Starting Classes, Again!

So classes at Pardes started in full swing a few weeks ago and now that I'm in the swing of things I thought I'd let y'all into a bit of my daily schedule. (Not counting, of course, the extra-curricular activities and volunteering and socializing I do in the later afternoons and evenings.)

Three mornings a week I have a class in Mishna and Talmud. This class is three or four and a half hours a day. We learn classic Jewish texts written/spoken by the rabbis up through about 500 CE. The texts are either in Hebrew or Aramaic, but out teacher helps us out with some vocabulary lists for some of the Aramaic words and phrases until we can do them all on our own. Like most of the classes at Pardes (and most traditional Jewish learning formats) we spend about half of "class time" working in partners in a big and noisy "study hall" with people in all the other classes and levels. After pouring over the texts with a partner, we go back to the classroom where our teacher helps us summarize what we learned together and points us out on new tracks of understanding historically, thematically, and linguistically. (Aramaic is very similar to Hebrew, and written in the same characters, but there are enough differences that it's often hard for us, as relative beginners, to decode the meanings. The majority of people in my level (three out of five) have good Hebrew skills, modern and biblical, but next to no experience in Aramaic.)

The other two mornings a week I take class in Chumash, which is the first five books of the bible. This class is similar in format and structure to the Talmud class but it's only for six and a half hours a week. We work in partners on understanding the texts and the commentaries written by rabbis (also in Hebrew). We'll be spending most of the year working on the book of Exodus.

Every day for an hour before lunch I have a class on the Prophets. We're starting with the book of Joshua and learning one chapter a day. It's incredible how much our teacher is able to cram into just one hour a day - it's also incredible to see how much there actually is to learn in each chapter of these oft-overlooked books.

In the afternoons I have either a class in Halacha (Jewish law) or Rambam (Maimonides). These classes are also primarily in Hebrew. In the Jewish law class we spend most of our class time using texts called the Mishna Brura or the Shulchan Aruch. In the Maimonides class we're mostly focusing on his book called the Mishna Torah but our learning is also supplemented by two of his other texts, The Book of the Commandments and the Guide to the Perplexed. Since both of these texts were originally written in Arabic we read their translations in either English or Hebrew.

I also take an evening class once a week in Hasidut (sorry, I can't think of a translation for this - suggestions welcome). On Monday evenings I learn until about ten pm with another partner on a different, more modern (but Hebrew) Hasidic text. The two texts I'm learning here are called the Kedushat Levi and Pachad Yitzchak. I'm also going to start taking another weekly evening class at the Conservative Yeshiva about Women in Jewish Law.

This past weekend about 100 people from Pardes all went on a trip up north for a few days. We did a few hikes which were quite enjoyable, went on a tour of a Druze city that had a continuous Jewish presence since the Destruction of the Second Temple, and went to a Honey Festival. We spent Shabbat together in a hostel in the Druze town and it was incredible. Many of the teachers came with their families and there were lots of great interactions. I was really grateful for the opportunity to get to know many of my classmates in a more relaxed environment. I was able to make lots of new friends and form some great relationships which will hopefully carry on into the coming year(s).

Outside of class, in the past week I've gone to a movie night, a pizza and beer night, an engagement party, and more! Saturday night I'm having many of my new friends over for a movie night at my place! It's so exciting to be so busy again.

I hope you're all doing well,
sarah....

Old Friends, New City

I'm sorry I've been so lax in writing to you, it's just that normal life is, well, normal. Sometimes it's hard to find the email-worthy tidbits hidden in an ordinary day. Like this past Saturday night....

On Saturday night I decided to turn in early. I wasn't tired but I was sitting in my pajamas playing mindless computer games when my friend called me to see if I wanted to go to a party. I knew I wasn't doing anything more exciting so I agreed.

She met me in my neighborhood and we walked there together. This friend was Becky, a very close friend of mine from college. We lived in the same apartment our final year at UF and have been to Israel together on various programs and trips many times. Now both of us live in Jerusalem. As Becky and I walked to the apartment complex she told me where we were going. A friend of hers had just moved into a new apartment and they were celebrating their new home along with one of the flatmate's birthdays. (Hebrew Lesson of the Day: In English, a party like this would be called a House Warming Party. In Hebrew it's a Channukat Bayit. Bayit means house and channukat means dedication, as in the holiday of Channukah. The party is a Home Dedication Party!)

Then Becky told me whose home we were going to. The flatmate she knew was named Rebecca.

Rebecca Marcowitz in fact.

