Shana Tova! (Israel update!)

Sam and I are going to Barcelona and Paris for Sukkot break, and I'm currently in the airport waiting to board my flight, so here's an update before I leave!

Rosh Hashanah was fun, I went to HUC for the evening service with Sam (mine) and Sam (her friend). Services were pretty standard, not too different from services back home, although there were some differences: a student choir (not too different), different melodies here and there (sometimes the same melody with variations, sometimes different melodies), a piano instead of an organ, and some other minor things--but overall, quite similar. Sam had a bit of a rough time because she can't read Hebrew yet (her ulpan, Hebrew class, hasn't really started). Other than that it was a nice service, a great warm up, basically, for the High Holiday season. After services, about 25 people came back to Jeff, Nicole, and my apartment for a potluck dinner, which was delicious, and it was great to be super social.

Everyone at our apartment for Rosh Hashanah Dinner

Discussions at dinner

Sam and I on Rosh Hashanah!

For Rosh Hashanah first day we went to Kol Haneshama, a Reform congregation in Jerusalem. It was a pretty nice service, although even progressive services here are still a little more traditional than a lot in the US--there was no choir and no instrumental accompaniment, for example. And of course everything was in Hebrew, even the sermon (although he quoted Frederick Douglas in English for it), so Sam had another tough morning, though it was better because she was prepared for it. This also had similar melodies and was enjoyable, although I'm glad that Yom Kippur is at HUC where half will be in English, including the sermon.

I didn't too too much more for Rosh Hashanah after the morning service. That evening there was a student-organized potluck at HUC. I chose not to go to services on second day Rosh Hashanah, partially because as a Reform Jew I didn't find meaning in it, and also because Sam would probably have been quite bored (and honestly, I might have been too, especially if it was an Orthodox service). However, I did "lead" a tashlich service (and by lead, I mean there were six people, and I just said a one-minute introduction, then we separated and prayed/cast as individuals).

The grave of H.N. Bialik,
a famous Israeli poet.

On another note, classes are all messed up and sporadic because of the holidays: we only had two days of classes last week (and one was trip to Tel Aviv), we had two classes at the start of this week, and I had one today before break started. The Tel Aviv trip was fun, we went to learn about "The First Hebrew City," as people used to call Tel Aviv. We learned about its origins, about how it formed a crossroads between Europe and the Middle East, and also about its tension between capitalism and socialism. We went to a cemetery with famous Tel Aviv/Israel pioneers, we participated in "cafe intellectualism," and we of course learned what the beach meant for Tel Aviv--and then we had an hour and a half to relax on the beach. It was a tough day of learning! The rest of classes are going well, with Bible probably being one of the most interesting, since we are analyzing it verse by verse. We've had classes for almost a month, and we just finished Genesis 2! It's wonderful, and I'm learning a lot of cool theories/theologies. Rabbinic literature is also pretty interesting, as well as this session of "rabbinic mini courses," taught by Rabbi Michael Marmur on "Why I Am a Reform Jew." This class really makes me think.

Basketball at Shabbat Sha-sport

On Saturday, we had "Shabbat Sha-sport," where we played basketball and ultimate frisbee. It was a ton of fun...until I sprained my ankle. But once I'm healed, I'll be right back!

The past two days were Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur evening was a nice service, held in the ballroom of Beit Shmuel, the youth hostel connected to HUC. The ballroom overlooks the Old City, and it's probably one of the most beautiful places to hold services in the world. There was a cellist there, and he of course participated in Kol Nidrei, which made my night. After services we walked to Emek Refaim, a street in Jerusalem, where there were hundreds of people also walking. It's very interesting--there are no cars driving on any of the streets on Yom Kippur, so people just fill the streets on foot. Some HUC students spelled "HUC" in the middle of the road, and Emek Refaim was filled with countless people just enjoying the fact that they can be outside, on the street, with no worries. (We did see a few vehicles, but I was able to count: only three scooters, an ambulance, two police cars, and one car being driven by Arabs, who obviously aren't participating in the holiday). We then came back to my apartment, which has been recently named "The Ritz," since a lot of people are always sleeping on our couch or spare beds--and that night we had three guests! Ted slept there because, well, he's like a fourth roommate, and Rachel slept there because she recently had surgery and wants to walk only 7 minutes rather than 30 to get to school. And, of course, Sam was there with me.

The main street near my apartment...
totally deserted on Yom Kippur.

The ballroom at Beit Shmuel, where we had Yom Kippur services.
Notice the Old City in the background.

