Thursday, January 28, 2010

Things that made my day

1) When I picked Xander up at daycare, he was playing with a plastic plate in the mock kitchen. The moment he saw me, he immediately broke into a big smile, tossed the plate across the room and started charging forward.

2) One of my profs stopped me in the halls to say, "Hey, Michal, I've got a bad gift for you." I was confused, but followed him up to his office. "You're the only student I've ever had who's been interested in Talmudic realia [context of the time], so I thought you might like this. I just got a reprint." And he rummaged around his desk and handed me a book published in 1912, called The Economic Conditions of Judaea After the Destruction of the Second Temple. How cool!

3) Quote from Dan the rare book librarian: "I'm in this profession because I want to touch the ancestors." It made me stop and think about what he does every day. And you know... he's right.

4) You know that my Bible class that meets in the Rare Book Room? Well, we all just got assigned an unpublished manuscript of the Book of Esther to study. We get to spend half of every Tuesday session to analyze it, and write up a report. Mine is absolutely gorgeous!! It's from Morocco, from the 17th century. :)

5) I took an "Interest Profiler Occupations Report" with Jonathan, for fun. My top jobs at my current educational level are supposed to be Archivist and Graduate Assistant. Both of which I've had, so I guess I'm on the right track! (I don't think "clergy" was an option.) Poor Jonathan, though, he's so in the wrong profession: his top jobs are Reporter, Creative Writer, Curator, or Film Editor.

6) Gisele Bundchen had a water birth, at home in her tub. More of us do it than you think! See here for details.

And last but not least, tomorrow we're going to go do something which makes me feel like such a parent: we're taking Xander to get his passport! Kidlet's going to Israel in a few months, he's gotta be legal.

I love my friends

I'm sitting in the library, at the table *over* from my table, because the rabbi has taken up residence again.

So far, two librarians have come by and given me looks of sympathy.

Then Ben just walked in, glanced at me, and said, "Mmmm.... I think I've got a baseball bat out in the car." Then he walked on. :)

I almost feel sorry for this poor man... he has no idea why he's getting so much animosity!

Edited to add: Jessica just said something similar!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Welcome to the world

Mazel tov to Matt and Erin, on the birth of their son Ayden Micah. 5 lbs, 12 oz, 19in long. I can't wait to meet him!

Now one of my *female* classmates needs to get pregnant. There are quite a few male students out there with kids, but I need a woman to commiserate with. Jessica, Mara, Nicole, Maura, even Stephanie? I know you read this!! Help me out. :)

Monday, January 25, 2010

YES!!!!!!

The rabbi from Columbus left! My library table is mine again!

Oooh, I'm more possessive than I thought....

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Social weekend

Next weekend I'm at my pulpit, so we had to get all our socializing in the past few days, instead. On Friday, Jeffrey and Courtney came over for Shabbat dinner:












What goofy grins.



I'm up high!




Ignore our conversation in the background, we're trying to decide what to order from the Thai restaurant.




The next day:



Dancing. Or prancing, either or. This was at the toy store in the mall. For the first time in his short little life, Xander actually wanted a material object. He saw it and he lit up, and while Jonathan and I browsed, he pushed that toy back and forth and back and forth. It was 50% off, so we bought it for him. But then when we tried to put him back in the stroller, he had a fit! He wouldn't sit quietly until Jonathan walked right next to the stroller, holding it in his hand, showing Xander that no, we weren't leaving his precious toy behind but were taking it with us. The kid knows what he wants, that's for sure.







Then there was today:







After a Dewey's pizza excursion with Rachel and Evan and their year-old son Liam, we went back to our house to play. The picture came out funny - still not quite sure what happened - but here Liam and Xander are "racing" up the stairs. Imagine lots of giggling throughout.

