Busy, busy;

So it's been a very busy couple of days, and I'm not that sure where to begin. First, my Talmud studies have been going a bit more smoothly. My chevruta and I have started to figure out how to work through the text together, and we seem to be at least understanding the basic text we're studying. I don't want to get overly technical and bore anyone, but to put it very simply, there are sort of three layers to the Talmud--the mishnah, which is the first written record of the early Rabbis' interpretation of the Torah (gathered and redacted around 200 CE); the gemara, which is the interpretation, discussion, and argument based on the mishnah conducted by the Rabbis in the few hundred years following the redaction of the mishnah; and then, finally, lots and lots of other commentary, including that of Rashi, the pre-eminent commentator on the mishnah and gemara. So far, I can understand a fair amount of mishnah, some gemara, and the rest of the commentators we haven't even begun to tackle! None of it is for the faint of heart, as the text is associative, elliptical, and sometimes downright infuriating. Still, it's fun to wade through, especially as my teacher is very, very skilled.

Aside from my daily Talmud class, I've also been doing my Hebrew, yoga (though not today--I was just too tired--more on that in a minute), and papercutting. There are also various elective classes that happen occaisionally. Yesterday I went to a very interesting one on the role of Moses in the revelation at Sinai. For those of you biblically oriented, if you take a look at Exodus, it's pretty fascinating to read the passage before the original revelation--Moses goes running up and down Mt. Sinai like he's on a stairmaster. I had never realized it before, but it raises some pretty interesting questions and fueled a good discussion in the class. Aside from Moses's exercise habits, I've also been to a class on the relationship between King David and his first wife, Michal, and a bunch of other interesting ones that I won't describe here.

In addition to all the learning, I've also been making friends and running around Jerusalem. Yesterday was my "early" day, meaning I was done with classes at 4 pm. I went with 5 of my classmates back to my apartment to drop my stuff and then we shared cabs to the Old City. We went to the jewelry store, Hedaya, that I've been wanting to visit, and I bought necklaces for me and Miri and Elie, and then wandered around the shops. The merchants are super-aggressive and I actually didn't love the experience. I was there when I first arrived and felt the same way--I'd rather look without being constantly accosted and assured that I can't live without the amazing bargain on offer. We made our way through the Old City to the Kotel, and once again, I found myself standing in front of the Wall feeling pretty ambivalent. I'm still working on figuring out my feelings about the Wall, and I did some writing while I was there. I'm not going to say more here at this point, as I think I need some more time and space to figure out how I really feel. One thing is for sure--being in Jerusalem puts me in a very different relationship with my own spirituality and with Jewish tradition than I have when I'm at "home" in New Jersey--recognizing, of course, that in some ways Jerusalem is more "home" for me than anywhere else.

After the Wall we cabbed to Ben Yehuda Street, which is in the new part of the city and is kind of the retail/tourist center. We had dinner and walked around for a long time, and I tried on about 20 tallitot (prayer shawls). I liked a bunch of them, but I didn't find one I totally loved, so I'm going to keep looking. They're pretty expensive, so if I don't fall in love with one, I'll just hold off altogether. I didn't get home until 11 pm last night, and then I puttered around and spoke to Matthew for a while. I woke up this morning feeling the worse for my late night, and I've been dragging today--so much so that I skipped yoga. I'm going to get to bed earlier tonight.

Now that I have a somewhat solid group of friends, it feels like things are so busy that I'm almost in a blur. I'm halfway through my stay here, and it is going quickly now. I'm looking forward to some time to relax over Shabbat, but I still have a full day tomorrow and then a meeting for school with our Israel educator Friday morning. I'm trying to figure out how and when to get to the Dead Sea and Tel Aviv, but right now I don't have a plan. If all else fails, I can go to Tel Aviv at the end of my program; I have two days from the time I finish until I have to leave. But I would really like to get to the Dead Sea, and I'm not sure it'll happen. It's been great to hear from all of you--thanks for staying in touch. Lots of love to everyone from Jerusalem.