A Post-Midterm Update
More than two months have gone by since I've written here. I can't believe it's been so long - the time has been flying by. Rabbinical school is amazing. I'm having a lot more fun than I expected and am really enjoying the learning (except when we parse Hebrew verbs). The faculty are wonderful and my fellow students are so warm and friendly.
I am taking six classes. I have classes in modern Hebrew, Hebrew grammar, Chumash (the first five books of the Torah), Mishna (the original written form of the Oral Law), philosophy, and Halakhah (Jewish law). The past two weeks I have been extremely busy preparing for midterms in Mishna, Chumash, and Halakhah. Midterm season ended yesterday with much success - I earned a perfect score on my Halakhah. It was a wonderful feeling; I don't think I ever earned a perfect score on any college- or graduate-school level test.
I have classes from Monday through Thursday. My schedule on those days always starts at 7 or 7:15 a.m. with some morning learning followed by morning prayer services until 8:30. Then classes continue throughout the day until 2:30 or 5:15. I spend several hours each evening doing homework (mostly Hebrew) or studying. I have not been able to read many books for pleasure at all since school started and, obviously, I haven't had much time to blog. I do manage to fit a little reading in on Shabbat afternoon but now with Daylight Saving Time having ended, Shabbat ends so early (around 5:30 on Saturday evening), it's not nearly as wonderful as those long summer Shabbat evenings.
Twice a week I have scheduled study-hall time in the Beit Midrash (house of study), the large room we use on campus for our chapel for services and it contains a large library of Talmud and related books. We spend a few hours in there on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, plodding through the Hebrew of the Mishna, trying to understand the debates of the various sages recorded around the year 200 CE. I work with two other students and we really work well together and learn a lot from each other. The Beit Midrash can get pretty loud with all the conversations going on of groups of students but you learn to tune it out and to focus on your study partners and on the text in front of you (and the various dictionaries and reference works all around you).
I have two major papers to write before mid-December. I have papers in philosophy and in Halakhah. I am struggling in philosophy as I have not taken any undergraduate courses in the subject and the writings of the philosophers is perhaps more difficult to understand in English than my other courses are in Hebrew. Nonetheless, I already have two approved paper topics and will be able to start working on them forthwith.
After finals are over, I get to have an interesting winter break. I was selected as one of 25 seminary students nationwide to participate in the American Jewish World Service' annual Rabbinical Students' Delegation. The trip during winter break will be to Ghana, where our group will learn about the work of the AJWS and participate in a development project in a village in Ghana. I'm tremendously excited and looking forward to the trip. The shot for yellow fever, anti-malaria medication, and sleeping under mosquito netting are not thrilling but well worth it. If you're interested in helping to fund my trip, please don't hesitate to contact me! Your gift is a tax-deductible contribution to the AJWS!
Soon I'll be signing up for next semester's classes. The time has blown by quickly. For the summer (I can't believe I have to think that far ahead already), I am considering interning as a chaplain at a major medical center. The program provides training and credit towards Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) certification. I have spoken with several who've done such a program and all have said that it has been one of the most meaningful and important time of their lives. I've been inspired toward doing this type of work since reading about the hospital chaplaincy experiences of rabbinical student Rachel Barenblat on her blog (link takes you to posts about her chapliancy experience) in 2006. Since then, I've had several friends participate in CPE training and experience. I know that it will be challenging but incredibly rewarding to me personally and toward my development as a rabbi.
Otherwise, I haven't been doing much that one might consider "rabbinical." I'm basically just a student in a graduate program learning a lot about the Jewish religion and language. I have occasionally led afternoon services at the Beit Midrash for our campus community and I'm beginning to start leading services in the morning. I have given one very short sermon on a Shabbat morning service on campus but would like to and ought to do such a thing more often. I still haven't performed any weddings (apparently possible as a seminary student in this state.)
This month I'm serving as the Shamash for the Beit Midrash. My Hebrew dictionary defines Shamash as, "attendant, servant, caretaker, lackey, or beadle." And that's exactly what I am this month. My most important duty is to ensure that we have students able to lead all portions of the service every morning and to chant from the Torah on Mondays and Thursdays. This calls for the recruitment of two individuals on Tuesdays and Wednesdays but up to eight people on Mondays and Thursdays. I'm enjoying the job because it gets me talking to far more students than the small group of students I regularly talk to. I've scheduled out the next two weeks so we are almost full coverage-wise through Thanksgiving. The work reminds me of my old job. :)
Shabbat Shalom!
