Static vs. Living

Classes are fascinating. Several of them overlap, which enables me to get different perspectives on the same places, times, and words. My favorite class, I think, is "Classical Jewish Texts" which is also covering the early Christian writings (like the Apochrypha). It's so interesting to look at the early words of Christianity and the words of the Talmudic period and to see where they really started to diverge. It's also interesting to see how the Gospel's are different from the rest of the Christian scriptures. There a definite parallel to the differences you see between the writings of the Torah and the law that is practiced in Israel, with particular attention to the Talmudic writings.

There are things that are set down in law in the Torah that the Sages of the Talmud interpret so as to allow for a continued religious practice that extends beyond desert life around 1500 BCE. The Talmudic Sages regarded these words as sacred and holy ... but not particularly practical by the time of the 1st century. It seems to be the same with early Christianity. The words spoken by Jesus in the gospels (particularly the statement that "Whosoever therefore shall break on of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven ... " (Matthew, 5:19)) became impractical by the time of Paul's Acts of the Apostles. The Jews of the time were not cleaving to the words of Jesus in any great number, and there was little chance of getting the gentiles of the time to convert to Judaism and follow all of those laws, PLUS the teachings of Jesus. Therefore, Paul decided that it was not necessary to become a Jew first.

Because of the flexibility of Paul Christianity appealed to a great many Gentiles and won them as converts. They were able to take Christian beliefs and weave their own culture into it. The Celtic gods and goddesses didn't disappear when Christianity came to down ... they were incorporated into the belief system.

Similarly, the foresight of men like Hillel and Johannan ben Zakkai allowed Judaism to transform from a cultic religion focused on one location and the sacrifices to be made there, into a religion of belief ... a tradition that could become a "portable homeland" (The Jews: The Period of the Talmud, Goldin).

Conclusions can then be drawn to modern Constitutional scholarship. Do we interpret the Constitution according to the mindset of people who lived and thought and wrote 222 years ago? Or do we look at the words in their current context? The Bible has been read and translated and interpreted over and over again. It can be found in modern language or in ancient. I am currently reading a King James translation, written in 1611. The words and grammatical syntax don't make a lot of sense to me in 2009. The prose is majestic and it sounds great ... but in terms of applying it do daily life? The words just don't apply. But if you put the words into a more modern vernacular (say, the JPS translation from 1987, or The Good News Bible, from the 90's for the Christian texts), all of a sudden, the words take on a more applicable meaning! Is the Constitution more sacred than the Bible, that it must be kept to it's original context and not EVER looked at with a modern eye? I think not.

The difference between Judaism and Christianity and the other religions that existed from 1000 BCE - 1000 CE is that Judaism and Christianity adopted a LIVING document approach. The moment that societies begin to think of themselves or their primary (be they religious of secular) texts as static is the moment that they cease to be relevant.

Back at Ben Gurian

whoa ... I had ZERO trouble going through security, thank HEAVEN! I have some SERIOUS doubts about my ability to make my connecting flight ... so I'm really hoping for smooth flying and a quick run through US customs!

I realize that I have been SORELY neglecting the blog, and I will make it up as soon as I get home!! There has been a LOT going on and I've just been going crazy with school work.

Bottom line? I love it here. I miss home and the people at home, but the experience of living in Jerusalem and the people that I'm meeting are AMAZING. I love Hebrew and I love Israelis so I'm having a very good time!!!

I'm DEFINITELY looking forward to being home with family and friends, however, and I'm really looking forward to seeing CH and Larry! It's been WAY too long since I've been there, and I think that I get to see Bridgit as well! It's going to be a CRAZY 2.5 weeks (meetings all next week, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simchat Torah, NYC, FL ...) OY! But I wouldn't have it ANY other way :)

weight and body image in the Middle East

It's funny how different cultures appreciate different things. In the US there is a HUGE emphasis on weight. Having been overweight for much of my life I can personally say that being fat in America totally sucks. Malls, a source of amusement for so many young women, become large torture chambers to remind you that you don't fit in. The looks of judgement you receive from people when you are walking around in stores remind you that, even though the clothes on the shelf are pretty, you can only look. You must search far and wide to find stores for women like you. Department stores hide your section far away from everyone else.

Basically it SUCKS.

On the plus side, you really develop relationships that are about the PERSON and not the appearance. People fall in love with YOU ... not your size. But it's hard to have a positive self image in that environment, none the less.

It's completely different here. Even at the beach ... you see women in bikini's that wouldn't even be able to BUY one at home. Yeah, it's still hard to find clothes your size because most are designed for the average size person (which is about 3 sizes bigger here than in the States) but when you're walking around you don't get the looks of judgement. And you are no longer exempt from male attention.

