Sunday, July 17, 2011

Album of the Day: "First Day of Class" by Rookie Card

We have a winner! My wonderful brother in law got he answer right: all of the items from yesterday's list were songs from Rookie Card's album, "First Day of Class." And what's the awesome prize? Lunch at my favorite falafel place. Get excited, D.

Yup. It's my first day of class.

In the style of my sister's blog about life in Amsterdam, I'll answer some questions:

Are you excited?
Kinda. I'm glad we will begin learning in earnest instead of just talking about big questions and then processing them. A whole week of that without much substance is pretty tiring. But the summer session is mostly (75%) Hebrew ulpan (intensive). In other words, while we will be learning a lot of good historical context in our biblical history class and the melodies for chanting Torah in our cantillation class, the Hebrew classes will be a stepping stone to learning everything else for the bulk of the remainder of my time in school. So I'm excited to get back to class, as what we learn in Hebrew class will provide a foundation on which to build all other lessons from Rabbinical school. I'll be more excited when we can actually put things on top of that foundation.

How's your Hebrew?
I will be starting in kitah alef (no, not the class with Natalie Portman's new kid), which is the bottom of three levels currently offered. We will have to see how the first week goes, as I will likely apply to move up a level. While I thought my Hebrew skills were better, maybe I really am where I should be. Only time and class experience will tell. איך העברית שלך? If you understood that, let's converse in Hebrew!

Are you getting enough to eat?
Yes, Mom.

How'd you get to be so cute?
You, Mom.

How's the weather?
Hot.

Have you seen Harry Potter?
No, but we're going out this afternoon after classes to see it. I'll post a review here tonight or tomorrow.

Isn't today a big day?
Yes! Not only is it my first day back to school, it's the three year anniversary since I moved back down to San Diego and started dating Sarah again! Wow, what an incredible three years it has been! We're going out to a really nice dinner tonight. I won't be posting a review :)

Will you have homework?
Yeah, probably, but I'm blowing it off tonight to see HP 7.2 and be with my wife :) JUST KIDDING MOM AND DAD! I'M TOTALLY STAYING HOME ALL AFTERNOON AND EVENING AND DOING HOMEWORK.

Do you have nice classmates?
Absolutely! I actually recommend following their blogs (many of them are following this blog, so you can find them on the left side of the page). Each person has such a unique background and brings such incredible spirit to our class. I cannot wait to learn from each person.

Anything else you'd like to add?
Well, in traditional Jewish style, let me answer that question with another question: is there anything else you'd like me to add?

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Contest! Winner Gets Awesome Prize.

The game is simple: name the unifying theme of the following items.
  • Green Glo
  • 2/29
  • Put Your Honey Where My Mouth Is
  • Dear John
  • TEH Typos
  • "...In Bed"
  • Mazzy Starship
  • Last Nite She Was An American Girl
Make your guesses in the comments.

Winner gets an awesome prize. Seriously, it's pretty fantastic. And totally worth your time.

Ready, go!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Our First Morning Service

We began with a song, Ki Va Moed, "the time is now."

We were welcomed by Yoshi and were handed our own copies of Mishkan T’filah, our Movement’s siddur. They are gifts from the editor of the siddur and her husband, whom I have worked with. They’re pretty amazing people. I should write them a thank you note.

We sang Mah Tovu using the tune Adam and I learned from the Matisyahu song, “Father in the Forest.” I know it’s a traditional melody, but that’s where we learned it.

We read the Asher Yatzar blessing, thanking God for making our bodies work correctly. I still need to learn all of these words.

We sang Debbie’s Elohai N’shamah and chanted the chatima*.

We chanted Nisim B’chol Yom, blessings for everyday miracles, using the same trope as on Shabbat. I can’t wait to learn the difference between the weekday and Shabbat nusach (melodies for chanting). Another set of Hebrew I need to learn.

We said the blessing for the study of Torah. Yoshi taught us the root of the word “v’ha’arev-na” is “sweet,” and is also connected to the word for harmony. Seems appropriate.

We sang a selection from Psalm 100, which is not a Psalm of praise or a song of David, as most are. It is a song of thanks. Again, appropriate for this incredible opportunity.

We sang Psalm 150. I thought about how to teach this to religious school aged kids: “How can we praise God?” We used the standard melody, the one that usually doesn’t go through all of the lines, but we do here because, well, we’re gonna be rabbis and cantors and educators and all.

