A Good & Sweet New Year!

Thoughts on the New Year. These ten days between (including) Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are known as the ten days of Repentence, where everyone does their best to fix up their not-so-desirable behavior, seriously review their deeds and how they can have a better relationship with G-d.

Of course, this is not just a procrastination, "oh, I have ten days, I better work on myself" kind of attitude. As I might have mentioned before, there are different times in the Jewish year that are more conducive to different things one might want to work on. Like, for instance, Pesach is the time of freedom, so if you want to kick a habit, that's the time to do it. And so, this is the time to change your ways, to become closer to the ideal, to fix those mistakes. This is the time of year that G-d is particularly close and particularly empathetic to our attempts to become better people. You try a little, He helps a lot. What a deal!

So that's what I'm working on.

Gomara V'Chasima Tova!

Here are some pictures of one of my roommates (Shoshana - isn't she adorable!!!), and then my pink curtains, and one of my rugs. Enjoy!!

Playing "House"

As you might recall, my friends and I moved into a new building on campus, "Building 4." This building has a kitchen on each floor, which, compared to the counter which comprised our kitchen in the previous building, is a huge luxury! Some of the girls on the floor are very health conscious (a trait which I don't mind if it rubs off on me!), and go to the shuk (open-air market) to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables with which to make yummy salads. At first I was of the mindset of "I'm already paying for food in my tuition, why would I spend money on food outside of that?", but then, after seeing these scrumptious, delectable meals and salads the girls were making, and seeing the negligible price of produce, I changed my mind.

So, now at dinner-time, a handful of us gather in the kitchen and prepare fresh, delicious salads and munch on our healthy meals in the privacy of our apartment. This is really such a treat, especially since hordes of girls have descended on the Neve Campus (the other seminaries have begun to arrive), and the din in the cafeteria is a force to be reckoned with!

Classes are still amazing. I feel like I've been learning for two months rather than two weeks! It's such an amazing experience. What a privelege!

Okay, time to start getting ready for Shabbos. Have a good Shabbos!!!

The week after....

Well, I officially survived the first week of advanced! You may think, "big deal, the first week of classes," but, really, I cannot describe the feeling of release I experienced Thursday night as the last class of the week finished up. On one hand, my brain felt like jelly from the rigorous schedule, on the other hand, I felt incredible accomplished. After discussing it among each other, all the Advanced girls agreed that we LOVE it! It's such hard work, but it's almost always done with a huge grin on our faces.

Thursday morning we had our first test on Rashi's commentary on the Parsha (Torah portion). We had to prepare 3 chapters (out of 5) of the Parsha and then Rabbi Chalkowski quizzed us - 20 questions! We all worked very hard, and I think we all did well. It was an oral test, and afterwards we went around the class and answered the questions out loud. One of the best things about it is the knowledge that we are acquiring about the Torah. How wonderful!

This coming Sunday we will give a Dvar Torah (literally: words of Torah) where we have to use 3 sources. It's best if they're all Rishonim, but we can also use 2 Rishonim and 1 of the Acharonim. We can't rely on Rashi, though. We can use Rashi, but he doesn't count as one of the required sources. Last Sunday was the first time we gave our Divrei (plural of Dvar) Torah, and every girl was shaking!!! They are giving in front of Rabbi Chalkowski, and we were all very nervous to do well. Baruch Hashem, we all did do well (the Rav said so!), so I think we will all be slightly less nervous this coming Sunday.

What else? There are only seven girls in the level (so far), and it's clear that we're all going to be very close, as we spend the bulk of our day together. The majority of the level (4 girls) live in my apartment. It's intense - the other girls on the floor keep kidding us that they never see us. It's kind of true. I feel like the library is my new home, next to the classroom! However, it's a wonderful feeling. We are all on the same page, approximately, and so during our Chavrusa time (once or twice a day - like a study hall), we review our assignments with each other (translations of different texts), and everyone pitches in and helps each other. It's so inspiring!

We're learning the book of Jonah, which is very appropriate since it's read at Mincha time on Yom Kippur. I just learned that the boat which Jonah was on was the only boat in the ocean affected by the storm G-d sent - the sailors could see that the other boats were coming and going in peace (according to Rashi and Radak), but their boat was about to break from the storm. Can you imagine!?!?! How terrifying!

My two roommates arrived this week!! It's so nice to have them in the room! I also acquired some pink curtains, two throw rugs, and some more cloths/scarves with which to cover tables. The apartment is really comfortable! Thank G-d, both of my roommates are interested in being homey, tidy, considerate living buddies. It's such a luxury!

That's it for now. Good Shabbos!