First Shabbat, First Classes

Before I say anything, I'd like to apologize for not being more creative with my post titles.  Maybe it's something I can work on.

So, let's start with Friday. Friday, I learned how to get to one of the malls, and Ben Yehudah street.  There, I met what seemed like every single 18 year old in the world, ran into people from camp, and met up with friends from Connecticut.  Then I met their friends.  It was adventurous, to say the least.  Then I went back to the dorms to get ready for Shabbat.

Shabbat was fantastic - really everything I had envisioned.  We started with a beautiful Kabbalat shabbat (Carlebach style) at the Kotel.  It was a little crowded, but that made the dancing even more exciting.  I stood next to a girl from Toronto who I've connected with musically, and we harmonized the whole time.  Then, we came back for dinner (assigned seating to get to know each other), and I shared high school memories with the girls at my table, and also sang for them because one of them had heard me sing in the shower.  Funny how that happens.

Next, came the Midrasha singing.  We sang and sang and sang.  Then we sang.  The next day we accidentally woke up late, had lunch, and then sang some more.  Then we had some free time, dinner, and then sang Shabbat out the door.  Is it just me or is the word sang starting to sound funny?  Anyways, everything about Shabbat was beautiful.  We were all a little emotional, between being thrilled to be here and being homesick for our own Shabbat tables.

Last night (Saturday night), I went over to one of the apartments to hang out with some of my favorite girls (so far).  Then we basically walked a huge circle around the Old City.

And TODAY was the first day of classes!  It actually went by really quickly and I really enjoyed myself, although I can see myself getting quite tired after a few days. I'll adjust, though.  Just for perspective, not counting times when I have a class more than once a week, or when I'm supposed to study by myself in the Beit Midrash, I have eighteen classes.  Eighteen!  It's crazy.  

So, today I had Gemara (or Talmud), which is a class that's given in Hebrew at my level.  It was pretty great, and I felt really accomplished afterward.  Then I had my methodology class, which is really my cup of tea.  We first read and article about teaching methods, then discussed them, and then talked specifically about how to give a speech.  Next class (in a week), I'll be giving a four minute speech for us to work off of, critique, and learn from.  Then I had free "learning" time, in which I wrote the speech.  Then I learned about laws and Shabbat, then about lessons from the Parshah (weekly portion), and then learned from the book of Samuel I on my own.

For those of you who think I'm insane, I believe I am, and I'm proud of it.  I really feel that after this year, I'll have solidified the knowledge I learned in middle school and high school, and have gained skills for learning on my own, as well.

Tomorrow I have a crazy class where I learn eight chapters of Chumash (Bible) a week.  That should be exciting.  But I also have the evening off.

If I can get my camera to work, I'll add pictures of my roommates and the dorms.  Also, I promise this won't always be detailed descriptions of my courses, it's just what's occupying my thoughts at the moment.  Until next time!

Gabriella

CLASSES!!!

  Hi again!  I know I said once a week, but it's the first few days so of course there are a lot of new developments.

  So, today we signed up for classes.  It took about three hours to go through the classes, and then another half and hour to fill out the forms and hand them in.  It's such an intense schedule, it's a little intimidating, but I know that once we start time will fly and I'll enjoy the intellectual stimulation.

  There are a couple of classes that I'm super excited about.  One is 3 hours a week (split into two classes), where we'll be learning about 8 chapters of Chumash every week, and will ultimately finish the ENTIRE five books.  It's an intense course made to reinforce things we've learned in the past and also solidify our knowledge of where in the books each event takes place (and, in some cases, be reminded that what we consider a Chumash event is actually a commentary).  

   Another course is an Educational Leadership Program, where a class on methodology combined with a practical class will allow those of us taking the course to obtain certificates, and will give me a head start on learning how to teach both secular and Judaic material.  I'm also going to do 3 hours of community service tutoring Israelis in English.  I can't wait for all of the hands-on applications.