We heard the Chazzanit (female cantor) chant Yishtabach, "You shall always be praised." I thought about how I want to use Dan Nichols’ version for the chatima. It’s pretty awesome and beautiful.

We chanted Chatzi Kaddish, Bar’chu, Yotzeir, and sang the traditional melodies for Ahavah Rabbah. I can't wait to teach Ben's from last year. I gathered the corners of my tallit at the end. I like that custom.

We sang the Sh’ma. I’ve been trying this new thing where I sing and listen to everyone singing the Sh’ma at the same time. It’s really hard. Try it some time. It’s one of the most difficult things I’ve done while praying.

We chanted V’ahavta. I did the same thing I did at the wedding. I looked around and just took stock of the amazing people and voices around me. This is going to be a great year. We did the full V’ahavta. I need to learn that extra paragraph.

We talked about the word “emet," "truth,” and the Israelite experience after crossing the sea. I thought about “truth” and how Apple thinks the truth is in the cloud.

We sang Mi Chamocha using the same melody for Ki Va Moed. It only kinda worked.

As we began the Amidah, I read the commentary at the bottom: “‘Adonai, open my lips that my mouth may declare Your praise; for You have no delight in sacrifice.’” I thought about mussaf and how we don’t do it. “‘If I were to give a burnt offering, You would not be pleased.’” Amen, brother. “According to Midrash, Israel said to God, ‘We are impoverished now that we cannot offer sacrifices.’ God answered, ‘I seek words from you now, as it is written,”Take words with you when you return to your God.”’” I thought about how it really doesn’t matter if you say the right words, or even the words of the siddur. The kavanah, intention, behind those words matter just as much. I thought it was interesting that this commentary was at the beginning of the Amidah instead of at the end, where more personal words are encouraged.

We prayed silently and sang Ken & Yoshi’s Sim Shalom. I was reminded of how wonderful it is to be surrounded by such talent.

Yoshi lead us in some text study from this week’s Torah portion, Pinchas (Num. 25:10-30:1). We read from Num. 27:15-18, “Moses spoke to the Eternal saying, ‘Let the Eternal One, Source of breath of all flesh, appoint an envoy to the community who shall go out before them and come in before them, and who shall take them out and bring them in, so that the Eternal’s community may not be like a sheep that have no shepherd.’ And the Eternal One answered Moses, ‘Single out Joshua son of Nun, an inspired deputy, and lay your hand upon him.’” Although Yoshi focused on the idea of generational leadership and how we are the future leaders of the Jewish people, it started to hit me that going to this school is a big deal. I also was thinking about the first part, that God appoints the leaders of the community. Does this mean that congregational placement committees are doing God’s work for God? Or are they just engaging in God’s work? I thought about Genesis 1:26, when God says “Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness” (for now, let’s not focus on who God was referring to when God says “us” and “our”...maybe there’s a whole Super Best Friends team with God) and later in Genesis 5:1 when “God created human beings, making (them) in the likeness of God.” Maybe engaging in choosing our community's leaders is God-like. Maybe God likes getting those “I voted” stickers too. It’s not a complete thought, but it popped up this morning.

We chanted Aleinu, but we did the top one in Mishkan T’filah that changes the words a bit. It made me, and everyone else, confused. I’m not sure how I feel about that particular liturgical change.

We read Kaddish and I said hello to my chevruta partners**: Dawn, Stanley, Michael, Esther, Nissan, Mark, and Sydelle. I mourned their loss and welcomed them to accompany me on this journey. Most wished me luck. Esther said it in Hebrew, then Yiddish. Mike just smiled.


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*A chatima is the concluding sentence of a blessing, usually starting with "Baruch Atah Adonai," "Blessed are You, God."
**Chevruta literally means "friends," but it is often used as study partners.
Note for those reading this who are not family members, the names at the end are my and Sarah's grandparents who have passed away, some before we were born, some in our lifetime.

