I see skies of blue, clouds of white...

What a Wonderful World (ai-zeh a-chlah o-lam) איזה אחלה עולם

As Shabbat has come to a close, I have had an opportunity to reflect on the past week. It has been overwhelming and wonderful at the same time. We started school this week, which is really only three classes at this point: Ulpan (intensive Hebrew), Cantillation (Torah trope), and Biblical Archeology. Growing up there was always this ritual in my house that a picture was taken of each of us (Myself, Zak and Carrie) on the first day of school. This has been a tradition that while we always followed begrudgingly, I have come to appreciate, and is also something that has become somewhat entertaining over the years. It is hard to believe that after starting my journey so many years ago at Beatrice Glasser Preschool, I have just started school for what I think will be my last degree (although no guarantees in the Wainer family)!

First day of preschool from when I was about 4

Me on my first day of graduate school! I have had pictures taken every year on my first day of school (usually courtesy  of my mother, in front of the big tree at our house). Since she wasn't here this year to take a picture, I thought I would take one to share with everyone else! 

This ulpan is structured very similarly to that of Hebrew University's ulpan that I did when I studied abroad here in 2009. The only difference is that there each level had it's own class. Since we are a very small but mighty class we only have three ulpan classes. Level One is Aleph/Low Bet, Level Two is High Bet/Gimmel, and Level Three is Daled/Hey. I am currently in level two. This past week has generally been a review of what I have already learned in my past Hebrew classes, however, I felt that it would be most beneficial for me to have the review and really make sure that I have a solid foundation of understanding the material before I move on to newer and more challenging course work. Our cantillation class is divided up into two: those who have can read music/already know some trope and those who are just beginning. I am in the class for those who can read music/already know some trope. It was definitely helpful that I spent time teaching trope to my 5th grade class last year, especially since our final is having to chant the full Shema (which is what we used to teach our kids last year). 

The last class that I am taking this semester is Biblical Archaeology. The greatest and most unique thing about this class is that not only learning the Biblical history and archaeology of Israel but I get to do it while standing in the actual locations that these events took place. For instance, our field trip this past week went to the Haas Promenade/Tayellet and to Ramat Rachel. From these places we learned about why it might have been that Jerusalem, and more specifically the City of David, were built where they were (since it doesn't necessarily initially make sense that a city would be built in a valley when it could be built on a neighboring much taller mountain). 

The ancient city of Jerusalem, as it currently stands, surrounded by the more modern day Jerusalem

We also got to see some ruins from an ancient city that has yet to be determined it's exact nature and origins. It is one of the few excavations that have been done in Israel in which archaeologists have not been able to exactly what city this used to be. 

A monument at Ramat Rachel. The artist left no description of what it means. What do you think it means?

Some of the ancient ruins at Ramat Rachel. The sculpture in the back  is  done by the same artist who created the monument above. 

On Friday, a large number of my classmates and I spent the day in Tel Aviv. While most people went to the beach, a few of us went to explore a part of Tel Aviv called Neve Tzedek. There is a psychologist there who has worked with many people at HUC and she kindly invited us into her home and also gave us a personal tour around the area. The original area of Neve Tzedek was only three blocks wide, and was home to some very famous Israelis including the author S.Y. Agnon.

One of the colorful apartments in Neve Tzedek.

The highlight of our day in Tel Aviv was attending services on the נמל (port). These are services that are affiliated with the Reform synagogue Beit Daniel. In traditional Jewish prayer, people face in whatever direction is facing Jerusalem. For us from North America, we always face east (except for at Oak Park Temple). However, at these services we faced the Mediterranean Sea. Whether this was a political statement, or just so that all of those attending could watch the beautiful sunset during Kabbalt Services, I will never know, however, it was generally a very interesting service to attend.

It seemed to be almost more of a performance or event, rather than a service, however, it is one of the few places in the world where Kabbalat services can be held and people will drive an hour from Jerusalem to join, and others will have just gotten out of the Mediterranean Sea and have joined just because they recognized the melody. Throughout the service there were many melodies of prayers that I recognized, and some that were very new to me. However, one that I, and everyone else attending the service did recognize was that of "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong. However, there was one slight difference. 

Can you tell?