Shalom,
The wait is over... a new blog entry. (My mom is going to be happy!)
A lot of people have been asking me what is Rabbinical school all about? That is a very good question. I'm still trying to figure it out myself too. But to give you an insight into what I'm learning here are the classes I'm taking...
1.
Modern Hebrew-- The main focus of my program this year is to learn Hebrew. It is a mixture of functional grammar, reading comprehension, conversation and composition. I have become pretty proficient at the reading comprehension and the grammar part, but my composition and speaking skills need a little bit more fine tuning. I'm thinking a good way to do this is to start writing my blog posts in Hebrew... good idea?
2.
Biblical Grammar- This course is an introduction to the fundamentals of Biblical Hebrew grammar and vocalization. So by the end of the year I'll be a pro at reading the five books of Moses, and letting you know how to diagram biblical sentences. My ninth grade English teacher, Ms. Bona, would be so proud that I now can diagram sentences in Hebrew and English (though I might need a little review on indirect objects).
3.
History of the Zionist Movement to 1948- Up there as one of my favorite courses, I like history what can I say. The title basically explains what the course is all about. We discussed the the nineteenth century context within which Zionism emerged and have been exploring key themes in the history of Zionism up until the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. This course has been extra helpful when wondering the streets of Jerusalem, as many street names are named after great Zionist thinkers. And I like to share my knowledge of these great Zionist thinkers, for instance when there was a random Israeli standing under a Ze'ev Jabotinsky street sign I told him that Jabotinsky established the Jewish Self-Defense Organization, a Jewish militant group, to safeguard Jewish communities throughout Russia (too bad I can't say that stuff in Hebrew, I think the random Israeli stranger would have enjoyed this factoid.)
4.
History of 2nd Temple Period- An ancient history course, where I have been learning about the wide variety of cultural and religious expression during the early Roman Empire. Though, I think that this course would be so much cooler if we all wore togas to class.
5.
Rabbinical Text Lecture and Discussions- I'm learning what famous Rabbis have said in the past and reading different literary formats from Second Temple period (around 516 BCE - 70 CE) to Late Antiquity. I'm learning the grammar, syntax, and vocabulary of Rabbinic literature. My hope is that one day, I'll be one of these famous rabbis and people will be quoting R. Prosnit III and reading from his famous book KOTEL6.
6.
Israel Seminar- This seminar explores the changing nature of Israel society from its pre-state emphasis on the molding of the new Jew to the contemporary reality of competing voices. This seminar is filled with speakers, field trips, and reflections about our time in Israel. Just this past week, we took a tour of of an Israeli High-Tech company that is one of the leading manufactures of memory chips for cellphones. Unfortunately, like other factory tours that I have been on we didn't get any free samples at the end of the tour. I'm hoping that this course will take us to a Hummus factory though, where I heard the samples are awesome.
7.
Liturgy- I'm learning traditional and Reform Jewish liturgy. It focuses on the main components of the daily and Shabbat liturgy. Along with textual study, I will lead services for my classmates, read Torah throughout the year, and will be giving a D'var torah (sermon) on February 13th. So book your tickets now and come hear me at 10 AM at the HUC synagogue.
So when I'm not blogging or procrastinating on www.sporcle.com I'm sitting in one of these classes. Overall, I'm really enjoying my studies at HUC. After not being in school for the past four years, I have slowly gotten back into the swing of writing papers, completing assignments, and doing my reading. This year, I'm looking forward to more theological conversations and learning even more about ancient Jewish texts and thinkers, as well as continuing to master the Hebrew language.
That is all for now... I'll make sure to give you another update this week.
Catch ya all later,
ERBP