Also, I think there may be some misunderstandings when I said Xander was communicating with us. He doesn't actually speak any words, he uses sign language. So when he wants more food, or something else on his plate, or to sing another song, he'll put his two index fingers together for "more." When he's done eating and wants to get down from the chair, or is bored with an activity and wants to move on, he signs "all done" by raising both hands and waving them side to side. "Food" when he's hungry is touching his fingers to his thumb, and bringing them to his mouth. We use "gentle," too, when he pets the cats. Or, to be more specific, when he half-lies down on top of the cats, or pats their sides. It's really hard to get a video of him doing any of that because the motion is only a split-second. If you want to see, you'll just have to come visit. :)

Saturday, January 23, 2010

The world is very strange

One, Jewish Teenager's Tefillin Disrupts US Airways Flight. A flight attendant panicked seeing him pray, and thought the tefillin was an explosive. Our country's ignorance scares me sometimes. I mean c'mon, I'm not asking you to know the ritual, but when you have a 17 year old nerdy looking kid from New York wearing a shawl and swaying, is he really a terrorist? Watch TV at least. Orthodox Jews are all over the news lately, from the corrupt rabbis in NY to West Bank settlers.

On another interesting note, kids of same-sex couples are now testifying in court for their parents to legally marry. It still strikes me how different the world is now from when I was growing up. I'm a member of COLAGE but that's really all I do in this area. I wonder how much more involved I would have been had I been born ten years later.

And lots of strange personal things to tell about Xander and his development, but for once, I actually have pictures to go along with the stories! Alas, they're not uploaded yet. Tomorrow, tomorrow.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Pros and cons of the last two days

GOOD: Funny interaction in my Missionizing class. We were talking about possible motives for missionaries to convert Jews.

Dr. Cook, speaking as a missionary: "What do you do about Jews who hate you because their people have been tortured in the past by Christians? How do you overcome that hurdle?"

Me, whispered to my neighbor: "Bring chocolate."

Without missing a beat, the prof reaches into his pocket, pulls out a packet of Peanut M&M's, and tosses me one. Now that's timing!


BAD: Xander is getting in his two top molars. Cue whining. We feel sorry for him, but still...


GOOD: In my Bible class last week, a classmate mentioned something about the authenticity of the Bible. I said, randomly, "Wow, Jean, I wrote a whole paper on that, and you summarized it in three sentences. I feel stupid." Well, the professor asked me afterwards what paper it was. I said it was from my first year at HUC in Cincinnati, when we spent a lot of time disproving the historicity of the Bible. I wrote a paper on how I could still maintain Torah as a sacred text if it wasn't historically true. He asked to read it. I said sure, so I emailed to him and forgot about it.

Today, he gave it back. Marked up with more comments than the original professor had given. Then he handed me three handwritten pages on his own musings on sacredness of text, as related to my paper. Then he handed me a photocopied academic article, which he said he had referenced in his response and that he thought I might enjoy reading. I LOVE this man. He is so kind, thoughtful, and respectful - he's exactly the reason I came to HUC.


BAD: I have a cold. Sinus infections suck. So do sore throats.


GOOD: So this youth group, bat mitzvah tutoring, and 2nd grader tutoring I started at my pulpit? Going very well. They really like it. But this directly leads to BAD: I have more work to do now. Ugh.


BAD:
Probably due to his teething, Xander has been an extremely picky eater this week. So you know what we've done? We ask him if he would like pepper. He makes his chirpy sound for yes. We sprinkle a pretty decent amount of pepper on... peas, chicken, potatoes, most things. And GOOD: he still doesn't eat much, but he eats more than before. Our child is weird.


GOOD: The librarian said I could have a carrel at the library. I would usually like this. Except for the fact that she only said it because, BAD: Some random rabbi from Cleveland is in my library spot! For two days in a row! He's writing a book, he says, and he's covered my table completely with books. I don't think he's planning on moving for at least a week. So I camped out in my carrel today. I was not happy. BAD: The carrel has no window.


And let's end on a GOOD note: each student is required to lead services at school about three times a year. One of my days was yesterday. And I had the kids from JELC (Xander's daycare) come in. Everybody sat on the floor and I led a "Tot Shabbat." It was very cute, and I got some great feedback from the other students and profs who were there. I loved the practice, and the kids were adorable!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

News!

I will be working as a chaplain this summer at Good Samaritan Hospital for my CPE unit. It's especially great because it's literally the hospital next door to HUC. So I can still park at school and drop Xander off at daycare, then walk down the hill to work!

Also, we have our tickets for NY in March, for an HUC conference/mini-vacation. Jonathan and Xander are coming with me, and we're going a few days early to hang out in the Big Apple.

