It's hard to believe that it's been a full two weeks of adventures; it seems every day flies by and before I realize it, I'm getting up for the next one. From Monday through this past Saturday, we had what was lovingly referred to as HUC's "disorientation week," a time to understand HUC's expectations, learn about our fellow classmates, and start to slowly find our way around campus and each other.
On Tuesday, we took our Hebrew placement exam, and then set about the very important business of getting to hang out with each other (which was lovely). Working with a menschlekeit periodic table, we broke into small groups and picked two of the elements that we most identified with:
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| Check it out at: http://jewishcamp.org/making-mensches/ |
A special note: Tuesday was also the night that we said goodbye to the Havilio family. I want to thank Shmulik, Tamar, Nadav, Tal, Noam, and Charlie for taking such good care of us during our first week on the ground in Israel including many playground visits, Disney viewings, and snacks for days...we were really so incredibly lucky to start off our adventure with you and I am so very grateful for your good cheer, patience, and generosity.
Disorientation Days #2 and #3 saw us learning from the Dean of the Jerusalem campus about the type of home that we hope to create for ourselves in this program, learning about security protocols (you know, because Israel...jk, we've been totally safe here), hearing about the 5 year curriculum and YII program, and saw me joining in a traditional mincha service in an attempt to get a full minyan. Making it through Day #3 without much sleep was a challenge as it included morning T'filah (hello 8:30 services), walking around Rehavia on Azza street (and having limonana at Yehoshua Cafe with Karry, Jonathan, Emily, and Alissa!), and then CRASHING until Julia (thank youuuu) woke me up for our trip to our back yard with some other fun and friendly classmates (what's up Gabi, Rachel, Jonathan, and Daniel!) who enjoyed the hospitality of Iris and her husband Yoav as they welcomed us with cold drinks and homemade cake and talks about politics, the Kotel, and Israeli society/elections. Julia and I must have been very disoriented because we walked to the wrong Marzipan for the night out, jumped in a Gett, and headed to the shuk. Dinner at the Bar Grill (Grill Bar?) with Leah, Julia, and Sammy proved to be EXCELLENT (as was our decision to taxi it home instead of walking another 2.5 kilometers).
Friday morning saw me up at 5:00 am as Julia and I prepped to join our HUC friends and fellow women at the Women of the Wall Rosh Chodesh Av service at the Kotel. I had been afraid for days of the event, but really wanted to face the fear and see what it was all about. Well friends, sensory overload doesn't even BEGIN to describe it! The amount of screaming, whistle blowing, Hebrew yelling, and goings-on was tricky for me. As I prayed, I found myself vacillating between smiles (I loved the harmony, the singing, the three banot mitzvah and the bad-ass savta that was standing on a chair behind me) and close to tears (I struggled with the claustrophobia, the sensory overload, and the unease of the anger that surrounded me). I was proud to be there. I was scared to be there. I was happy to support my friends and these women. I was sad to be the cause of such anger. I was understanding of how and why the conflict was taking place. I could not understand why small boys came chasing after us, blocking our path, screaming, spitting, and strongly condemning us for clothing choices. While I got nothing more than spat on (others in other places faced violence), I found it ludicrous: this ten year old was calling me a denier of the religion, yelling at me for wearing a kippah (I wasn't...I just was too tall and he couldn't tell and then when he realized I wasn't wearing one, he yelled at me that I should yell at the women who were), blocking my exit from the space. If they didn't want us there, then why keep us blocked in? There is picture proof that I was there in a few places, but I'm not entirely sure where yet. Will post at another time (maybe, no promises).
Shabbat was lovely with text study about the passage of time and the process of the journey, Kabbalat Shabbat services outside, a great community dinner and z'mirot and the ability to do incredibly little besides unpack and do laundry on Saturday. Saturday night included some schmoozing and Havdalah and a thankfully merciful ride home from Nancy! (SHOUT OUT TO NANCY!) :-)
So that brings me to these past two days which were the first real days of class as a rabbinical student. Did I mention that somehow I got put in the highest level of Hebrew? No? Oh, weird. Don't worry friends, haven't failed out yet. The title of this blog post comes from an article that we read about a psychological study on learning how to learn. They say that some students can only see the trees but miss the forest, and others enjoy the forest, but can't see the trees. I explained today that I find myself a blend of two types of student (organized and intuitive) who needs the trees, but loves the forest...I need the color-coding, the charts, the conversations to gain understanding of the material, but I love the creative process of making connections and finding new ways to grow. Other classes include (but are not limited to) Torah Cantillation, Parashat Hashavua, and (inherently) service-leading. Got bumped to an advanced history class to take in the fall.
One day at a time, one hour at a time, one moment at a time...breathing it all in and making sure to keep hold of the memories.
See you next Monday!
