New Classes and New Chavrutas!

The semesters in school are divided up quite interestingly because you could divide them up in many ways.  You can divide them up in thirds based on our two major vacations during the holidays of Succot and Pesach.  You can divide them up into quarters of the whole year based on the "old" MTA being here (in relation to us), the MTA not being here, the "new" MTA, and the MTA have a period of time without us.  You could also divide up the time in halves by first semester and second semester, similar to the periods of time relating to the MTA. First semester starts when we get there and second semester starts when the "new" MTA arrive.  At the start of second semester, you meet new people, get closer to other people that you didn't speak to so much before and you can switch around some classes.

The first thing I switched was on Sunday, last class, I switched out of the laws of Shabbat.  Instead, I now take the laws of Shabbat during my first afternoon class on Thursday, but now I take it in Hebrew and with Rav Shames instead of Rav Berg.  It's more challenging in Hebrew and even though Rav Berg is one of the nicest people you will ever meet, his class is one of the slowest.  Rav Shames's class is much more interesting and it goes more into detail. The second switch that I made on Sunday was that originally on Sunday night I would have a chavruta with Avigayil and then a class with Rav Horn about Topics in the Mishneh Torah.  Instead, I first take Rav Horn's Topics in Jewish Philosophy Class and then I have my chavruta with Avigayil. 

I also switched a couple of classes on Monday.  After lunch we have this really cool class called Siyurim. In this class Rav Shames and Rav Sussman take us on tours all over Jerusalem.  We visit all sorts of museums and we learn so many things about the place where we live.  Rav Shames and Rav Sussman are also two really funny people especially when they're together.  The constantly make fun of eachother and they often do a comedy act for us while explaining the story of some boring artifact from thousands of years ago.  The next class I would usually take was Ta'amei Hamikra, but that class was a one semester class.  I now take Strive for Truth with Rav Milston.  This is a book by Rav Dessler that talks about living your life in the truest way possible.  Rav Milston is a bit radical so we all know to be careful of some of the things he says, but he does often say many things that are really interesting.  He also tells lots of stories, funny ones and serious ones that really help us learn a lot.

I still have some of my old chavrutas, some I switched, and I have a couple of new ones too.  Old and new chavrutas are all awesome!http://sarasisraelexperience.blogspot.com/2011/12/cookies-and-best-chavrutas-ever.html

Rav Yonatan: Sunday 2:00- 3:00

Most girls have a chavruta with one of the teachers. I'm in Rav Yonatan Chumash BeIyun and Confronting Modernity classes which are both awesome classes.  We're learning the books of Ezra and Nechemia from the bible but sometimes we don't learn and we just talk about whatever.  Rav Yonatan is an amazing person to talk to and he really knows so much about the bible and other things about religion.

Rachelle and Ilana: Sundays and Wednesdays Machshava

I had left the group of four and joined these two because I was trying out a different learning style that I thought would work better for me.  The three of us work really well together and I really enjoy learning with them.  The three girls that I left soon disbanded.  Giselle and Julia left and Arney joined together with another one of my friends, Shana.  

Annie: TBD

Joelle left our Gemara Bekiut class so I now have a new chavruta.  We don't really have an official time to go over what we learned but when we get the chance to do it it works really well.  Also, sometimes when Annie isn't around, my friend Alona and I work together. 

Nofar- Wednesday 8:15-9:00

The Overseas Program sometimes teams up with the Israeli program at Harova.  Twice a week most of us have a chavruta with an Israeli. A couple of the Israelis speak perfect English, some speak a little English, some only understand English, and some know no English at all.  My chavruta understand a little bit of English and she can't really speak it so we talk in Hebrew the whole time.  I love Nofar because she is so nice and we became really good friends.  I also love how we only talk Hebrew because it really helps me practice the language.  At the beginning of every chavruta we usually talk for a little bit about how our weeks were and we tell eachother stories before we start learning.  We learn about the life of Rav Tzvi Yehuda Hakohen Kook, son of the first chief Rabbi of Israel.  He was a fascinating person and we love reading stories about things that he did.

Sarah- Thursday 8:00-8:30

We haven't technically started yet but we have unofficially learned together a couple of times.  Sarah is awesome and super cool to talk to.  When we learn together it works out really well because we are both interested in learning about similar things so we both get a lot out of it.  

All my classes and chavrutas are super duper awesome! Shalom V'lehitraot!