Tickets are also in the ether for Israel over Pesach, for me and the toddler. It looks like one week in Holon with Abba and family, one in Arad with Savta and Avraham.

AND I have a new side research job at the AJA, for a woman who's looking up her family genealogy. I spent the afternoon looking through death records and synagogue membership rosters from the early 1900s. Amazing what's out there if you look.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Long-awaited (by some) pictures

Two major Xander events last week: one, SNOW! We had about six inches, so Xander got dressed up in his snowsuit. We made a snowball, "plowed" the driveway with his cart, and watched Osher make paw prints in the snow all over the backyard.



We also went to Liam's first birthday party. He's the son of our friends Rachel and Evan. I'm not posting pictures of the party, again, for privacy reasons - the place was literally "crawling" with kidlets :) - but there are a few cute pics just of us that I feel comfortable sharing. Here's one.


There are too many pictures to post up here, so click on this link for the slideshow.















Jonathan made me put this one up. I am such a dork.


Friday, January 15, 2010

Going private

Hi all,

For a variety of reasons, I have decided to make this blog private. What this means is that as of two days from now, you'll have to put in a password to get in. If you check it from the same computer every time, you can click "remember my password," and the computer will automatically enter the password and then open up the blog, so you won't really notice a difference. The first time you click on it, however, it will prompt you to contact the blog owner - that's me - to ask for the password.

Basically, I just want to know who's reading this, and I'll give the password to anyone who asks. Everyone who reads this should have my email or Facebook, so you all know how to get ahold of me.

If anyone's really frustrated, just let me know and I'll help you out. :)

Edited to add: turns out there's no password - I just add your email to the permission list. So if you can get in and read this, it means I added you already.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Knowing the Hebrew, continued

Well, apparently my question to the prof had a bigger impact than I had realized. He opened today's class with the statement, "Last session, we talked about the syllabus, and what we'll be doing in this class. But we didn't talk about the larger question: WHY are we reading this material in the first place?"

We then had a long conversation on halacha. It's often said that Reform Jews are non-halachic, that we believe in personal autonomy. But that's not quite true. We are not bound by the authority of halacha. But our lives as Jews are still based entirely upon it. It is relevant to us, because everything we do Jewishly revolves around the halachic writings. All the holidays, Jewish customs, and liturgy in Judaism are found in Talmud and post-Talmudic literature. As the prof put it, "The Bible is not a Jewish book until the rabbis got a hold of it. Before that it was simply an Ancient Near East cultic product. Other religions have it too, and they all interpret it differently. The rabbinic interpretation of it is what the Bible Jewish." We light Shabbat candles, have a chuppah at weddings, have a Seder plate at Passover, etc. We can't conceive of ourselves as Jews without halachic practices.

The opening words of the Columbus Platform in 1937, a statement put out by that era's Union of Reform Judaism, says that "Judaism is the historical religious experience of the Jewish people." The question at the heart of every Jew throughout history has been, how do we structure our lives so that we live them in accordance with God's will? We already know that the greatest energy of Jewish minds over the last 1500 years has been put into interpreting Biblical law, to creating this daily and communal life structure. We consider ourselves today to be the heirs to a Jewish historical experience, to be the latest link in a chain of tradition. But if we ignore halacha, we are denying that experience. We are creating a new experience for ourselves. It may be valid, but it's not historical.

Why do we study it in the Hebrew, specifically? For the same reasons that we want our physician to be aware of WebMD, but not base their entire knowledge of medicine upon it. The seminary balances the sheer amount of knowledge we can possibly learn in five years, with the want to be familiar with the source of that knowledge. Most people in our congregations won't know all the sources. But we need to, because we, as rabbis, are their conduit to Jewish culture and knowledge. It's not enough to simply know the rules of kashrut, for example. We need to know where they come from, and be able to read the original laws, because we, as rabbis (and as Jews) gain our authority from text. What does it say about us if our knowledge of text is second- or third-hand, gained only from a compendium? We would lose self-respect, as well as the respect of our congregants.

