It's been a long night of Hebrew homework, so I need a break in English! Apologies in advance...my English grammar seems to suffer when I've been working in Hebrew for a while!
I had another great Shabbat here over the weekend. Friday night a small group of us went to Yikar, a modern Orthodox synagogue with a service using mostly Carlebach tunes. I enjoyed the singing itself, but the room was really crowded, and many of the people attending services were much younger than us, probably around 18, which made for an odd environment. Also, because it was an Orthodox synagogue, there was a mechitza separating the men and women. I don't generally like praying that way, because the women's side always feels like more of a social gathering than a place to pray. It was an interesting experience though, and I was proud of myself for being able to (mostly) keep up and follow along with the all-Hebrew service! After dinner I went to a friend's for dinner and it was delicious, and as usual, went long into the night. I slept in Saturday morning, went to a friend's for lunch with a big group, stayed there for a lot of the afternoon, and then came home for a relaxing late-afternoon and a Hebrew-homework-filled evening.
This week, in addition to Hebrew class, we had our first committee meetings on Sunday. We're all "strongly encouraged" to join one of several committees to help plan events. The committees are: sports, fun, prayer, caring (to acknowledge birthdays and help sick people), tzedakah, and something else I can't remember right now. I joined the prayer committee, in part because I really want the experience, and in part because I knew several other people who would be joining that committee, and I realize that these groups really function 95% based on who else is in them. I didn't know core groups joining any of the other committees, so I went with what I knew! I have also really been enjoying the optional morning services several times a week. They are usually attended by between 10 and 20 of us, and it's just a good group and a great way to start the day before class. I even chanted Torah on Monday morning! Many of the optional service regulars joined the prayer committee. It looks like a great group, and I'm looking forward to many debates and much learning among us.
Today after Ulpan we had a tzedakah presentation by Danny Siegel, who is somewhat well known (and from Rockville) for running an enormous conglomeration of social action projects. I wasn't so excited about the presentation going in, but he turned out to be fairly inspiring, and I'm looking forward to choosing a project to get involved with! (We are actually required to do social action projects, several hours per week, for the year. I'll keep you posted on what I choose.)
After the presentation, the school had, at students' requests, organized a blood drive with Magen David Adom, the Israeli Red Cross. They came to the school to run the drive. Between being terrified of needles and having had trouble in the past with people finding my veins in my arms, I decided it was a bad idea to donate blood today, but I really wanted to help. I ended up staying for the whole three hours of the drive and just walking around, holding hands when needles went in, talking to people as they squeezed the little ball to make the blood flow, and getting juice and cookies when they finished. I was really upset with myself at the beginning for not being able to actually donate, but by the end, I felt like I had really taken part in the drive.
Tonight's other accomplishment was getting through a very long Hebrew story that we had to read for homework. I looked up a rather embarrassingly large number of words in the dictionary, but I'm feeling good that I understand the story! It's a good feeling, and I'm almost looking forward to going over it in class tomorrow.
I'm currently having a debate with myself. Wednesday night and Thursday this week are Tisha B'Av, a commemeration of a multitude of bad things that have happened to the Jews, theoretically all on this day, including the destructions of the Temples. Traditionally, it is a fast day. But I'm living in a desert, there is an optional walk to the Kotel Wednesday night (which I won't do if I fast), and there is a day of services and studying, followed by a trip to the Israel museum on Thursday. I'm trying to decide whether I should fast. (I know, I have to decide...fast.) Right now I'm leaning toward not fasting, because I may have a more meaningful day if I can pay attention to it and be alert all day, but I also feel like I'm in a city where a huge portion of the city will be fasting, so I might feel weird by not doing so. Although I'm in a smaller community where fasting would probably put me in the minority. Clearly, I'm not sure. Thoughts?
Off to make some flashcards and then to bed... I hope everyone is having a good week!
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2 comments:
I vote for not fasting. Half because I think you'll get more out of an activity-filled day that way; half because I know you love food; and half because if there was Manna in the desert two thousand years ago, then there should be food on your plate in the desert (i.e., Israel) today. Yes, that's three halves...problem with that?
Just to prove you love to eat, I refer readers to the second paragraph of the blog: "After dinner I went to a friend's for dinner and it was delicious..." See, you even loved the second dinner, and you're gonna voluntarily pass on food for an entire day?! Meshugana!
Hmm.. peer pressure fasting... "the whole city is doing it so I should too." I guess my theory is that peer pressure stinks. Don't fast because the whole city is doing it and don't *not* fast because your community is not fasting. I guess what I've found is that truly as an adult the most peer pressure I've had has been around food. I'd say, pray about it, figure out what would be most meaningful to you, but look from the inside, not the outside, to find that answer. Love you and miss you, angel.
Knish
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