It's a rather freaky experience being hit on and having pick up lines used on you ... Does it change how I feel about J? not at all! In fact, it just reaffirms how I feel about him ... it's just flattering. For example:

I was out at a street festival in Talpiyot with Meghan tonight and I'm looking at this rack of skirts (so many colors!!!!!) and this guy comes up to me and starts asking me (in Hebrew) if I study at the University. I'm like, "yeah ... " "AH! (long string of Hebrew I didn't understand here)" "Anglit, bevakasha" "Ah! Ken, you study Hebrew?" "ken" "AH! I was saying that I knew I recognized you, I keep seeing you everywhere" (ummm, I have NEVER seen him so I'm a little confused) "It's nice to meet you, what is you're name" (extends his hand for a shake) "Sarah" "Sarah. It's nice to me you. I'm Henry" (an Israeli Henry? hmmm he's holding my hand a long time ... that's weird) "Na'eem meod" "Well, now that we've met shopping, it must be a match in heaven. It's hard to get a man to shop! Now you know you should go to dinner with me!" (ummmmmmm ....) "heh heh ummm yeah I know ... I have SUCH a hard time getting my boyfriend to shop with me ..." "Ahhh you have a boyfriend?" "yes, for three years" "ah, lucky me, well, nice to meet you." "yes, you too ..." and then he was gone ... I just cracked up.

Meghan and I had a great laugh over it ... it's just so funny! Clearly he NEVER saw me at HUJI ... it was a PICK UP LINE! hahahahahhahahaha

Anyhoo, I'm off to bed. Wearing my new dress tomorrow!!!!

Ancient tunnels, tumbled walls, Dead Sea Scrolls, dead seas, sacred tombs

Wow, what a FASCINATING weekend it has been! Freddie was here visiting and we did just about all we could do in a day! He went on a whirlwind 3 hour tour of the Old City on Thursday morning while I was in class and then I met him downtown to go to Hezekiah's Tunnel with Devora!! Hezekiah's tunnel is possibly the COOLEST thing I've done. It's this looooooong waterway that goes underneath ancient Jerusalem and protected their water source from invading armies. It was SO much fun! Whenever people visit me? We're going there!!! SOOOOO cool! (the only POSSIBLE exception would be Justin ... there are part in the tunnel where I was bent almost 90 degrees ... and I'm a foot shorter than J ... I feel like there are parts of the tunnel that would not be so much fun for him ...

The BUMMER about the tunnel is that it dumps you out in the middle of the East Jerusalem village of Silwan ... and you have to hike BACK up the hill through the neighborhood which is not so nice. Lesson learned: bring the number of a cab company with you so that you can have a cab meet you when you get out on the other side (waiting for the cab would be fine because you can play in the water (see pictures on Facebook) or shop in the gift shop (the shop keeper has an antiquities license!!). We, however, did NOT have a cab waiting for us and decided to hike up ... TERRIBLE plan. My knee STILL hasn't recovered and we didn't get all the way up!!! MANY cab drivers LIVE in Silwan and we found one who hadn't parked and gone inside yet. He gave us a lift back to the Jaffa gate and then I went back to campus to change before meeting Freddie BACK downtown for dinner (Spaghettim, where else???)

On FRIDAY Freddie and I took a personal tour of Jericho, Qumran, and then a dip in the Dead Sea. Jericho was VERY cool (and I was crowned a Beduin queen which was fun!) but I have to say, the inherent risk in going to Jericho (it is PLO administered and Israeli citizen are NOT allowed to go there ... and if, heaven forbid anything should happen to you there, the IDF will NOT go after you nor will your health insurance cover you.

Following Jericho it was off to Qumran which is Israeli controlled. SOOOOOO FREAKING COOL! We walked through the ruins of the Essene community and saw all of the caves!! I wanted to go spelunking but we aren't allowed (and my knee still hurt!!). I took loads of pictures and moved we moved on, after lunch, to the Dead Sea. Ni'im took us to a relatively new beach which TOTALLY kicked the beach I went to in July's butt!! There were no rocks and LOTS of mud (again, see pictures on FB!!). I covered myself with mud several times and enjoyed floating around. We met an Israeli family from Haifa and I had fun talking with them in Hebrew :D Then it was back home for Friday night services and shabbat dinner at the center (Freddie got a LOAD of Jewish culture in while he was here :D)

Saturday I got to sleep in while Freddie went to Ramallah and Bethlehem and then we all met up to go to Holy Sepulchre! That was a very interested experience! Paul, a friend from class, who is also a Benedictine monk, gave us a tour of the entire church which is just MASSIVE! We were there late enough in the day that we got to see and hear all the different groups chanting and singing and stomping giant staffs on the floor. REALLY cool!! We had several really interesting conversations about differences in religions and religious beliefs and had a GREAT time (Paul and Meghan are two of my favorite people here :D) I went back to campus to work on HW ... and Boaz calls to see if we can hang out. Since he is Israeli and I'm doing Hebrew HW this seemed like a good plan.

Oh awkwardness. Men are silly silly people. Oy vey.

