Hatikvah - A Blog About Life in Rabbinical School

Matt and Jen's blog about their adventures while Matt is in rabbinical school. Hatikvah, the name of the Israeli national anthem, means "the hope." This blog reflects their many hopes and adventures about their experiences during this process.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

School is Soon

There is just a week and a half remaining before school resumes. On Monday, August 25 my class starts a four day-long History Intensive, covering 4000 years of Jewish history. In anticipation of this course, we were instructed to read the 1096-page A History of the Jewish People. I spent several weeks attempting to slog through this tedious book and eventually finished.

I'm excited to meet those who were in Israel last year (none of whom I know) and the incoming freshman class (which includes a few students I know). After the History Intensive, we'll have a nice Shabbat weekend at the dean's house where we'll get to know each other. Then, after Labor Day, the regular schedule begins.

This summer I spent time getting tutored in Hebrew to keep my skills up and I also was tutored in chanting Torah. I will be chanting Torah for the first time next Monday, at a regular weekday minyan in my neighborhood. I also spen the summer finishing studying a masechet (section) of Mishnah with my Hevruta (study partner) Sara. We finished the masechet a few weeks ago and threw ourselves a little party in honor of completing that study, which is a traditional Jewish practice.

Last but certainly not least, this summer was spent helping Jen in her last few months of pregnancy. I was quite busy with errands and other baby-readiness activities. At the end of July, our first child was born. Seven days later, we held his Brit Milah or circumcision ceremony at my university. Since his birth, we've both been fairly exhausted and running ragged, trying to learn to get by on little sleep and how to parent an infant. I look forward to resuming my studies but I will also miss my son. Having the luxury of being home for the first four weeks of his life has been a wonderful blessing.