Today was jam-packed with goodies - classes were awesome, as they are on Mondays and Wednesdays, and after classes was another fun night in town.
I actually had two shalom bayit classes today - one in the morning with a group, and one in the afternoon, privately with the Rebbetzin who wrote the book on Shalom Bayit - literally. She wrote a book called "Dear Kallah," which I haven't read yet, but basically, she knows what she's talking about.
She said a few things I didn't totally agree with, like, the man is king of the castle - and you can't ever criticize your husband, but she said a lot of things that sounded like good advice. Like, respect, acceptance, and loyalty are the most important things in a marriage, and you need to start thinking in terms of "we." She told me about this book called "The Surrendered Wife" which was written by an ex-feminist. She apparently used such a controversial title to get people to buy the book - I guess it worked. Don't know if I'll read it though.
The rest of the classes were good (we're still learning the halacha of muktsa), and we had an interesting discussion about death in a statement of Pirei Avot. After classes were over, Francesca, a girl I know from New York, and I went down to town. I went to the shuk to get this picture I really wanted, and they went to Mea Shearim. I found the picture place in the shuk okay, but when I got there, the man who owns the store wasn't there, and some punk Israeli chick was. I told her in very broken Hebrew which picture I wanted - the view from the back of the prayer area of the Kotel with the bride on one side and the groom on the other - and she told me that they only had it in the small size. I wasn't terribly thrilled about it, but the small size of the picture is better than no picture at all. And, since I didn't spend as much money on the picture as I expected to, I bought myself a fun Israeli scarf.
I met back up with Francesca and Sari (the girl I know from NY) she went off to meet her friends, and Francesca and I went to the Kotel to do some quality davening. After we finished davening, we noticed a large amount of soldiers standing around at attention. They all sang HaTikvah (the Israeli national anthem) while they were looking at the flag, and they saluted and cheered towards the Kotel. It was really moving, and we saw some female soldiers wearing army green colored skirts! I guess that's what they do for religious girls in the army...
After the kotel, we planned on going to this yummy bakery/restaurant to get the exploding chocolate pudding thing, but they didn't have them tonight. Being disappointed, we went down to the next store where they sell Bagel Toasts. A bagel toast is basically a bagel, with stuff on it, shoved in a panini toaster and flattened like there's no tomorrow. It's delicious. Unfortuately, this place was closing and wasn't making any more bagel toasts. 0 for 2. So we go to Cafe Hillel, Francesca got her chocolate exploding pudding cake, that came with a side of ice cream, and I got myself a half sandwich of goat cheese and roasted red pepper with a glass of Limonada (Fresh Lemonade).
After being very satisfied, we headed to the bus stop. The bus made it usual route, with one extra stop... Apparently the bus driver wanted pizza, because we stopped by the shopping center with the pizza place. We thought he just saw someone he knew and was saying hi, which is weird enough for a public bus to do, but then the guy went in the store and brought out a slice of pizza! It was crazy. Talk about drive through service. I couldn't imagine a bus driver in New York pulling that shtick and getting away with it. The passengers in Israel just accept that as part of the deal - the bus driver will take you where you're supposed to go, but he may make a stop to deal some drugs, say hi to friends, or buy some pizza.
Showing posts with label chocolate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chocolate. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Living and Learning in skirts
I woke up, got ready, totally not excited about the long trek up the stairs to She'arim, but actually excited about classes starting. I'm not going to go into the details of each class, but I'll mention some of the good stuff, that is, if I remember it.
The first class I was in was way above my level - we were reading from the Chumash (Torah) and then reading commentary by Rashi - okay, so Rashi kind of writes in his own language and isn't exactly easy to read. Most people actually take a course just on learning how to read Rashi commentary. I have never taken such a course, so I had no idea what was going on. After the class, I switched into the less difficult level, and things were much easier for me. They were still challenging, but it the nice, sort of self-satisfying way.
Going to seminary is an interesting experience for may reasons; the class schedule, the class topic, and the actual place that is seminary. Let me explain.
She'arim is in Har Nof, if you haven't figured that out from my blog yet, and Har Nof is an extremely frummy (religious) town. When I signed up for She'arim, I was told that I should dress modestly, which I figured, since I'd be going to a yeshivah - but also, that I should really dress modestly to respect those living in Har Nof. As in, don't offend the people who live here with your exposed elbows or pants. Granted, it's winter, and I wasn't planning on exposing much of anything to the cold, but, the mere fact that I'm forced to wear a skirt was a little difficult for me to chew. I know it's fickle and shallow, but I really like the fact that I feel comfortable in pants. I don't plan on wearing only skirts every day, and I don't like the fact that I can't walk around my neighborhood in pants because I might offend someone. I don't mind wearing a skirt for the purpose of yeshivah, but when I come home, I want to wear my pants and be happy. That's the first interesting thing.
