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Blog #1: First Blog
September, 2009
Torah
Hello blog readers, my name is Josh Herman, and I am a first year rabbinical student studying at HUC's Year in Israel Program in Jerusalem. I arrived in Israel in the second week of July, coming straight out of college at the University of Wisconsin where I studied Hebrew, Jewish Studies, and Philosophy. I have wanted to be a rabbi for most of my life, and with the help of Rabbi Andrea Steinberger at UW Hillel, I found HUC to be the right path for me. It has always been my plan to live for at least a year in Israel, so this year's program is my opportunity to do just that while working towards my dream of becoming a rabbi.
It seems like I have been here a lot more than two months. At this point in the program, we have finished the summer session and are moving on to our fall semester. The summer consisted of three classes: Ta'amei Mikrah or trope, Biblical Archaeology, and Ulpan, but also some informal learning where we did things like learn to wrap tefillin and lift the Torah for Hagbah. I was excited to find out that our teacher for Ta'amei Mikrah was Cantor Tamar Havilio, who was my cantor back in Milwaukee growing up and taught me the exact same thing for my Bar Mitzvah. My favorite part of the Biblical Archaeology class was the study tour component. We went a variety of places, including Meggido, Lachish, and Caesarea.
Ceaserea
Of all of these classes, though, I'm not sure any of them compare to what I learn on a daily basis from life in Israel. It has been a real challenge attempting to live as a liberal Jew here. Although you would be hard pressed to find a Jew in America who had never heard of the Reform Movement, it is not difficult to find an Israeli who has no idea what that is, or perhaps just has a misunderstanding of the movement. Thus when some friends and I were grilling part of our Shabbat dinner last week and the sun went down before we were finished, a bunch of Israelis could not understand how we could be wearing kippot yet still use fire on Shabbat. This resulted in not only a learning moment for us, as we got to discuss Judaism with them and the differences between being a Jew in the United States and being a Jew in Israel, but allowed us to teach them a bit about liberal Judaism. Hopefully next time they see someone in a kippa buying a cup of coffee on Shabbat, or the next time they see a woman wearing a tallit, they will have a slightly better understanding of what is going on.
Our fall semester begins this Sunday, and we are all very excited to start our classes. More from me next month, but until then, I wish you a Shanah Tovah!
Posted by Josh at 11:17 AM
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Blog #2: October Blog
October, 2009
King David Street
Classes have now been underway for three weeks, and the semester is starting to settle in. I have eight different classes, which is a pretty tough load, especially considering that five of them are taught in Hebrew. They are all very interesting, though. Even my class in Classical Grammar, which doesn't sound like the most riveting I'm sure, is fascinating. In the process of learning about the grammar of the Hebrew in the Tanakh, we learn so much about the evolution and history of the language. In our Israel Seminar, we have already taken a few trips, including a tour of the area of Jerusalem I live in, in which I got to learn a lot about some fascinating places that I walk by every day. For example, every time I go to the mall near school, I pass the old Palace Hotel where the 1937 Peel Commission met and decided to partition the land of Palestine, and each time I walk to school I walk past the King David Hotel, which the Irgun blew up part of in 1946 as part of their resistance against the British. Being a pretty big history nerd, I'm pretty enthralled by the fact that I get to walk through a tour of Zionist history every time I walk to school.
King David Hotel
Aside from classes, it's been nice to live out the Jewish calendar in Israel, where it has a very different feel. The Yamim Nora'im have come and gone, and my girlfriend who is doing a volunteer program in Tel Aviv was able to come and spend Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur with me here. On the first night of Sukkot I went with her and my brother to our cousin's house in Ramat Gan which is sort of a suburb just east of Tel Aviv. It's a pretty amazing family, as my mom's cousin Janie is married to Moshe, who has a very large Moroccan family. It was wonderful eating in their Sukkah with all sorts of children and dogs running around, and an incredible spread of food. I got to practice my Hebrew quite a bit, which can be tough because of the incredible amount of English that is spoken in Jerusalem. At one point Moshe was telling me about how he remembers my grandfather who died when I was thirteen, and got out a wrench that he gave him when he was visiting him in the US at some point that he still uses all the time. The amazing part is that it was clearly from the same set of tools as some of the wrenches we have at my house back home. Janie's brother was also there, visiting from New York with his wife, and we had not seen them in probably ten years. He gave my brother and I the siddur that was given to our grandfather for use during his Army service. It was amazing to have a family reunion so very far away from home.