Yesterday, Wednesday, morning began like any other morning--except with no food, of course, because of the fast. Services were pretty good, I actually stayed awake and engaged the whole time (well, at least awake). HUC arranged the services a little different than I'm used to: we had morning services, like normal, but then immediately continued with the afternoon service. The afternoon service was led by HUC students in a "camp"-like atmosphere, which was a nice compliment to the Classical Reform style of the majority of the high holidays. The afternoon service paused halfway through, before the Torah service, and then there was a two hour break, followed by discussion groups. We then continued with the Torah service, where I chanted the third aliyah (section). I actually did pretty well, which might be because I learned the portion a week in advance--rather than two days, like I normally do. I guess I should do that more often...

View of the Old City from services.

This Yom Kippur I actually fasted the full 25 hours, which is something I've never done before. I also actually felt some sort of spiritual connection this time, at least in a different way than I normally do. While one of the main reasons we fast is a sort of self-affliction purpose, another is that by ignoring our body and physical needs, we can focus mainly on our soul and spiritual needs. While I can't say that I felt my soul or anything, I definitely felt something more because of my hunger, which was interesting. It was also, fortunately, an easy fast this year.

We broke the fast at around 6:20 last night, and afterward I went home, did homework, and packed, which I continued today after classes. And now I'm eagerly awaiting our trip! While unfortunately I will be missing Sukkot in Israel (we come back for Simchat Torah), I'm hoping to find a Sukkah in Spain or France. Also, I have a bunch of response papers, journal entries, and essays due in the upcoming weeks, so hopefully I'll post one of those as a blog entry soon. Other than that, I hope everyone has a great new year and a Hag Sameach (Happy Holiday)!

-Eric

Update since break! (Israel update)

A view from the top of our hike.

[Note: I updated my Photobucket site. Check out the new albums "Camping," "Fall Tiyul," and "Selichot."]

Shana Tova! Sam is here for Shabbat and Rosh Hashanah, and she recently updated her blog, so I figured I will, too. In my last blog I wrote about my trip to Petra and the first half of summer break. Well, at the end of that week I went camping with two fellow HUC students, Leslee and Lindsay. While it was a bit difficult to plan, it ended up being great. We went to Nahal Amud, a beautiful stream and nature reserve just west of Safed (Ts'fat). We rented a car to get there, and while it took a while, we eventually arrived, set up camp (we had the whole place to ourselves for the night), and got ready for the evening (collected firewood, etc.). We explored and hiked a little bit in the evening, and then at night we ate great food, played games, and talked and bonded. The next day we hiked around for a while and then left for Jerusalem. It was relatively short, but tons of fun. Plus, I got to drive for the first time in two months, which was great (though I miss my V6 engine!).

Hiking!

Hanging around the campfire.

A view from our hike.

The three of us at the stream.

The next day, our fall semester started, and things are very, very different from the summer. While in the summer I essentially had two classes (Hebrew and Biblical History), I am now taking nine: Hebrew, Grammar, Second Temple History, Rabbinic Literature, Bible, History of the Zionist Movement, Liturgy, Israel Seminar, and "Rabbinic Mini-Courses" (a few courses just for rabbinic students that last only a few weeks each). They are all very great courses so far (even Grammar--turns out I'm pretty good at it!). There are so many interesting things they're teaching us, and a lot of it is basic, but it's very in-depth and new as well. For example, in my Rabbinic Literature class, we're reading Oral Torah texts (Mishnah, Talmud, etc.) about the Oral Torah--this way we study about it, while studying from within it! Bible is starting at Genesis 1:1, but this is the first time I'm really studying the Hebrew text intensively. I'm also learning great pedagogical techniques from my teachers, as well as picking up ideas for classes and Divrei Torah/sermons (both general techniques and specific topics). All of this--and we're only two weeks into the semester!

Yet while we're two weeks in, it feels like a while. I know a lot of people have been feeling stressed about how much work we have, and this is without balancing extra jobs, huge commutes, and more that will happen next year when we're back in the US. However, part of this year is about learning to to deal with all of this. I wasn't doing so great at the beginning, but while for some people felt that everything else was getting in the way of work, for me it was that the work was getting in the way of everything else--I spent so much time on homework that I didn't go out. Fortunately, I caught up with all the reading earlier in the week, so now as long as I keep up and, when I have the free time, try to get ahead, it will mean more time to do other, fun stuff. Plus now that I'm caught up, I don't have to do as much work this weekend, so I can have more fun time to hang out with Sam (we climbed today!) and enjoy Rosh Hashanah.