  I'm already learning a few new hebrew words, although the process will be slow for a while.  I learned that Tam-Tam means very tasty, Kaspomat = ATM machine, and instead of saying lishnot et hakesef (to change the money), it's much more accurate to say lihachlif et hakesef, to exchange the money.  I also had a funny moment where I tried to pay with coins that I thought were shekalim, but were actually agarot, which are barely worth anything.

  I can already tell that my skills in modern and classic hebrew will improve immensely, as long as I make it one of my priorities.  Israelis tend to speak to you in English if they don't feel like listening to your broken hebrew, but they'll just have to deal because I WILL get better.

  Okay, time for sleep.  Tomorrow we're having a few info sessions (rules and regulations, etc) and then we're going on a Tiyul (hike), on which it is rumored there will be some water to jump in.  It's definitely hot enough!

Until next time (I'll try to give you a little break),

Gabriella

The Beginning (aka Orientation)

  Hi! I'm here! In Jerusalem, in Israel, in my beautiful seminary! It's been an extremely long 30 hours. The flight was pretty smooth, and I even slept in and out for about 6 hours out of the 10 hours it took to get here.

  We landed at about 5 pm Israel time, and since then, we went through ridiculous baggage claim, then drove to Yerushalayim, to the Rova (the Jewish quarter). Then we had some dinner, got our room keys, and after relaxing for an hour or so, went to the Kotel to pray. The walk to the Kotel is a mere 5 minutes long, and as soon as I saw the Wall lit up (about 3 minutes after I started walking), I knew that this year would be something special. Honestly, it may take a little bit for me to get used to the learning schedule, but that was to be expected. This week is orientation, and we're going to spend Shabbat together at the Midrasha (the seminary), and then begin learning on Sunday. I'm very excited to be able to choose between different types of classes, instead of being handed what I have to learn.

  My roommates are all very nice, it was exciting to finally meet them after talking on facebook this past month. We're going to get along fine (at the very least), we'll just have to work out where to keep all of our stuff first. There are a lot of girls in the program. There are about 75 North American girls, 10 Southern Hemisphere girls, and 20 Europeans. There is also an Israeli part of the seminary, but for the most part, they're a completely different group.

  Our building is made out of cobblestone and marble, one of my favorite things about the Old City. It's gorgeous! I can't wait to walk through the city and explore.

Well, I'm going to go unpack and figure out where I'm going to fit everything. Everything's so new right now, I'm sure I'll be writing again soon!

Ellie

Starting my blog

Dear Friends and Family,

Welcome to my blog! I hope you found it without too much trouble.

As you may know, I am spending this academic year in Jerusalem, Israel, in a dormitory with other girls attending my seminary, Midreshet Harova. At Harova, I will be studying Jewish texts, philosophy, and laws, as well as learning about Israel and becoming more fluent in Hebrew. I'll also be doing community service in Jerusalem, as well as touring most of Israel.

Since I will be far away and, in most cases, unable to communicate on a regular basis, I decided I would start a blog (as you can see). I'll try to write regularly, hopefully at least once a week, and I'll give updates on how my year is going and what I've been doing. Otherwise, if you want to get in touch with me, please email me at Gabriellaesther@yahoo.com, or Skype me (my username is gabriella.feingold).

So here's my first update:
I'm almost done packing! I have a staging area where essentially my entire world is piled up, ready to be stuffed into the two suitcases I'm allowed. A week from this very moment, I will be just arriving in New York with my family for a nice dinner before I take off! I couldn't be more excited. I've been facebooking my roommates (there are FIVE of us in one room), and I can tell it's going to be a great year. I'm anticipating lasting friendships, spiritual growth, and a year where I can just focus on myself without any pressure whatsoever! And all of this will happen just a few hundred feet from the Western Wall.

It's strange that I've only been to Israel once, and yet I feel such a connection to it. I can't wait to tell you all about the discoveries I make there. I've even already been given coupons from a friend to what I hear is the most fantastic, unexplainably delicious bagel shop in the Jewish Quarter. I'll let you know how those turn out.

So, sometimes my posts with be long, sometimes I may only have time to type a few sentences in between classes. Either way, I hope my excitement will show through so that you can enjoy reading about this crazy, once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity year!

Next time in Jerusalem!

Love,
Gabriella