Whoa, we're halfway there

And just like that, the first half of my summer has come to a close. Thursday was the final day of the first session. The last three weeks have been an incredible experience that has flown by at a blazing speed.

Jerusalem has been amazing. The weather has been gorgeous. I have made several new friends and colleagues while here at the yeshiva. In many of the classes I feel as though I am far behind the level of many of the other students, who have spent much more time studying Jewish texts or learning Hebrew, but the teachers are very good and quite passionate, and I am learning a great deal.

The ulpan remained consistently difficult. We spent most of our time focusing on more advanced grammar, and learning the different types of “buildings” that Hebrew uses. For the most part the grammar comes easily to me, even though it is a challenge for most people. However, my vocabulary is still extremely lacking which puts me behind the other students. Still, I am able to follow all of the conversations, and get the gist of what is being said, even if I don’t understand all of the words. We celebrated the end of the session at the end of our ulpan by teaching each other and singing along to different Hebrew songs that we knew.

In the late afternoon I was the only person who showed up for the last community gardening during the first session. Of the 20-plus people who had signed up and participated in the gimilut hesed projects for the first session, only four people came for the final nursing home visit, and just me for the garden. I went to the other gardening location (instead of the bird observatory), Hansen garden, on the grounds of the Hansen Hospital. The hospital was originally built of a care center for leprosy, but today it is used mostly for children who have experienced mental trauma. At the garden I met with an elderly woman, originally from England (then Australia, then back to England, now in Israel) who worked at the garden.

I could tell she was a little disappointed that I was the only one who came, but by the end of the day I think she was very pleased with what we accomplished. I spent the time driving bamboo sticks into the ground to mark the location of each of the herbs that had recently been planted.

The sign outside the Jerusalem Cinematheque

In the evening I went to the Jerusalem Cinematheque, the main theater used during the film festival, to see another movie. Before the movie there was live music outside. The first performer was Yoav Guttman, an Israeli born American musican, who sang his original songs (in English). The second was an Israel group (whose name I did not catch) who also performed their songs (in Hebrew). Both were a lot of fun to have leading up to the screening.

Yoav Guttman

The Israeli band performing

The movie I saw was “Everyone Else” a German film which won the Silver Bear award for best actress and the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize (runner up for best feature film) at the most recent Berlin international film festival. The writer/director, Maren Ade, and the lead actress, Birgit Minichmayr, were both at the screening to introduce the film and answer questions afterward.

So much has happened over the last three weeks, and yet somehow it’s hard to believe that the entire first session of the summer program is over. Tonight will be Shabbat services and the welcoming dinner, and Sunday morning will begin the second session.