Orientation, Classes, and More!

Note: I'm switching photos over to Photobucket, which is a long, tedious process, so they're not all up yet. But here are some, and check back for more soon: http://s1170.photobucket.com/albums/r529/EricLAbbott/Orientation/

Well it's been a while since I've updated, and there's a lot to catch you all up on, so let's see what has happened since my last post:

The week of June 9 was orientation, or as the administrators called it, "disorientation." While that is true, I really don't feel too disoriented here. It might be because I've lived in Israel before, or maybe that I am excited and confident for this year, or maybe something else, but nonetheless, I am definitely ready to be here, and ready to learn, and ready to become a rabbi. Some highlights of orientation include: many lectures/speeches by lots of important people at HUC, including Rabbi Dr. Michael Marmur, who is one of the VP's of HUC and lives in Jerusalem, and Dr. David Mendelsson, the head of the Year in Israel; breakfast with Rabbi Dr. David Ellenson, the president of HUC, in his Jerusalem apartment; tours with Israelis; a "Taste of Israel" dinner; a lot of meet-and-greets/icebreakers; discussions on goals/expectations for the years; and Shabbat services led by the student interns, followed by dinner at HUC.

The highlight of the week was Freedom Riders, run by Noa at the IRAC (Israel Religious Action Center). In Israel, and especially in religious areas such as some parts of Jerusalem, there are bus lines that pretty much only serve Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) Jews. Up until a couple of years ago, these bus lines were segregated: men would sit in the front, and women would be forced to sit in the back. While a couple of years ago the Israeli Supreme Court deemed bus segregation illegal, it is still often in effect on these religious bus routes because of social pressures within the community, despite being illegal. So a bunch of students, myself included, did a freedom ride: we got on a bus at the start of a route, and the women in our group all sat in the front. They kept the seats next to them open. In this way, the men would not sit down next to them, and Haredi women would feel empowered and sit in the front. One route that the IRAC has focused on is now completely desegregated, even when there are no Freedom Riders. While as a male I didn't actually get to do much, it was still great to be there as an ally, and we plan on doing it again soon.

After the bus ride we got dinner, then a few of the groups (there were multiple groups exploring different parts of Israel) met up at the Israel Museum, where there were a few exhibits going on, including a wireless headphone party. Everyone received their own wireless headsets, and then the same music was played on all of them, and everyone danced together. The cool part was that if you took off the headphones, you saw everyone dancing without hearing the music. It was awesome and we all want to do it again, maybe even set up our own somehow.

The following week (last week), classes started! For the summer I have three classes: Ulpan (Hebrew) which is about 4.5 hours each day, Sunday-Wednesday. Monday afternoons have Cantillation (learning how to chant Torah, etc.). Wednesday afternoons have a Biblical History lecture, and then Thursdays are also Biblical History: some combination of lecture and lesson. This past Thursday we had a lecture in the morning and a trip in the afternoon, but some weeks there might be only a trip, or other combinations I don't yet know of. All the classes are wonderful so far. Hebrew is tough and maybe a bit above my head, but I'm trying hard and we'll see how it goes; it's already better now than it was on Sunday. Cantillation is good. We went over all the Torah trope, and fortunately I already know half of it. However, I don't know the other half, and some of what I know is wrong, so it's definitely going to be a good class. Biblical History is also great; it's a really fast-paced class (which is a big wake up since I've been out of college for two years), and there's a lot of information. The best part is that the field trips solidify what we learn.

Yesterday I went to Tel Aviv for the day with the majority of the class (probably about 80%, plus SO's). In the morning I went to an artist colony, which was basically a street lined with different art vendors. It was nice, but I didn't really find anything that suits me, and it was sort of pricey, but maybe I'll head back. Then we went to the beach and spent a few hours there. The water was warm, the sun was bright, and everything was great (except one person getting stung by a jellyfish, and the sand burnt your feet). At night we went to Shabbat services on the beach with Beit Tefilah Israeli, a Progressive congregation. It was a beautiful service, and the L'cha Dodi was one of the best/craziest renditions I've seen.

Today, Jay Shir, who is a man associated with HUC who leads hikes, took Elana (another rabbinic student) and I for a hike in the Judean Hills, where we hiked to the top of a hill that used to be a fortress, and also to a shrine. On the hills near the fortress were lots of old remnants of buildings, wine presses, olive presses, etc. Jay had been looking for dovecotes for a few years and hasn't been able to find them, until today when Elana and I found them in what we had thought was a cave. There were also Arab buildings that are essentially just foundations now, since they were abandoned and destroyed following 1948. The shrine actually had three buildings that were built in different ages: the biggest and newest was a shrine to a Sheikh built in the mid-19th century, the middle was built probably about 100 years earlier, and the oldest and smallest, half buried in the dirt, was probably from the Crusaders' time. There was much to learn, and it also helped to reinforce what I learned in Biblical History. After the hike I ate, napped, and showered, and then later was Havdallah, which was student led and organized, and as usual it was great.

Other things that happened throughout the week: I explored more the Old City (nothing new, but enjoyed); bought a cheap guitar so I can practice; went to the Kotel; bought more kippot; climbed and met people at the rock gym here; participated in student led and organized Torah study; and probably more.

It's been busy, exhausting, and tiring--and we've only had one week of classes! But if there's anything I've learned from my time here so far, it's that this is the place for me. I'm surrounded by people who on the one hand are down to earth and awesome, yet on the other hand really want to be here, want to learn about Judaism, and want to be Jewish leaders. I am learning by seeing the things that happened in the Torah, by debating and discussing with friends, and by having everything surround me serve as a teacher. It's going to be a great year.

Shavua Tov!