For those of you who don't know, Rebecca Marcowitz was one of my first friends when I lived in New Jersey. We've known each other for nineteen years but over the years we've really lost touch with one another. And suddenly both of us were living in Jerusalem and here I was going to her Home Dedication Party!

[For those of you keeping score at home: I currently live in Jerusalem. Becky, who I met and lived with in Florida now currently lives in Jerusalem. She was taking me to the party of Rebecca who I met and became friends with in New Jersey who now lives in Jerusalem.]

Becky, Rebecca, the only thing missing here is a Becca!

So we were having fun at the party, drinking, playing games, schmoozing, meeting new people when all of a sudden I see a familiar face across the room. Could it be? Was it really? It was! On the other side of the room was someone I had met years ago on a trip to Ukraine. What was she doing in Israel? In Jerusalem? At this party? And wasn't her name.... Becca?!?!

Indeed it was. Becky-from-Florida took me to Rebecca-from-New-Jersey's party where I ran into Becca-who-I-met-in-Ukraine all in the center of Jerusalem. What a small, small world!

It was a great party.

Until the cops came.

Me and My Telenovela

Sunday was a sad day here in Israel. That's because Sunday was the series finale of my soap opera "Telenovela B'am" (Telenovela Inc.)

When I first moved into my apartment, I was informed that we had cable TV. I haven't had a television in years, but I figured that since I was going to be sharing in the cost of the cable, I ought to start watching, too. But I decided I could use the opportunity to improve my Hebrew by watching only Hebrew programs. In fact, I could improve my Hebrew even more by watching Hebrew shows regularly with plot lines I could follow. There was only one solution: I needed to get addicted to an Israeli soap opera.

For the past three weeks, every evening at around quarter to eight I'd tidy up my living room. My friend Katie would leave her apartment a few blocks away, telling her flat mates that she was off to improve her intelligence by watching soap operas. At eight pm, she'd arrive and we'd grab some drinks, maybe a piece of fruit or some leftover cake from Shabbat and settle on the couch. At 8:06pm our show came on. We would watch in silence for forty minutes, the only conversation being the translation of words we'd look up on the dictionaries resting on each of our laps.

As soon as the show was over we'd start discussing. Often we'd be confused because of language issues. Even though the show had Hebrew subtitles along with the Hebrew dialogue, the characters often spoke too quickly for us to fully hear/read and understand what was going on. We'd consider what he said, what she really meant, when he was returning, and who she was going out with. I'd walk Katie home and her flatmates would ask who we were talking about. Telenovela B'am - of course!

If I was still unclear about exactly what had happened in the evening episode I had nothing to fear. At 4:25pm the next day, the previous day's re-run was aired. I liked watching the reruns because when I was not so caught up with the plot lines, I had time to look up more words and more fully understand the dialogue. [Brief summary of the soap opera: A TV station is filming a telenovela. All actors/producers/writers/directors are all living their own version of a telenovela amongst themselves. 20+ characters and nearly as many plot lines complicate things further. Comedy and drama ensue.]

Two weeks ago special advertisements started playing before and after our show, and after watching them a few times we realized what was going on - the series finale! It couldn't be! So soon?! We'd only begun watching a few weeks ago! Well it turns out that Israeli soap operas (unlike their American counterparts) are notoriously short. After five months of running on television daily, the show was about to end. What was going to happen?!

We rearranged our lives to be sure that nothing would disturb us on Sunday night. The Shabbat beforehand, Katie invited me over for a meal. Of course, halfway through dinner we started talking about our show. Was Niv back with his boyfriend? Who got Dana pregnant? Was Naftali going to attempt to murder his wife again? What about his mistress? Was Dana really going to try to kill Kfir on his wedding day? Would Raanana's parents show up for the ceremony? On and on, we discussed, boring the other guests at the table but too worked up in our telenovela to notice.

The fateful evening arrived. We watched the season finale with bated breath, dictionaries left aside for our gasps and claps and laughs. Let me tell you, Telenovela B'am ended perfectly. It was everything we'd hoped for our more. The good guys lived, together with their significant others. The bad guys were killed or arrested. Everyone was in love. Yay!

But now I miss Katie. Without her coming over every evening to watch our show, I don't get to see her as often. It's a good thing that Pardes is starting next week.

With-better-Hebrew-but-still-missing-her-TV-show,
sarah....

PS - Mazal Tov to Matthue on his wedding!

PPS - I bet you wish you were coming to my house tonight for Shabbat dinner. Israeli salad, Cabbage-mango salad, Eggplant Parmesan, Tofu fried rice, Broccoli Kugel, Lentils and tomatoes, and more! I'm finally learning how to cook!


This email and all my other recent ones can be found at http://hebrewish.blogspot.com.