Monday, July 11, 2011

First Day of Orientation in the Books

After months (okay, YEARS) of waiting, our first day of HUC-JIR orientation is in the books! While I don't think this forum is necessarily the best place to process everything that we have experienced thus far, I would like to share with you what we did today (we began in the afternoon, so it was a shorter session):
  • After some singing (Recht's Hinei Mah Tov), we shared a l'chaim (literally, "to life" but in this context, a toast) to our journey. We were greeted with words of welcome from our director of the Year-in-Israel program and the director of student services.
  • We joined in some brief text study, applying the following story to our journey together:
    Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananyah taught...I was once on a journey when I noticed a little boy sitting at a cross-road. "By what road," I asked him, "do we go to the town?" - "This one," he replied, "is short but long and that one is long but short." I proceeded along the "short but long" road. When I approached the town I discovered that it was hedged in by gardens and orchards. Turning back I said to him, "My son, did you not tell me that this road was short?" - "And," he replied, "did I not also tell you, 'but long?'" I kissed him upon his head and said to him, "Happy are you, O Israel, all of you are wise, both young and old."
  • We started to learn about each other, our stories of how we got to this point, and an insight to each other's way of thinking.
  • The significant others (SOs) joined us in a "Tastes of Israel" dinner with a full spread of delicious Israeli food. This was followed by birkat hamazon (blessing after the meal). We used my Bencher. People made the connection between the person who edited the Bencher and their classmate. We all realized the potential that we have to affect our Movement.
  • We then walked over to the walls of the Old City, shared in some more study with two professors and began to take in the work we are going to be doing and what it all means. If you didn't realize that we're doing something incredibly sacred, you realized it after tonight.
Now, some sleep before a full day of more orientation!

Lailah tov (good night)!

Video: Our First Jam Session!

On Thursday, Emma and Rachel hosted a jam session at their house. It was absolutely amazing and beautiful. What an incredible way for us to start bonding - over common interest music. Surprisingly, we only did one Jewish song the whole time. I think we realized that we're going to be doing Jewish music all year, so we wanted to do secular songs for this time and just have fun. But writing about it can only tell you so much.

Enjoy the videos!





Shabbat Review: Kesher Birthright (1)

Yes I know, it's been a long time since an update. There's a lot coming up for the blog (with 5 Shabbat reviews, including this one, some HUC events, and some videos) and for us. Tomorrow, we start the week of orientation, and then on Sunday, we begin our summer session. There is much to be said about all of these things, but that will be for another post. For now, on with catching up with the reviews!

Shul: Hotel at Kibbutz Ma'ale HaHamisha (ascent of the five)
Date: May 27, 2011

Description: This was a service I led for a Kesher Birthright trip. Now, all of that has to be taken into account. I led the service, so my observations are from the leader's perspective. It was for a Birthright trip, meaning these are mostly unengaged Jewish young adults embarking on a 10 day journey introducing them to the narrative of Israel. And it was a Kesher group, meaning it was being led from a Reform Jewish angle (right in my comfort zone).

After speaking with the group leaders, I realized that this group would be more reminiscent of my birthright group from last year - they didn't know much about the prayers. Plus, as this was their first full day in Israel, many were lethargic. Because my philosophy of service leading is "da lifnei mi atah omed - know before whom you stand," I decided to make this more of a learner's service, making connections between the prayers and the country that they were about to see. Oh yeah, and we had 25 minutes.

I connected L'cha Dodi to S'fat, which they would be seeing later in the trip. I connected the Sh'ma to the Hebrew, lishmoa, to listen, and encouraged them to listen to each other today and listen to the sounds of the country with open ears throughout their journey. I connected their experience as our version of Mi Chamocha, sung joyfully after crossing the sea, about to enter the promised land (yes, I know they were already in Israel, but they had just arrived and hadn't seen much).

Fortunately, they responded really well! At the dinner after, many came up to me and were asking additional questions about the prayers and t'filah in Israel. It was a beautiful moment and I was so proud that I could help this group of young adults and help them see that services could be something other than "please stand and turn to page 301 as we chant 'O Lord, have mercy on us as we endure the most boring song ever written.'" They saw that services can be engaging. Hopefully, they will take that idea home and connect with their home communities and Hillel's.

Something Special: In the Shabbat Amidah (central section of prayers; central in both location and purpose), 13 of the weekday blessings are replaced with one: K'dushat Hayom, holiness of the day. In this passage, there is a selection from Torah that describes Shabbat during the story of creation (in short, God made a day of rest, so you should too). What stuck out for me was that this passage is also read before the Kiddush on Friday nights, which is the blessing over the wine. In two weeks time, Sarah and I would be hosting our first Shabbat dinner in our home with guests. We had Shabbat at our home before (in San Diego), but it was just the two of us. Now, we would have guests. I thought about these words, and what it would mean to host friends in our home. And it made me feel pretty good about our life here. We're creating a Jewish home. Our grandparents would be so proud.

Take-home Value: If your participants don't know much, teach them instead of chanting at them.

Would I Go Again: Um, yes? I still have more Kesher Birthright services to review and lead!