The schedule of classes is long. Classes start at 8:30, and don't end until 5:30. We get an hour for lunch at 1, and that's our only real break. It's a long day packed with tons of topics - and even the way you do learning is interesting... We'll spend an hour on one topic - I mean we could spend hours and days on one topic... The whole point is to learn as much as possible - and since there are so many rabbis and teachers who have already studied this topic, we get to study those other rabbis' thoughts and research on each topic as well. The classes are well thought out - and each teacher does a bit of speaking, and makes each class interactive.
The main thing that I like about She'arim, is that it doesn't feel at all like they're trying to get you to be more religious - they're giving you topics to learn - they're giving you information, knowledge, and intellectual stimulation. It isn't all halacha (Jewish law) classes - it's about kindness, Women in the Torah, Perkei Avot, Interpersonal Relationships - it's really a good variety of topics that keep you interested and engaged in all of the classes. And many of them give practical applications for the things we learn. It's really interesting and useful.
Sunday's classes were good, but slightly overwhelming, as it was my first day in Yeshivah EVER, but the day went by quickly and I took notes, so I can go back and re-learn what I was trying to learn in class. After class, a few of my apartment mates decided to go down to the Old City. We went to the kotel, davened Ma'ariv (night-time prayer) and walked around, looking at all the beautiful expensive apartments that rich Americans and Anglos live in. The Old City is exactly that - OLD. The Kotel (western wall) has been there for thousands of years, and although it's still standing up just fine, it looks old. I had a spiritual experience there, and we all enjoyed our time. We then went to get dinner, and found this really great cafe with great dairy sandwiches and baked goods. We each got a sandwich and a salad for 39 shekels (about $10) and then each got a hot chocolate muffin-sized cake with chocolate pudding in the middle. OH GOODNESS, it was the best tasting dessert I ever had in my life. I was a happy happy girl, and even though I was full halfway through, I finished it all. It was sooo worth it.
The first class I was in was way above my level - we were reading from the Chumash (Torah) and then reading commentary by Rashi - okay, so Rashi kind of writes in his own language and isn't exactly easy to read. Most people actually take a course just on learning how to read Rashi commentary. I have never taken such a course, so I had no idea what was going on. After the class, I switched into the less difficult level, and things were much easier for me. They were still challenging, but it the nice, sort of self-satisfying way.
Going to seminary is an interesting experience for may reasons; the class schedule, the class topic, and the actual place that is seminary. Let me explain.
She'arim is in Har Nof, if you haven't figured that out from my blog yet, and Har Nof is an extremely frummy (religious) town. When I signed up for She'arim, I was told that I should dress modestly, which I figured, since I'd be going to a yeshivah - but also, that I should really dress modestly to respect those living in Har Nof. As in, don't offend the people who live here with your exposed elbows or pants. Granted, it's winter, and I wasn't planning on exposing much of anything to the cold, but, the mere fact that I'm forced to wear a skirt was a little difficult for me to chew. I know it's fickle and shallow, but I really like the fact that I feel comfortable in pants. I don't plan on wearing only skirts every day, and I don't like the fact that I can't walk around my neighborhood in pants because I might offend someone. I don't mind wearing a skirt for the purpose of yeshivah, but when I come home, I want to wear my pants and be happy. That's the first interesting thing.
The schedule of classes is long. Classes start at 8:30, and don't end until 5:30. We get an hour for lunch at 1, and that's our only real break. It's a long day packed with tons of topics - and even the way you do learning is interesting... We'll spend an hour on one topic - I mean we could spend hours and days on one topic... The whole point is to learn as much as possible - and since there are so many rabbis and teachers who have already studied this topic, we get to study those other rabbis' thoughts and research on each topic as well. The classes are well thought out - and each teacher does a bit of speaking, and makes each class interactive.
The main thing that I like about She'arim, is that it doesn't feel at all like they're trying to get you to be more religious - they're giving you topics to learn - they're giving you information, knowledge, and intellectual stimulation. It isn't all halacha (Jewish law) classes - it's about kindness, Women in the Torah, Perkei Avot, Interpersonal Relationships - it's really a good variety of topics that keep you interested and engaged in all of the classes. And many of them give practical applications for the things we learn. It's really interesting and useful.
Sunday's classes were good, but slightly overwhelming, as it was my first day in Yeshivah EVER, but the day went by quickly and I took notes, so I can go back and re-learn what I was trying to learn in class. After class, a few of my apartment mates decided to go down to the Old City. We went to the kotel, davened Ma'ariv (night-time prayer) and walked around, looking at all the beautiful expensive apartments that rich Americans and Anglos live in. The Old City is exactly that - OLD. The Kotel (western wall) has been there for thousands of years, and although it's still standing up just fine, it looks old. I had a spiritual experience there, and we all enjoyed our time. We then went to get dinner, and found this really great cafe with great dairy sandwiches and baked goods. We each got a sandwich and a salad for 39 shekels (about $10) and then each got a hot chocolate muffin-sized cake with chocolate pudding in the middle. OH GOODNESS, it was the best tasting dessert I ever had in my life. I was a happy happy girl, and even though I was full halfway through, I finished it all. It was sooo worth it.
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