Wednesday

So far this week, I've successfully learned Torah and exercised every day. Sunday I was at She'arim, teaching Rambam, Monday learned with Malki (short but sweet), yesterday caught up on Parasha with Rosh, and today almost caught up on Daniel. Perek bet is just so long, once my brain faded I decided to leave the rest for tomorrow. I am relieved and happy to see that I have, in fact, seemed to have picked up some Aramit from the chavrusa with Reva, and I do, in fact, remember what we learned.

I am having a lot of trouble with Devarim. I don't understand how it's organized. I get the overall question of comparing the original events with their repetition here, but Moshe Rabbenu seems to be just saying over and over, Keep the Torah, keep the Torah, keep the Torah. It's causing me to tune out. What is up with this? I am mostly enjoying the Rosh. I missed a few Aramaic phrases yesterday, but the Chazals are comprehensible generally, and many of them are new.

Daniel is just as epic, sweeping, and deep the second time around.

The goal is to finish the week. Then the next goal is to finish next week. Then, I'll see. I'd like to do yoga every day, but also want to get back to piano.

Disclaimer

I'll own up - this blog has a huge amount to do with my own ego, just the pleasure of seeing my thoughts on a screen, looking all official. I'm ok with that. It's helping me learn, and retain what I'm learning. O, the Torah I've seen once and forgotten. Linda Derovan and I went through most of Neviim Rishonim with the Daas Mikra when I was pregnant with Ferri, and I don't remember a thing. I hope at least that it was good for her spiritual formation.

Today, due to student fluctuations at She'arim, I found myself with unexpected time, and Tamar Choleva, another tutor, and I sat down to learn some parasha. It was wonderful. As I'd been hoping to do, we looked at one of the perushim in the back - this time the Rosh on the first few passukim of the parasha. He brings seven (or eight?) lashonot of tefilla, and explains why Moshe Rabbenu uses techina. Because he liked felafel! Hahahaha I kill me. Seriously, that was just awful. Anyway, then we checked out Daas Zekenim, and guess what, he ALSO comes to the same conclusion about the word "v'etchanan," but USES A DIFFERENT LIST of languages of dovening. BH the wonderful Me'or edition brings sources. So as Tamar went to work with her student, I pulled out the Midrash Rabba and Tanchuma. And you know what? Midrash Rabba brings TEN.

So Tamar and I really want to know. Where did the different meforshim get their lists? I'm not super familiar with the Daas Zekenim, but he seems to often follow the Rosh. Why this departure here?

I'm going to bli neder see if I can follow the Rosh along a bit. He's clear, quotes a lot of chazals, and there isn't too much of him on each aliya. Sounds possibly doable and like what I'm looking for.

Then I learned a simply magnificent Ramban. A student in Taste of Torah had requested that we follow the Creation of Man in perek alef with Creation in perek bet, so of course I thought of the Ramban (which I think a famous Jerusalem educator misunderstood, when I heard it given over some fifteen years ago). I looked at it again, and this time went past the first three or so sentences that I remembered, and it is the BOMB. But I only understood some pieces of it (and those, not completely) because of the work Dvarya and I had done on Rambam. So I had to try to figure out how to formulate it for my students, who have not yet learned the Rambam. This meant that some of the Ramban's genius was left out, but that's ok. We had a long talk about "dust," why dust, why not earth, trying to explain that the Ramban is using the Greek elements but that doesn't matter to us. It was great. Then we got into the Chava's curses, and costs and gains of feminism. Fabulous teaching day.

I still have some Daily Nach to do, I think. I'm a bit behind in Esther. IYH this shouldn't be too hard to catch up on.

Likrat Tisha b'Av

I would like to revive this blog, not to say that it ever started, and the thinking behind it. I did do a reasonable job learning last week - got back on the OU Nach Yomi wagon to keep slogging through Kohelet. What a difficult sefer! Language is hard, concepts are hard, unclear what he's trying to get at, other than the transitory nature of this world. I asked my DH about it, he said that he heard some excellent shiurim from his Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Chait's brother, the other Rabbi Chait. He is in a work crisis, so at the moment I can't ask him to download them. Then I asked some local Torah scholars, Avigayil Rock (Dr.) and Jon Duker (Rabbi). Avigayil said that she taught it once, and then gave up, concluding that she didn't understand it. This was a little reassuring. Jon Duker attempted to give me a couple of pshatim he found, but because my little SaraB was in the middle of an epic temper tantrum, I found it difficult to concentrate. Also, he started by explaining the sefer's popularity amongst secular Israelis, which is a worthwhile topic, but not really my question. Oh right, so he said that the pattern in the sefer is that Kohelet searches, gets frustrated, and then accepts (maybe I have the order wrong). Jon also shocked me somewhat by giving over the Rashbam's opinion that the opening and closing passukim were added later.

Now, I don't have Rashbam on Kohelet, and never heard of it. Maybe he meant the Ibn Ezra. Then he changed topic to other aspects of the intersection of apikorsis and Torah, and Sara was still screaming, so I missed the whole conversation about David Tzvi Hoffman.

