Remembering to Breathe.

When you breathe, where do you breathe from?

From your nose or mouth? From your lungs? Maybe from your diaphragm?

This week, I went to a breath and voice workshop led by a man named Fred Johnson. We talked a lot about using breath and voice to connect to each other and to ourselves. Fred had a teacher who answered my initial question, where do you breathe from, with the answer: I breathe from the edge of the universe.

How incredible is that? Breathing from the edge of the universe. If you think about something as simple as breathing as a way to reach the edge of the universe, imagine all of the other people who are doing the exact same thing you are, each and every time they take a breath.

If everyone could feel that connection, the world would likely be a much more humane, peaceful place.

So, with that in mind, this week I've been reminding myself to breathe, and to keep everything in perspective. Because really, no matter how stressed I get, no matter how many pages I have left to read, no matter how long my to-do list, I just need to remember that I am incredibly lucky to be where I am, and also that I'm here pursuing my dream.

I have to say, I am really loving my classes. I'm used to taking 3 or 4 at a time, and right now I'm taking 9 (modern Hebrew, bible, biblical grammar, history of the 2nd temple period, history of the zionist movement, Israel seminar, advanced Hebrew text, liturgy, and a mandatory rabbinical elective). It's a lot to keep track of, but it's all so interesting and I find myself really wanting to do all of the work. Which is really saying something. I don't have a single class where I find myself wanting to skip readings. To me, this is really confirming that this is exactly what I want to be doing, which is a truly incredible feeling.

Herzl--If you will it, it is no dream. Jewish Agency in J'lem

Something that I think is really cool about this year is the amount of academic time scheduled for Israel related learning. There is something very special about learning about the Zionist movement and being in the realized dream. This week, our Israel seminar class took us to Tel Aviv for a (familiar) look at how Israel was created. I've now been to Independence Hall 3 times, but it's still really cool to sit in the room where Israel was declared an independent state. It's interesting also to think about where Palestinians will be visiting some years from now thinking about when their state was declared--we'll see in the coming weeks if this is something that will happen sooner rather than later.

Herzl again--this time where the Zionist dream was realized.

On our trip to Tel Aviv, we did some other learning stuff as well. Our teacher, Jeremy Leigh (who TOTALLY rules) is all about coffee (have I mentioned he RULES?!) and so the first thing we did upon arriving in Tel Aviv was to go to where some of the historic cafes are, to talk about the cafe culture that was so popular during the time of Tel Aviv's establishment and development. When I was in college, in my introductory Hebrew courses, I always thought it was silly that we would practice our new vocabulary in the context of a beit cafe (בית קפה––coffee shop) but I see now how practical it is. I spend so much time in coffee shops here! But in Tel Aviv, sitting outside enjoying a cup of coffee with the other intellectuals was the place to see, be seen, and plan the future of the Jewish state. Thus, we broke into small groups, sat at cafes, and engaged in discussion about how the founders of Tel Aviv tried to make it a Hebrew (not Jewish) city.

These guys may or may not have participated in the original cafe culture.

Later in the afternoon, we visited a cemetery where many of the Zionist greats are buried. Yes, we're spending a lot of time in cemeteries. But, I think it's a unique opportunity to be able to study the works and legacies of people while you're actually surrounded by them, as weird or morbid as that may seem. For instance, from where we sat in this cemetery, we could see how the amazing poet Bialik was literally buried at the feet of Ahad Haam, who was a few spots away from Meir Dizengoff and the poet Tchernikovsky. All of these people had such huge impacts on how Tel Aviv and Israel turned out, and it was inspiring to learn about their influence.

Headstones of Bialik and Ahad Haam

We also, luckily, got some free time on the beach. Which was of course awesome. We learned about how the beach in Tel Aviv was an unprecedented issue for Jews. In the "old world" Jews lived apart from the rest of society, and had a special way of dressing (which is exactly how much of Jerusalem dresses today) but, with the beach in Tel Aviv, an entirely new world of possibilities opened up. Tel Aviv was a city literally built out of nothing onto sand, and so until the city itself was established, nobody really even considered the impact of the beach. We looked at texts that described some of the implications this new place of leisure brought--many considered Tel Aviv to be a perfectly normal European city, which is interesting.

Beach in Tel Aviv

Israel seminar isn't the only great class I have, though (but it is the one with the best field trips obviously). I am obsessed with my biblical grammar class (delightfully nerdy) and I feel lucky to be learning from some of the greatest scholars in Jewish thought and history this year (and for the next few as well!).

Jerusalem prison from the British Mandate period

Looking back at my blog I can't believe I haven't posted since my tiyul to the North! So behind. Since then, I've had a couple of great shabbats (already thought about how much I'm going to miss Naaman challah when I get back to the states--more on that in a different post) and a nice walking tour of Rehavia (a neighborhood in Jerusalem--we went with Israel seminar). Today we even had a teensy tiny bit of rain (the streets were a tiny bit wet when I woke up this morning) and I watched the clouds in between readings. I LOVE when there are clouds here. It's great.

A rose in Rehavia.

Also, for those of you who don't know, we're wrapping up the Jewish year and heading for Rosh Hashanah very quickly. Yesterday we had a selichot service at HUC (for more information on selichot, please click here), and, afterward, I joined some classmates at the Great Synagogue to experience an Orthodox selichot service. There, we heard some amazing cantors singing traditional prayers, and we heard Israel's Chief Rabbi, the Rishon L'Zion, Rabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar. It was a great opportunity!

So now, the homework continues, as does High Holy Day preparation. It's an exciting time of year here in Jerusalem!