education seminar. We had two Ed seminar classes this week. In the first, we explored an article that compared high schools to shopping malls. I thought it was interesting. However, Ed seminar with only two people is pretty awkward. Not that it's much better with three, but we have a very small class. It will just make discussions that much less varied because there will only be so many different voices being heard. But, everyone has ample opportunity to participate. We're adjusting. The second class that week was at my teachers home. She invited us over to her gorgeous (!) apartment ten minutes from my house. I had been there before for a meeting, but we stayed in the living room. This time, we met the whole family, got a complete tour of the house (including the roof with a fantastic view over Jerusalem). It's really beautiful. We then had a potluck dinner (I made spinach macaroni and cheese cups that I found on Pinterest, they were really good if I do say so myself) before settling in for the educational component of our evening. We watched Mr. Holland's Opus. I was the only one who had never seen this before. I really enjoyed it. We watched it to help us better define what education is, and it definitely showed a lot of examples of good and bad (whatever that means) teaching.
This past weekend I went to services at Kol HaNeshama, the reform congregation five minutes from my apartment. I was there with two classmates and about half of the HUC faculty it felt like. We saw a lot of familiar faces, in addition to the two groups who came to visit this shul. After services, I met up with a few friends to walk to Shabbat dinner together. We went to my friend Ben's apartment for a delicious meal with some really nice company. Saturday I spent the day in bed watching movies. I really wasn't feeling well. But a day in bed with lots of water and sleep seemed to help.
Sunday started my last week of ulpan! It's crazy how fast this time has flown. I took my final in cantillation (Torah Chanting) and passed. (All classes at HUC are pass fail, unless you request grades, which seems like an interesting system). Today was my last ulpan class. Tomorrow we have the final and a party. Wednesday is my biblical history final (ugh). And Thursday starts a five day break before the fall semester. A few friends and I are going to Tel Aviv for Shabbat and some relaxing beach time. The first month of fall semester is chock full of high holidays (which means days off of school). By the time we get into a regular routine, it will be October, and I'm coming home for a weekend then! This year is zooming by already! I'll write again during my break this week (I hope!). Until then, shavua tov! I hope you all have a great week!
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