It seems to me that the operative phrase is "tachat hashemesh," which is repeated umpteen times, which seems to be the general title for the things of this world, as opposed to the next. Jon said that the kofrim (please don't take the personally, anyone, I'm just using it descriptively for this position at the moment) see the book as davka denying the next world, but I got the opposite when I read it, that it's one of the few places in Tanakh where the next world is alluded to more directly. See 12:5. I'm guessing that that whole apocalyptic section is referring to death. But this is just a guess.

Then there's the parasha. I started reading the Gush email about it, but didn't finish. Somehow I feel that those Gush emails always ask the right questions, but the answers rarely sit right with me. R. Kahn observes the differences in the original story of the spies with Moshe Rabbenu's retelling, but he concludes that the shifts are to stress the message that military victory is ultimately in G-d's hands. I, however, think that Moshe Rabbenu's omission of Yehoshua's and Kalev's defense of E.Y. is rather to stress to the people, You messed that one up - DON'T DO IT AGAIN.

Dvarya Katz and I learned the first perek of Hilchos Talmud Torah, which was mostly pretty straightforward, although there were a few words we weren't positive about. The difficult halacha and statements of chazal about teaching girls Torah came up - neither of us were too bent out of shape by them. Although I was surprised to see that lehatchila, the Rambam says you shouldn't teach your daughter Torah she'biktav - what is up with that. Dvarya and I, I think, feel the same way, that although we don't have a chiuv of Talmud Torah, both of us see it as central to our individual avodas H', and wish we did more of it. This is an excellent chavrusa, we are making steady progress.

Adina is in the US visiting my parents, so we didn't have our Ramban learning this Shabbas. I in general am feeling like I'd like to take a deeper look at Devarim. I also am wondering, What else is out there? in terms of perushim that would be good for me. I remember once in Cochav haShachar preparing some shiur, don't remember what, and discovered a completely different perspective on the issue than the standard Torah that floats around. Feeling like I'd want some more of that.

In the Ahavas HaShem department, I have learned the Latin names of the sections of the body, and revived my long-lost basic chemistry, based on an anatomy book that Shoshana Kleiman from Palo Alto handed down to me. There was an introduction to sugars that goes straight to DH's diabetes. I am happy that I'm doing this.

Sunday, April 10

Today, I didn't learn at She'arim, didn't learn parasha, didn't learn anything, until a drop-dead chavrusa with my dear student and friend Elysa Goldman. She, BH, was totally unfazed by my messing up the time (due to confusion over the time difference), technical problems, and several million interruptions by my kids, the phone, etc. IYH next time will be smoother.

We went through the first chapter in the Moreh Nevuchim, and I think we did pretty well. Toar means physical shape, zelem and demut don't, although neither of us feel like we have a complete grasp on what the difference between the two are. Maybe the Malbim synonym book can explain, or probably DH can help when he gets home tomorrow. Also, I'm not sure at all that I'm happy with the Pines translation, when I was confused, a few times the Freidlander was much clearer. Must ask DH and/or R. Triebitz why the Chicago one is considered better. I'm also wondering if I should be doing this in Hebrew.

Welcome to the blog

Shavua tov people. We've had Julie cooking Julia Child for 365 days, using a crockpot for 365 days, and getting your family outside for 365 days. Not wanting to be left off the bandwagon, I thought, is there anything I want to do for 365 days? And of course, there was really only one answer. It's an experiment, to see what happens with the attempt at discipline, to try to keep me focused, and see what, if anything, comes of it. Fantasies of fame, fortune and influence are abounding! :)

Firstly, thank you to the women whose 365 day experiments have inspired mine. One is Make it Fast, Cook it Slow, another is Fifteen Minutes Outside, and because I found Julia Child so much more appealing than the blogger Julie, I'll link to her book rather than the blogger's.

Today was Shabbas Parashat Metzora. I caught up on a few aliyahs or Parsha/Rashi, leaning heavily on the Metsudah translation, and realized I know the following about tumah and tahara:
It involves a mikvah, a dead body, red heifer, sitting on things, and we don't have most of it now.
Meaning, this becomes a note to self: Learn tuma and tahara. I've heard there are good charts. Also, how does the Sefer HaChinuch deal with this? How do the non-kabbalists understand this?

I also read through the haftara, again mostly with the English translation. What a terrible story, even with it ending in food! I backed up a few passukim to see what was happening, and the Survivalist button was pressed once again.

The other big accomplishment was going through the next few sfarim of Trei Asar, trying to build a structure in my head. So now I have
Hoshea: marries a zona, Lo-Ami to Ami
Yoel: Yom HaShem, locusts
Amos: from Tekoa. Punishing for the fourth sin, lots of nations, up to Clal Yisrael.
Ovadya: one perek. Rebuking Edom.
Overstretched and look at Micah, and couldn't find unifying theme! Try again soon.

Missed chavrusas both with Dvarya Katz, due to DH being out of the country, and Adina and Shira Lebovitz, due to spaciness. Dvarya and I have been learning a perek a week of the Mishnah Torah, and Shira, Adina and I do a few Rambans on the parasha.

This is a good start.