Week 3 | September 13-September 19, 2014

Hi family and friends! Here's a little look at week 3 here at Midreshet Lindenbaum:

 

^^Sunday at the shook (Machane Yehuda) in downtown Jerusalem with my roommate, Naomi

 

^^the best coffee at me and Naomi's favorite find on Yaffo street, an adorable French cafe with spacious outdoor seating and the best coffee

 

^me going wild while buying candy at Machane Yehuda (for those of you wondering what the big deal is, in America, most gummy candy is not Kosher and needs to be purchased in small quantities from Kosher food markets. To see this much candy and know that I could eat all of it was pretty exciting)

 ^^^Some close-ups of the candy. The mini Coke bottle gummies are mine and Naomi's favorite.

  

^^Monday night (night off) out with one of my closest friends, Kayla, at Spaghetti's in the Mamilla Mall.

^^^outings on Wednesday during our minimal lunch break. I went to get my Rav Kav (like a metrocard, but you need Passport to buy one because it has your picture on it--for security reasons) 

 

^^friends and my cousin Rachel on Thursday night in Central Jerusalem (Rachel slept over in my bed on Thursday night---it was awesome) 

^^^Friday morning me and Rachel woke up and took the bus to the Old City. We walked around, then went to daven (pray) at the Kotel (Western Wall). It was pretty awesome because it wasn't that crowded. We then went out for lunch at a bagel cafe in the Rova. Spending time with Rach and having her with me in Israel is such a blessing and pleasure for me-it's good to have family with you wherever you are :)

This week was my most standard, typical week so far. No super exciting tiyulim (trips) or weekend getaways to fun, albiet dirty kibbuzim. That's not to say it was bad, in fact, in many ways, it was my favorite. I spent most of the week doing what I came here to do: learn. I know that sounds dry, but it was amazing to immerse myself in my classes and really get to know my teachers, the subject matter, and the many new approaches to learning I am being exposed to. Everything is so different: although I have been learning Talmud for years, I have already seen a huge shift in the way I am learning. Not just in that I am now truly learning pages on my own (no helpful worksheets or word-by-word translations a la the high school days), but in the actual way the Talmud is approached. I see us as now learning on many levels-the most basic level- 1) what does this mean?, the more complex level- 2) how do we understand this argument? how do we synthesize all this information? what questions do we have? how can we connect this to our learning elsewhere? and an even deeper level- 3) what can we learn from this? how is this relevant to our lives today? what can we learn conceptually from these technical conversations? I feel my learning is tenfold deeper, richer and more rewarding than ever before. It is also self-motivated for the first time in my life. Technically, as I have no tests, homework, or assignments, I could zone out in every class or play on my phone (or just ditch), but me and my friends choose to be present and focused. We even take notes. Our dedication and motivation inspires our peers, and in that way, I think we perpetuate the energy of serious learning and deep thinking.

 I truly love all my classes and feel I am gaining so much from each one. My main classes (Talmud, Torah, Prophets) are 3 or 4 hours at a time, with about 1-1.5 hours spent learning in the traditional chevruta style, which means learning in pairs in the Beit Midrash. In each class you learn with the same person every day in your designated spot. It is challenging to figure things out on your own, but so invigorating when you do. I also have several shorter (2.5-1 hr) long classes that are generally more frontal learning (little or no time in chevruta), including Women and Halacha (Jewish law), Hilchot Shabbat (Laws of Shabbat), Chassidut (study of Hassidic Jewish thought), Ethical Dilemmas, and People of the Book, a study of the main characters in the books of the prophets (the stories could be movies they are so full of intrigue and drama, you should all check them out). I could go on and on about my learning, but I hope this is a good start.

What do I do when I'm not learning? Sunday through Thursday (Friday is Sunday is Israel, Sunday is like Monday, a regular day), I spend my days learning beginning at 8:30AM. The learning goes until 10pm (it is traditional to learn at night), except on Mondays, when all the seminaries (girl's programs), have off starting at about 6. We all go out with our girlfriends and it's really nice. Other nights of the week we can go out, but must be back by 12:30. We get everywhere by bus (some people take cabs, but generally we use the bus system to get everywhere).  Thursday nights are a big "out" night, and this one was extra awesome because my cousin Rachel, who is studying in a different seminary, came to sleep over in my dorm room, and in the morning we davened at the Kotel and got lunch together.  Fridays we can do whatever we want, and shabbats are either "In-Shabbats", when we are with our seminary, either in school or on a trip, or "Out-Shabbats" when we can do whatever we want. This Shabbos is an out shabbat, and I am going to stay with some friends at a different seminary. We bought our own food, and we will be spending shabbat in the dorms. 

As we go into Shabbos, just wanted to wish everyone a good weekend and an amazing week. I love you all. XOXO, R