Then Sunday it was time for the last summer installment of learning at the Center. $100/month to listening to interesting lectures and talking with interesting people? yes please. I definitely don't agree with everything that is said or professed ... but it's still interesting to learn about a very unique perspective. It's interesting, the more of these lectures I attend, the more I realize that Orthodoxy is not for me. There are some nice things about it but it's just so narrow minded in so many ways. I just can't understand denying evolution. The spirituality and passion for joy and loving G-d is very interesting and nice ... but you can have that and still accept basic scientific principles!! The point of the "Dollars for Learning" program is to enrich student's Jewish education, and it definitely does that ... from one point of view. I enjoy learning about it ... but also talking with secular, Reform, and Conservative Jews ... not to mention several modern Orthodox Jews. There are so many different perspectives and it's fun to know about them all!

I'm really looking forward to Rosh Hashanah. I'm spending it down at the Wall! There is a program that includes hospitality and meals and the services are "user friendly" with explanations about what everything means and why we do it (PERFECT for me!!). Again, it's from the Orthodox perspective, but c'est la vie.

ANYHOO, I'm off to get some work done before HOPEFULLY meeting Freddie for a farewell drink!

Oy vey

oops! I've been neglecting my blogging duties!

Things here in Israel are going much better. I've found a nice group of people to hang out with on a semi-regular basis and have also found two very sane and pleasant Synagogues to be involved with, one of which is a 2 minute walk from my apartment! Class is going well but I'm really ready to start regular classes! Having Hebrew class from 8:30-1:30 EVERY DAY with the SAME people in the SAME room is really starting to wear on my patience! I also can't wait for the Israeli students to get here so that I can actually USE my Hebrew!

I'm VERY excited that Freddie is coming this week! We're going to rent a car and go to the Dead Sea on Friday and drive up around the Golan and Galilee on Saturday (yes, I did that with Cristen and co from the dig, but it's SO beautiful and a few people want to go up there to see the Sea so why the heck not!) And THEN ... after he leave ... is ONE WEEK TO THE NEW YEAR AND ANOTHER WEEK AFTER THAT UNTIL I FLY HOME FOR BREAK!!!! I'm definitely looking forward to that ... I just wish the break were longer! I'd like to go to FL to see Mimi and everyone, I'd like to go to NYC to see CH and Larry, I'd like to go the Chapel Hill to see Ellie during Family Weekend, I'd like to go to Fredericksburg to spend time with Justin's family, and OF COURSE I want to spend time at home sleeping in my own bed and seeing my friends! Unfortunately, I am only home for 15 days and two weekends ... and I have meetings with people scheduled for 5 days in the first week already. No matter what I do, SOMEONE will be unhappy but I know that I just can't do it all and that some of it will have to wait until I come back in February (which is a longer break!!)

Now, to take a nap and then study for my quiz tomorrow!

Which would you prefer: Black and white, or full color? Or, why everyone needs a Leroy Jethro Gibbs in their Life

Personally, while I thoroughly enjoy black and white movies and TV shows, I infinitely prefer the complexity of full color. The black and white movies and shows have an attractive simplicity about them ... you always know what will happen. There is an order ... a hierarchy. Things don't go wrong, and when they, there is a concrete reason why and a way to fix. It's hypnotic, especially when you are going through a rough patch in your own full color-and-chaotic life.

You can sit in front of these black and white movies and be drawn in by the simplicity. You can say how much you wish your life was so simple. You can try to recreate the seemingly wonderful haven that exists on the screen. Many people get totally pulled into to idealizing that simplistic image and completely lose track of the fact that life is actually full of color.

This brings me to my next point: when you notice someone starting to get pulled in by a seductively simplistic image on the screen please smack them on the back of the head. Don't be an ASS about it, but remind them of all the things that are wonderful about living in full color.

There are many wonderful things about the black and white image shows and movies: everything has a place, all the families are warm and loving, people are happy all the time. But when you look closer (IE after the back of your head has been smacked by your loving and wonderful Boss) you realize that everyone in those shows and movies are strikingly similar. Where is the wonderful diversity that makes the world so bright? Where is the difference of opinion? Where is the dissent?

This is not to say that the black and white shows and movies are great: they're CLASSICS! Everyone should observe them and learn from them ... but living your life like it's all black and white doesn't work for most people. Some, yes, but not most people.

It takes all kinds to make the world go round ... and there is a vast myriad of experience, none of which are less important or less valid than the others.

Thanks, Boss.

Spring Break

So I have a dilemma. I have like 15 days off for Passover during the Spring which also covers Easter. Plenty of time to come home and spend time with my family and Justin and friends ... but it is ALSO plenty of time to go to Greece and/or Italy. Or I could go to England and visit Ellie if she's studying in London ...

I mean, I REALLY want to go to Greece before I leave Israel. It's possible that I will stay here for three years and therefore will have three additional Passover breaks in which to go Greece and Italy ... but who knows what will come up!

Hmm ... I have a few days yet before I need to make a decision ... and this is one to think long and hard about.