I have to say, I find all this fascinating. It also strikes a cord in terms of better understanding interfaith relations, because it contrasts so strongly with what I've been learning while doing my side research job. Although Christianity's structure depends quite a bit on the works of the early church fathers, much of Protestantism, at least, is Bible-based alone. A catchphrase of Martin Luther was "sola fide," through "faith alone" can people be saved. Well, to Lutherans, that faith is accessible through the Bible alone. I never realized before what a major difference that was between religions. This concept is foreign to Jews. We don't, and CAN'T, have the Bible without the commentary. (Who's ever seen a Tanach in a pew that was the text by itself, not in a Plaut commentary? Who's ever read Talmud without Rashi?) The rabbinic texts, not the Biblical texts, are what make us Jewish. So in order to be a rabbi, I need to know what the rabbis said. And in order to do that, I have to know the Hebrew, and be educated in a wide swath of material that spans the centuries.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Spring semester

Let me start by saying I'm too tired to put in links to all the phrases, sorry. But this semester I'm taking Homiletics (sermon-writing), Human Relations, Commentaries, Post-Talmudic Halachic Literature, Masoretic Text, and Missionaries. Commentaries is what we call a "text class," reading in Hebrew all the medieval people who have commented on the Torah and Talmud (think Rashi and Maimonides). PTHL is also text, and it's on Jewish law codes after the 500s (think Mishneh Torah, Shulchan Aruch, the Tur).

It's easy to tell that Masoretic Text will be my favorite class this semester. The masorah is every dot and dash and chapter or section break in the Bible, basically everything except the actual letters. A group of people called the Masoretes put those in from 500-900, and an Archbishop named Langdon divided the Bible into chapters in the 1200s. Now, what better way to study the history of the Bible, then to look at all the Bibles throughout history? SO... this class meets in the Rare Book Room of the library! We're actually going to be handling all these original books! I already got to pore over a Bible from the 1500s that had the original binding. Amazing.

Missionaries is all about combating... you guessed it.... Christian missionaries, and learning about Messianic Jews, Jews for Jesus, and the theology/motivations/Bible prooftexting used by Christians. The professor is quite funny, and the session goes by quickly.

Commentaries and Codes, however, have sparked an internal debate. We're reading all of these things in the original Hebrew. On one hand, I understand this: as rabbis we're expected to have a firm handle on Jewish traditional texts, and be able to decipher everything. Most things aren't translated, so we need to learn how to read it ourselves, and not count on a translation.

On the other hand, how often am I, in the field, going to be studying or teaching a medieval or 18th century untranslated text? I can pretty much guarantee that most adult education classes I teach will be in English, and will be utilizing the English translation of a commentary. Maybe I'll use it in a sermon one day? I mean, I can look up all the halacha, all the laws, in one of the numerous English collections out there. What is the value of finding the original? Why shouldn't I read commentaries in English?

I feel disloyal saying this, like I'm betraying my academic side. Of course we should be able to read the original! Then again, the time I spend learning to do that is time I'm not spending on something else I may consider more practical. When I brought this up to one of the professors, he made a vague comment that basically said, I didn't have the authority to determine what was important to know or not, that the curriculum was giving us the background to be educated rabbis.

So I ask you: what do you expect from your rabbis, or religious leaders? Do you want us to know things that may be irrelevant to Reform Jewish life (or reform Catholic, or Lutheran life), even if we don't teach about them in detail? I have a feeling the answer is yes. This depresses me, because it means I'll be spending a LOT of time looking in a dictionary this semester.

To end on an totally different note: this week is HUC admissions interviews, and prospective candidates are taking their Hebrew exams in the library. Yesterday when I walked in I saw three people sitting at tables near the front, looking stressed and erasing vigorously. I passed them and went to my usual spot in the back. A half hour later, the library director came by to say hello. "There was some talk of putting the test-takers at this table," he said. "But then we said, we can't do that! That's Michal's personal desk!" He totally made my day.

Lastly, check out this article from the NY Times, "The Tel Aviv Cluster." Interesting!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

XANDER IS WALKING!

And walking TONS. He actually even tried to run at one point, but fell over his feet.

AND he got moved from the infant to the pre-toddler room at daycare. Our little baby is growing up!