I am taking six classes. I have classes in modern Hebrew, Hebrew grammar, Chumash (the first five books of the Torah), Mishna (the original written form of the Oral Law), philosophy, and Halakhah (Jewish law). The past two weeks I have been extremely busy preparing for midterms in Mishna, Chumash, and Halakhah. Midterm season ended yesterday with much success - I earned a perfect score on my Halakhah. It was a wonderful feeling; I don't think I ever earned a perfect score on any college- or graduate-school level test.
I have classes from Monday through Thursday. My schedule on those days always starts at 7 or 7:15 a.m. with some morning learning followed by morning prayer services until 8:30. Then classes continue throughout the day until 2:30 or 5:15. I spend several hours each evening doing homework (mostly Hebrew) or studying. I have not been able to read many books for pleasure at all since school started and, obviously, I haven't had much time to blog. I do manage to fit a little reading in on Shabbat afternoon but now with Daylight Saving Time having ended, Shabbat ends so early (around 5:30 on Saturday evening), it's not nearly as wonderful as those long summer Shabbat evenings.
Twice a week I have scheduled study-hall time in the Beit Midrash (house of study), the large room we use on campus for our chapel for services and it contains a large library of Talmud and related books. We spend a few hours in there on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, plodding through the Hebrew of the Mishna, trying to understand the debates of the various sages recorded around the year 200 CE. I work with two other students and we really work well together and learn a lot from each other. The Beit Midrash can get pretty loud with all the conversations going on of groups of students but you learn to tune it out and to focus on your study partners and on the text in front of you (and the various dictionaries and reference works all around you).
I have two major papers to write before mid-December. I have papers in philosophy and in Halakhah. I am struggling in philosophy as I have not taken any undergraduate courses in the subject and the writings of the philosophers is perhaps more difficult to understand in English than my other courses are in Hebrew. Nonetheless, I already have two approved paper topics and will be able to start working on them forthwith.
After finals are over, I get to have an interesting winter break. I was selected as one of 25 seminary students nationwide to participate in the American Jewish World Service' annual Rabbinical Students' Delegation. The trip during winter break will be to Ghana, where our group will learn about the work of the AJWS and participate in a development project in a village in Ghana. I'm tremendously excited and looking forward to the trip. The shot for yellow fever, anti-malaria medication, and sleeping under mosquito netting are not thrilling but well worth it. If you're interested in helping to fund my trip, please don't hesitate to contact me! Your gift is a tax-deductible contribution to the AJWS!
Soon I'll be signing up for next semester's classes. The time has blown by quickly. For the summer (I can't believe I have to think that far ahead already), I am considering interning as a chaplain at a major medical center. The program provides training and credit towards Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) certification. I have spoken with several who've done such a program and all have said that it has been one of the most meaningful and important time of their lives. I've been inspired toward doing this type of work since reading about the hospital chaplaincy experiences of rabbinical student Rachel Barenblat on her blog (link takes you to posts about her chapliancy experience) in 2006. Since then, I've had several friends participate in CPE training and experience. I know that it will be challenging but incredibly rewarding to me personally and toward my development as a rabbi.
Otherwise, I haven't been doing much that one might consider "rabbinical." I'm basically just a student in a graduate program learning a lot about the Jewish religion and language. I have occasionally led afternoon services at the Beit Midrash for our campus community and I'm beginning to start leading services in the morning. I have given one very short sermon on a Shabbat morning service on campus but would like to and ought to do such a thing more often. I still haven't performed any weddings (apparently possible as a seminary student in this state.)
This month I'm serving as the Shamash for the Beit Midrash. My Hebrew dictionary defines Shamash as, "attendant, servant, caretaker, lackey, or beadle." And that's exactly what I am this month. My most important duty is to ensure that we have students able to lead all portions of the service every morning and to chant from the Torah on Mondays and Thursdays. This calls for the recruitment of two individuals on Tuesdays and Wednesdays but up to eight people on Mondays and Thursdays. I'm enjoying the job because it gets me talking to far more students than the small group of students I regularly talk to. I've scheduled out the next two weeks so we are almost full coverage-wise through Thanksgiving. The work reminds me of my old job. :)
Shabbat Shalom!
posted by Matt | 11:48 AM
1 Comments:
Thanks for the kind words about my CPE posts! I hope your CPE experience is a blessing for you, as it was for me.
And mazal tov on being selected to go to Ghana! Ghana was the first African nation I visited (my husband lived there for a year, and worked there off and on for several years) and I found the people tremendously friendly and the country absolutely wonderful.
Shabbat shalom!
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