Last Weekend

Last weekend was entirely out of the ordinary.

On Friday, I had the opportunity to spend an hour speaking to a group of seniors a their weekly pre-Shabbat gathering at a local Jewish Community Center. It was my first time speaking to a Jewish audience as a rabbinical student. It was my first time being called "rabbi" even though they knew very well that I was just a student. Nonetheless, it was an humbling feeling, being given such a title and being seen in that role for the first time. Indeed, most of the time a rabbi does come to speak to them each week and I was asked by a rabbi at my school to attend in his place. I am grateful for the opportunity and hope to have such an opportunity again soon. I spoke about my trip to Ukraine, about rabbinical school, and about the week's Torah portion. I had additional material about Thanksgiving but my talking and their questions on the first three topics used up the time. I was also asked to make the blessings over wine and bread after a member of the community blessed the Shabbat candles. Finally, I was asked to bless a women who was celebrating her 99th birthday. I utilized the traditional "priestly blessing" found in Numbers 6:24-27 to bless the woman. I think it went over very well.

On Friday night I went to services at a Very Big Synagogue nearby. They had a special musical service for children. I didn't know that was happening. The tunes were interesting - I had not heard a single one before. I was somewhat disturbed by the children's play area to the side where I saw children happily coloring and drawing pictures. Yes folks, drawing and coloring on Shabbat, when writing is absolutely positively forbidden (or should be at least inside the synagogue). To top it off, some kids had created hand-made signs offering their services as babysitters which they were taping to walls during the service. Tacky, yet entirely inappropriate. I went home feeling dirty.

On Saturday morning I went to a new place for services, a place that several of my fellow students swear by as the best service in all of Southern California, if not the world. Maybe these overly high expectations caused me not to be overly impressed. It was good but it wasn't overwhelmingly awesome. I'll go back but it was difficult to park. :)

Late Saturday was not so good. I was planning on going to a healing service in the afternoon dedicated to a fellow student who had been suffering from leukemia since January. When I arrived at the afternoon service, I was informed that he had died that morning. After experiencing total shock, the afternoon service began in a very mournful mood, with many students and faculty hearing the news for the first time that Shabbat afternoon. I did not know Joel but I had met his wife and three young children. I was grieving for his family and for my community, which was in such a complete state of sorrow. One of our deans led the afternoon service and then we sang Psalms until the evening and end of Shabbat service, which was led by another faculty member. Fellow student P. has more about Joel, may his memory be a blessing, on her blog.

My late Saturday night and Sunday were nothing like I expected in light of this devastating news. Sunday morning I worked as a substitute teacher at the large regional Hebrew high school - a supplemental school for area Jewish students. I was substituting for a friend of mine who was attending a wedding in New York. Her class covers the Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers), a collection of ethical sayings by the sages, collected in the Mishna. She teaches a few dozen ninth graders. It's been a few years since I've encountered a gaggle of 9th graders. Probably since I was in 9th grade myself. She teaches four 50-minute periods of the same thing to these 9th graders. First period was a huge challenge. By fourth period, I was a pro! That ended around noon and I went home and really couldn't concentrate. On Saturday night I thought I would be able to attend Joel's funeral but found out later that it was going to be held in Dallas on Monday.

Nonetheless, a memorial service was scheduled for Monday at school. It was a wonderful service, led by the dean and attended by one hundred. The dean and other rabbis and rabbinical students spoke about Joel. The memorial on our campus was occurring simultaneously with his funeral in Texas.

And now it is the eve of Thanksgiving and since the end of the semester is not that far away, I have to spend the holiday weekend studying, writing papers, and doing homework because I just couldn't get anything done last weekend.

Driving

I struggle with driving on Shabbat. In traditional circles, driving is not permitted on Shabbat because of the Shabbat prohibition against lighting fire (which a combustion engine most certainly does), the prohibition against carrying, the fear of what would happen if one were to break down (and possibly repair something, also a prohibition), and the limit on travel distances (one may not travel about more than 2000 cubits beyond the edge of the city).

Nearly all my fellow first-year students do not drive on Shabbat. However, all three of the oldest students in my class (myself included) do drive. Many of the graduating "seniors" who have families and children and, along with the three of us elders of the freshman class, don't live in the Jewish neighborhood known as Pico-Robertson, also drive. All last year I was in Jerusalem and walked. Walking on Shabbat is a fantastic experience and is an essential part of a complete Shabbat. Moving to Southern California has resulted in a change to driving on Shabbat. I don't like to drive because I agree with the prohibitions and feel it disrupts the sanctity of Shabbat, especially in L.A. traffic. Nonetheless, a few decades ago the Conservative Movement of Judaism permitted driving to synagogue when necessary.

When I drive I often drive into Pico-Roberston to go to Shabbat services at places frequented by my classmates, like the Library Minyan, PicoEgal, or IKAR. I also drive to other synagogues to see varieties in Shabbat services. The past two Shabbats I drove to synagogues to hear fantastic scholar-in-residences - incredible speakers who gave amazing lectures that I'm so glad I did not miss.

I've spoken with quite a few rabbis about my driving and for now, they say it is important for me as a rabbi-to-be to have different educational Shabbat experiences. One rabbi last night asked me if fellow students were coming to hear the scholar-in-residence and I told the rabbi that they almost all drive. The rabbi was disappointed and replied that it was important for rabbinical students to drive to hear such an important scholar who had come from Israel to speak.

So, for now, I drive and have a wide variety of Shabbat experiences and am learning a lot as I visit various local congregations on Shabbat. Time will tell how I continue to struggle with my desire to explore Shabbat opportunities versus my discomfort with driving.

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!