The other thing this year is doing, I've realized, is that it's trying to make us really comfortable in our own Jewish and Reform thoughts and beliefs. To do this, they are essentially knocking us down so we can get back up. In the summer, for example, they taught us Biblical History, and through the classrooms and the trips, we saw that archaeological and extra-Biblical sources don't exactly match up with many of the things that the Torah says happened--and sometimes they show that it didn't happen at all! HUC has also showed us what really happened in the land of Israel, and our real people's history. They have knocked down the walls of our belief systems.

But now they are giving us the tools and skills to rebuild those walls by asking significant questions and making us think. If Joshua and the Israelites didn't sweep into and conquer the land of Canaan, and if Israelite religion developed out of a Canaanite one--then how can we be connected to Eretz Yisrael? If a good chunk of the Torah was written by King Josiah to centralize power in Jerusalem--then how can we believe what the Torah says? The Jewish State is based on many ideas that can be challenging (blind acceptance of ideologies; unfair relations between classes, denominations, and races; etc.)--so can I support a Jewish State? And more specifically (and this is a challenging one), do I support a Jewish State in the Land of Israel? After all, at one point in the early days of the Zionist movement, the idea was thrown around to establish it in Uganda. These are some of the fundamental but tough questions they're asking us, and we're all slowly, and at different paces, answering them. I personally have a lot of it figured out, but I'll save that for another post.

View of Lebanon, which is behind the
far fence. After that fence are landmines.

As part of our classes, specifically the Israel Seminar (which looks at a little bit of Israeli history but mainly at Israeli society, plus politics, culture, etc.), we went on a Tiyul (a trip) last weekend (Thursday 9/6-Saturday 9/8). It was a lot of fun. We traveled to various sites in the Galilee region. One stop was Tel Chai, where the first violence between Jews and Arabs broke out in the 1920's (it was a little biased, but nonetheless interesting). We went to Chanaton, an egalitarian and pluralistic modern kibbutz, where there are reform, conservative, orthodox, and everyone in between who live and pray together. We heard from a speaker about what life was like at the creation of the state. We met with some protesters who were protesting the economic, political, class, etc. situation in a small town (kind of like an Israeli version of Occupy Wall Street). We went to a Moshav that's right on the Lebanese border and learned about what it meant to live there, including during the wars. We celebrated Shabbat and Havdallah together. We had a lot of interesting discussions about Zionist ideology, the settlement process, and the creation of the state. Plus we got to do fun stuff like slackline and swim (in a pool and in the Sea of Galilee). It was definitely a wonderful time, though I hope Sam gets to come on the next trip.

A view of the Sea of Galilee (Kinerret).

Friday morning (shacharit) services.

Selichot services at the Great Jerusalem Synagogue.

On Saturday night, after we returned from the trip, I attended a Selichot service. This was actually my first Selichot service. It was held at midnight, which was a bit rough since we had a long, tiring weekend. It was also at the Great Jerusalem Synagogue, which I have walked past many times but never entered. It's a beautiful synagogue, with lots of seats. They have at least twenty Torahs in their ark! It was cool to be there and participate, even if it was orthodox, and we left early and I was very grateful for that, too.

So as you can see, things have started to get very interesting, busy, and sort of hectic, but also fun. On Tuesday we all watched an Israel movie ("Broken Wings"). I'm looking into organizing some camping, hiking, and climbing trips (as part of the Sports Committee). I've been practicing guitar again. I had my orientation for my Truma Project, which is my community service/volunteer opportunity for the year. I will be working in Mevasseret, essentially a suburb of Jerusalem, where I will be playing with Ethiopian children, who are living in a village at the Absorption Center for immigrants. I don't have much experience with very little kids, and their Hebrew will probably be at my level (if not better), and so I'll have the opportunity to improve my Hebrew, work on an important skill, and also have tons of fun. I'm super excited.

Today, Shabbat, we had a sports day where we played basketball, soccer, and other sports. Sam's friend Sam (yes his name is Sam, too, and yes it's confusing!) is staying with me this weekend, too, for Shabbat and for the holiday. Sunday night, tomorrow, is Rosh Hashanah, so I will be going to HUC for the evening and I need to find another place for Rosh Hashanah day. Israel actually does two days of Rosh Hashanah, but I haven't decided if I'll be celebrating the second day or not. I might lead tashlich if I can find the interest.

And that's about it! Shabbat Shalom, Shavua Tov, and Shana Tova (have a good Shabbat, a good week, and a good year)! Have a happy, healthy, sweet new year!

-Eric