So THIS is Rabbinic School

Last was almost our first normal week in a long time, maybe all year. We still had Sunday off which was great to get some time to have a life outside of school and Holy Days. This was also one of the first times in a while that I have absolutely loved all of the classes and homework assignments.

We are still working through a variety of different sections of Rabbinic Literature. I can't even express how much fun it was for me to be picking apart texts and looking for meaning in the translations I come up with. I have found a great study partner for that class too. We usually get together to just work on translating and trying to come up with a translation and meaning of the text. that way when we get to the larger class (by larger I mean 12 -16 people), we work with other people and the whole class to piece it together with help from our instructor. Great!

Biblical Grammar is actually starting to make sense to me. It's not that I can actually remember how to use correct pronunciation of words while I am reading or speaking, but the concept makes a lot of sense. There are actual reasons for why words are said the way that they are. It is really cool to see how the language opens up when you take it apart from a logical point of attack.

All of the history classes are awesome. We are putting things together. I am starting to see a clear picture. Kind of. One thing that I am starting to understand is that we need to look even more at the various traditions in the area and how it was put together to present a semblance of a whole story. All of the information is wonderful to learn and it is really cool to see some of the stories presented in archeological evidence. Three classes come together for this topic. It is awesome!

The last class that I have been really enjoying is Bible. I should actually call the class Biblical Criticism, but we haven't gotten into the actual nit-picking yet. We are doing a lot of translation and a lot of questioning of other peoples' translations. It has become clear that when you make a translation, you are making an ideological or even theological statement about what the text says. It may be boring to some people, but I find it fascinating.