I'm hoping I don't actually start every post by saying it's been a while, but it really has been this time. It's been nearly a month since I wrote in this blog. In that month, I've taken approximately 900 hours of Hebrew class (not accurate, but not that far off it seems), totally unpacked and flipped around everything I thought I knew (and didn't know) about the Tanakh, figured out how to combine cantillation marks with the words of the Torah, been to beer festivals and havdallahs, played countless games of Cards against Humanity, prayed in a ton of different locations, bonded with my classmates, walked and walked and walked, and sweated all over Israel. It has been an insane, meaningful, beautiful and overwhelming (only at times... don't worry mom!) month.
For the past six weeks, my days were spent in between ulpan, cantillation and biblical history. For over four hours each day, we talked about binyanim, sentence structure, vocabulary and more in Hebrew. My teacher Hanna somehow managed to explain most of these concepts largely using vocab we already knew/had learned and always had a worksheet for any question we asked. Hebrew was largely a review for me, which is amazing given I had only
taken one year of Hebrew at Cal before this, so I give a ton of credit
to the program. We also shared stories about trips we had taken (great for utilizing past tense) and her takeaways were the following:
1) America apparently continues past New York
2) There are bears that just run freely around the US
3) We are all crazy for enjoying nature
4) We are really lucky to have had these travel experiences (insanely true)
Our other main class was Biblical History. I really enjoyed this class, despite the fact that I did HORRIBLY grade-wise for most of it. I mean freshmen year gen chem badly. Our classes are pass/fail and I managed to pass, but it was definitely touch and go there for a while. I had never taken an academic class about the Tanakh before, and certainly never really learned about biblical history, so most of the material was completely new. It was fascinating to read a passage of text and then talk about the historical context that almost certainly disproves something's existence or truth or turn a key fact upside down. My friends and I would regularly look at one another during this class with eyes agape and agree that our minds were blown once again. While on the one hand it was difficult to learn some things about biblical history that make some of these stories and events difficult to see as truth, we also discussed the various meanings of history and its purpose in Judaism and Reform Judaism specifically. One of the ideas that became most meaningful to me is an opinion put forth by Ahad Ha'am. He stated that it didn't matter whether or not Moses existed because Moshe Rabbenu is a key teacher and leader for the Jewish people and others regardless. His symbolism and importance outweighs whether or not someone with his DNA actually lived. This dichotomy means to me that I can question and study the text while still fully believing that this history is a part of me and the Jewish people. One of the greatest aspects of the class was our ability to take field trips to the sites we were learning about. While we may have been sweaty, tired and sometimes without adequate water and prep for what we were experiencing, it was truly special to sit in the sites mentioned in the Tanakh and discuss what life was like thousands of years ago and why a location was strategic or not. On our last trip, we visited Lahisch, where letters had been discovered that proved widespread literacy among the ancient Israelites hundreds of years before it had previously been believed to have spread. The letters discuss something being posted, which implies the masses could read the message! So cool!
There have been many other classes, seminars and experiences in between, but it's really impressive to think back at everything that has happened over the past month. Outside of class and homework that sometimes takes up more time than we would hope (I know I know, it's grad school), I am really finding wonderful people to connect with who make the in between moments and those nights we just need to drink wine and laugh really wonderful and hilarious. I just came back from a great three day break with nearly a third of my class at a gorgeous guest house that overlooked the Kineret up north. Getting out of Jerusalem and taking a break was just the right medicine and reminded me that sometimes I just need to take a step back and appreciate the beauty of this country and that I am in the middle of a unique and special experience. Not every moment of every day is great and sometimes things get really hard, but that's completely ok and I am lucky to have people to turn to in those moments both here and at home, which makes me feel super lucky and appreciative.
Time for bed... fall semester begins in the morning!
