I went to the Italian synagogue in the morning, which was interesting; they had different tunes, some added words in prayers, and beautiful Torah trope, but I don’t think I’m going to go there again. For lunch, I went with other yeshiva Nativers to the apartment of some rabbinical students to celebrate the birthdays of 2 other rabbinical students. It was a fantastic (dairy!) lunch, but the best part was the sense of community. We knew most of the guests, and talked and joked with everyone. We played with the 3 children there (all under the age of 3), and we ate sitting on the floor. I hope to have a community like this in college and afterward- observant Jewish, casual, friendly, welcoming. It was such a great afternoon.
Monday, the yeshiva provided lunch for us, as it was our last full day of the semester. Nativers Becca and Zoe gave a speech on behalf of the Nativers, and others leaving after the semester gave little speeches as well. All talked about how great of an experience it has been studying Torah lishma (for its own sake), becoming friends with people of different backgrounds, and being part of this community. While we Nativers are excited for our second semester programs, we’re all going to miss the yeshiva a lot. Even though the free pizza was delicious, we were unhappy about leaving. I, and many others, want to come back another time and study there more.
Tuesday morning, my final class of the semester (we do have 2 classes a day most days until Nativ break), was Chumash. During the semester, we’ve been analyzing Rashi’s commentary, so we did a really cool exercise to further understand commentary. We each wrote a few sentences answering “What does G-d have to say to humanity today?” We then traded and drashed (explained) what others wrote. Some did this like Rashi- taking certain words and specifying/explaining what they really mean. Some did this more like a midrash, with a story that you really have to think about to understand its relation to the first sentences. We then worked in chavruta to analyze these. Finally, we discussed them in class. It was one of the most interesting, engaging classes we’ve had.
In the afternoon we had different shiurim, with a break for sufganiot (doughnuts). At sundown, it became Chanukah! Some of us went to a nursing home to light candles and sing Chanukah songs with the elderly, who were in different levels of awareness. We talked with some of the Hebrew-speaking residents, but couldn’t say much to the Russian or Yiddish-speakers. While many people showed no reaction to our presence, many still understood why we were there. We could also see how much our presence meant to a lot of people. It was a great experience.
Then that night, each track lit candles together with the chanukiot we made the previous week. Then we met together, where all those participating in Secret Santa exchanged gifts (I got dinosaur mazes and chocolate!). But the highlight of the evening was a trivia game. We sat at tables with dreidles, just to play with. Then we had trivia questions, each for points to compete with the other teams. There were also some challenges, like using a squirt gun to extinguish a chanukiah (which did not work) and a sufgania eating contest. It was fun, plus we got sufganiot at the end.
After this, all of Kfar met on our balcony for a surprise Madrichim Appreciation. We wrote new words to our “Too Far Kfar” song about them, and gave them gifts. That night we also wrote letters of appreciation on Post-Its to be stuck on their doors Wednesday morning.
Wednesday, we had a shiur about Bat Sheva and then our final Zionism class. That night, a large group of us went to Hebrew U for opening night of Les Mis! Three Nativers are in the cast, one of whom is a lead. I had low expectations, but the show was actually fantastic! The music is beautiful and the performers were great. I really want to see the full show, as in, not the abridged student version.
Now, it is Thursday afternoon, and I’ve had far too many active hours. I woke up at 5:15 to go with three friends to the Kotel for sunrise. It’s so peaceful in the Old City at this time. Then I came back to my room and did a lot of planning for break. I went for a run, then went out for lunch and some errands with Mia, and later, I may go on a chanukiot tour.
Anyway, 2 days down, 6 more to go. Chanukah Sameach!!
Trivia: Where can one find the story of Chanukah? The actual story can be found in the Apocrypha in the book Maccabees (someone remind me, is it Maccabees I, II, or both?). The story about oil remaining aflame for 8 days is in the Talmud in Masechet Shabbat.
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