Wednesday, March 4, 2009

School notes

1) Philosophy midterms suck. In case you ever wondered.

2) I am a true geek because although I don't like actually taking the test, I really do enjoy the reading. The Lonely Man of Faith by Joseph Soloveitchik tackles the dichotomy between personal loneliness and solitude in one's relationship with God, and communal support and understanding (among many other things). It's quite good, even though I DO disagree with many of his conclusions. But - and this is for Chana P. - he is an Orthodox rabbi, so what did I expect? :)

3) I had no idea that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were so similar and yet so different. They all have the same outline, but the details are incongruous and give a hugely contrasting picture to Jesus' life. We've been using the Gospel Parallels in class, which literally has the sections side by side, and it's fascinating. We haven't gotten to the Gospel of John yet, I'm interested to see how it differs. The average Jew does a little bit with of comparison with the Hebrew Bible, for example comparing Kings and Samuel. Is it the same for Christians? Tell me readers, how much does the average Sunday school teach about the way the Gospels are written?

4) Purim is coming up next Monday. I have a walk-on part in the shpiel (play), but I don't know what it is yet. The planners have been lovely about involving me as little as possible, but still making me feel included.

5) Doing my side research project at the American Jewish Archives is turning out to be harder than I thought. I'm using a new carrier, a ring sling, to put him on my hip and sway while I look through documents, but no matter what I do, unless he's sleeping, Xander does not like to be silent as a mouse. It's proving difficult to go in and out of the deathly-quiet Reading Room to nurse, play with him, etc. I'm thinking of finding additional babysitting for when I need to do research. Maybe I should talk to the archivists first to see if they have any ideas.

And - the best news of all, though not school-related - Jeffrey babysat last night, and Jonathan and I went out to dinner!! Xander went down at 7:35 on the dot, Jonathan and I were in the car by 7:40, and the food at the local Mexican restaurant was fabulous.

4 comments:

hollydlr said...

Michal, we learned that about the Gospels in high school - apparently you weren't paying attention in Mrs Schwarz's class... ;) I am sure we didn't go into nearly as much detail then as you are now, but it was definitely covered in Christian Testament...

Glad you were able to get out the other night - I am sure it was a wonderful date! And Jeffery got off easy on the babysitting if Xander was already asleep before you left!

Lastly, I promise to have your wraps in the mail by week's end so you can learn a back carry! Xander is going to LOVE it!!!

Chana P said...

:)
I got mentioned on your blog!!!
I will definitely check out the book - after I finish The Great Gatsby, A Confederacy of Dunces, and Infinite Jest (oh, how I just LOVE ap lit ;)
Adar sameach, v'purim sameach!
-C

Michal said...

Haha, Holly, I do remember parts of it. In fact, I mentioned the Q source in class the other day and I pictured Mrs. Schwarz's handwriting as a big calligraphy Q on the board. But my question is overall, if students don't go to Connelly and similar Catholic schools, do they learn it in church? Like, did you learn about it in Sunday school at Refuge? (And YAY, thanks for the wraps!)

And Chana - I remember that too. All I can tell you is that it DOES get better... just not in the next few months! After May it's going to seem like you have SO much free time.

Unknown said...

I learned about how the gospels were written in high school (catholic school) but I don't remember learning about that in church (though i kinda stopped going to church around junior high school.) I don't think I would have learned anything that in depth though. my church was more focused on the application of biblical teachings to our lives, rather than biblical history.