Hineni

Walk about Zion, and go round about her; count the towers thereof. Mark ye well her ramparts, traverse her palaces; that you may tell it to the generation following (from Psalm 48).

I was there. On Zion. Holding a Torah and saying the shema. Ok, I don't even believe it myself, so I will say it again. I stood on Har Tzion singing the words of shema while embracing a torah. I walked about Zion, went round about her, counted the towers, marked her ramparts, traversed her places, and I am studying to become the next generation of Jewish leaders. Wow.

Let me back up a little bit. After a month of intense Ulpan with just 8 students, the other 42 have arrived and Orientation began just a few (long) days ago. I thought I had come to the realization that I am here for the year to study, that I am going to be a Rabbi, that I am going to be (hopefully) fluent in Hebrew. But little did I know, that I would be standing on Mount Zion with my classmates, Teachers, Mentors, Dean, watching the golden sun set on the Ramparts of Jerusalem, beginning to form the lifelong bond with the people and places that surround me. The first night of Orientation began with some get to know each other mixers and BBQ (nothing better than a hot dog in a pita- why don't we do that in America!) which was followed by a beautiful walk to the walls of the Old City. Rabbi David Wilfond (or "Gingy" as we and many classes have affectionately called him) led us on a walk through the Gehenna valley (also known as Hell- more to come on that later) which separates HUC from the Old City. We studied texts on stops along the way, sang niggunim, and admired the beautiful golden light descending on the city. We read texts from Isaiah and the Psalms, all describing this beautiful place where we were sitting- with our backs propped against the walls of old Jerusalem, as if to say "Jerusalem is here to hold us up". We stood in a circle, singing prayers and niggunim, and passed the Torah to one another forming a bond of friendship and learning, that will last in some way through our careers. **no pictures are posted because there is no way to capture the beauty of this moment on a camera- come see it for yourselves!

Days 2 and 3 of Orientation were a little more business-y. Learning more about what is expected of us this year inside and outside the classroom. We are all itching to get started! We learned of our Hebrew Cita (class) placements- I'm in Cita Bet! and today we took a field trip to Yad Sarah, an organization started in Jerusalem with locations all around Israel, that offers various types of healthcare and resources for people with disabilities in Israel. They offer resources such as a choir for stroke patients who cannot speak but can only sing, programs for children with disabilities, low cost geriatric dentistry, and a lending library of medical equipment for a nominal fee. They told us that they save the Israeli government a huge amount of money every year because they reduce the need to keep hospitals and institutions open by enabling the elderly and people with disabilities to live at home. They showed us a room with Occupational Therapy tools to help people who have been in accidents, including soldiers who have been wounded in war. This is a shoutout to my mom who is an Occupational Therapist! It looked very much like a facility in America, and it warmed my heart to know that this need is being met in other places, in a non-profit organization which relies on donations both from Israel and the United States. We even got to help out cleaning wheelchairs! not the most glamorous work, but it needs to be done- and HUC offered 50 of its finest students to help out!

As Orientation winds down, we have our first Shabbat together as a class, and Ulpan begins bright and mookdam (early) on Sunday (still getting used to the class on Sunday idea). I am looking forward to getting to know this wonderful group of people better, as well as my teachers and this incredible city. It's going to be a great year!