Posted by Josh at 10:05 AM
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Blog #3: November Blog
November, 2009
Dave at Mt Herzel
Mizmor L'David.
David Mendelssohn, that is.
Ok, I hope that wasn't too sacrilegious, but I do intend to use this post to sing the praises of an incredible teacher. I am lucky enough to have Dave for two classes. One is a modern history class entitled From Zionist Idea to Israeli Sate. The other is our Wednesday all-day Israel seminar, where we learn about and interact with contemporary Israel through a wide variety of different lenses and in many different venues.
My modern history class is small, and often includes a lively debate. Coming straight out of college where I majored in Jewish studies, I am fortunate enough to be in the class where we are expected to have a basic knowledge of the history and we can really interact with it. Dave does a magnificent job framing our debates, which have at times spilled over into the lunch hour following class. It is also a great opportunity to learn from two of our European students who will be studying at the Leo Baeck Institute, as they bring a very different perspective on history.
The job that Dave does planning and organizing the Israel Seminar is just amazing, and the way he teaches his section of the course is astounding as well. Each day is something completely different, but it all follows a coherent narrative surrounding the rise and fall of Labor Zionist domination, and the effects of this on contemporary Israel. As a result, one day we may have been in Tel Aviv looking at secular Jewish identity and the modern Hebrew city, and the next we may be hearing from the experiences of a religious Zionist settler who came in from the West Bank. Dave is always there to frame these discussions and interactions from the perspective of the course, and leaves it up to us to form our own opinions about the experience.
The greatest part of Dave's teaching, however, is that he does not just teach about history and Israel, but he makes us into better teachers as well. Each time we do an activity in class or have a discussion, he makes it a point to stop afterward and mention to us what he tried to do as an educator. He challenges us to think about how well it worked, and how we could adapt it to our future work in the field. Dave is the ultimate educator, and just cannot stop himself from teaching, even when you run into him at the halls in school. He is always willing to stand and talk to you for a few minutes about questions you have about your experiences in Israel.
Not only is he a great educator, but he has an unmatched interest in our well being as students. He makes it a point to be at all of our student-led services, even when they are on the weekends. He even comes to our kickball games. As an educator and a mench, he sets an example for all of us as we work on becoming better educators and better leaders.
Posted by Josh at 10:05 AM
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Blog #4: December Blog
December, 2009
Parallel Lives 1
A few weekends ago I went with a group of HUC students to Benyamina in the north of Israel. We had an incredible Shabbaton with a program called Parallel Lives. The program puts together groups of Americans with groups of Israeli soldiers for discussions about Israel, Judaism, and all sorts of other things. We all stayed with volunteer host families in Benyamina. I stayed with a soldier named Santos, who recently made Aliyah from Venezuela, and we were welcomed into our host family's home like we were just another part of the family.
We spent most of our time discussing issues surrounding our relationships to Judaism and Zionism. One debate was about the woman who was arrested a few weeks ago for wearing a tallit at the Kotel, and it got pretty heated. It's a very interesting mix of people, and so it makes for some very interesting discussions. There are soldiers in our group who are orthodox, some who are completely secular, and some are new olim (immigrants). As a result, we get a pretty great mix of views.
Parallel Lives 2
My favorite part of the Shabbaton was going to synagogue on Saturday morning. We were given the option of going to a Reform service at the school in which the program took place, or to the orthodox synagogue in Benyamina. I opted for experiencing the local synagogue, and I'm glad I did. The synagogue is the original one built when the moshavah was established in the 1920's, so it is truly a piece of Zionist history. Rav Kook, the founder of Religious Zionism has prayed in that synagogue. Also, I was the only HUC student to go, so it was a great opportunity to get to know some of the more religious soldiers in a small group atmosphere. In fact, because that service ended earlier, we had a great discussion about the differences between Reform Judaism and what the soldiers are familiar with.
The weekend was a tremendous amount of fun, and I am really glad I went. It is a strange feeling living in a foreign country, but going to school almost exclusively with Americans. As a result, it was nice to take a chance to breathe the fresh air up north, practice my Hebrew, and meet some Israelis who are my age.
Other than that, here in Jerusalem there are sufganyot piled high at every bakery and a giant menorah with a picture of the Labovitcher Rebbe on it in Zion Square, which can only mean one thing: it's Hanukkah! Chag Sameach!
Posted by Josh at 1:05 PM
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