Videos and pics to follow.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Pom-pom eulogy


What you can't see in this picture is the pom-pom in the back of the hat. The pom-pom made the hat. It defined the hat. It transformed the hat from being merely cute to being full-on unique.

And now.. I almost can't write it... the pom-pom is gone. I tugged the hat off my head the other day, and the poor put-upon pom-pom fell off right into my hand. I gasped, and stared at it in shock and horror. No! The travesty! It couldn't be! But it was. The pom-pom was no more. It was unsalvagable. I ceremoniously threw it in the trash, and sniffed.

The hat remains. But it looks sad, and forlorn. Whisps of pom-pom yarn trail from the top, as if in memory.

Pom-pom, I shall miss you, and think of you often. I now wear my red hat in your honor. It has a red pom-pom. But it shall never be the same.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Home, home on the range

Where the kids, and the kii-iities play....


I just got home from a GREAT pulpit visit. I started up a new youth social program today, and also set up two new students, a six year old and a bat mitzvah student. That, plus my Adult Education makes for a much busier Saturday than before. I like these new programs though, I feel that I'm really making a difference in the life of the congregation.

It was so sweet, whenever I called home Jonathan would put the phone on speaker and I would hear Xander babbling in the background. I sang a couple of songs, and apparently he would take the phone from Jonathan and put it to his ear. :)

When I got home today we had fun going to Sarah's birthday party. And Xander walked all by himself while there! He took about five steps then grasped onto a chair for dear life. We can tell he's growing up... he figured out how to open the door to his room (which means he cries outside our door now in the morning, rather than inside his room). And my favorite, he's into dips. I.e., the rare time we were at McDonald's today Jonathan was eating chicken nuggets with sweet and sour sauce. Xander wanted a nugget over his apples (of course), so we gave it to him. But he refused to eat it unless it was properly dipped like Daddy's.

Random shout-out by the way - hello to Rebecca in Urbana, and to my dad in Israel. I wonder who else reads this blog that I don't know about?

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Quote of the day

From the school dean, in regards to my upcoming sermon:

"You don't have to believe what you teach. But you have to believe what you inspire."

Monday, January 4, 2010

Pictures from Bubby's visit







Lynn and the Shabbat candlestick






Drinking from the Kiddush cup



















Jan spent a lot of time with him playing, cooking (Xander helped stir jello and scramble eggs), doing errands, etc - but since Jonathan was sick, we realized that we have barely any pictures!





















Three cheers for the musical toy!










Part one.










Part two.

2010 off to a great start

Xander took three more steps to me today! Yayness. He also stands up, then looks around, realizes what he's doing, and falls down. Oh yes, and at lunch yesterday he said "wa-ta" for water, reaching for his sippy cup. Between that, "mamamamama" and "dadadada" he seems to have quite the toddler vocabulary going.

Mom and Lynn left last week, without finishing our Harry Potter marathon. I know, the nerve of them! (They finished watching movies 5 and 6 in Long Beach.) They headed out on the 30th, so our New Year's was very low-key. We stayed in, watched more of Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica, and went to bed right after midnight. The next day, I celebrated by totally reorganizing my bookshelves with all the new books Jan brought. You may think I'm weird, but it was so much fun, I wanted to start over fresh for 2010! (Kudos to Sheryl, again, for the library recs.)

Speaking of books, I know I was on vacation, because I was able to finish two novels. The first was Rise and Shine, by Anna Quindlen, she of Newsweek column fame. It was decent. Not fabulous, but an enjoyable read. It's the tale of a relationship between two sisters, one immensely rich and famous in Manhattan, one working at a homeless shelter in the Bronx. It's also a good class commentary, with a sobering glance into what it's like to live the towncar NY lifestyle, as well as what it means to be poor.

The second book was Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood, by Michael Lewis. I thought it was only so-so. Maybe because I'm not a guy? I'm not sure. I just didn't particularly like his fathering style at all, so it turned me off. When I read some parts to Jonathan though he seemed much more sympathetic and laughed out loud, so don't take my word for it. It's a collection of essays and anecdotes that were originally published in Slate magazine (I think), and some are better than others.

School started up again today, in an intensive four-day class called "The Power of Storytelling." It's been great so far. This weekend is my pulpit, and next week starts spring semester, for real. Wish me luck!