9/4 to 9/5 | The Beginning of Ulpan

Israel is a nation of immigrants.  Following Israel's independence in 1948, Jews from all over the world came to their new state seeking refuge from anti-Semitism, both in Europe and in the Arab world.  To create unity in this newly formed country, an emphasis was put on developing a common language: Hebrew.  Hebrew, the historic language of the Jewish people, was revived as a spoken language by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda as a means for national revival around the turn of the century in 1900.  No longer were Jews forcibly in exile, so Hebrew was once again established as the language of the Jewish people.  In special schools, known as ulpanim, Jews, many of whom spoke Yiddish, Ladino, etc., were taught to speak Hebrew to develop the foundation for cohesive Israeli identity.

New immigrants to Israel today still use the ulpan model to learn Hebrew.  While I am not an immigrant (yet), every student studying abroad is required to learn in an ulpan in order to develop his or her Hebrew language skills.  Some students come in knowing nothing and must start with the aleph-bet.  Others are here are nearly fluent, so they take classes in Hebrew.  My year of Hebrew at American University put me in an upper-level aleph class.  This class is actually perfect for me because it picks up exactly where we left off at AU in the same book.  I am hopeful that by January, when I return home, I will be on my way to fluency.

Ivrit Min HaHatchalah and I go way back.  The title literally means "Hebrew from the Beginning."

It is not easy getting back in the school mindset, especially with so much going on in the country, but I am slowly developing a routine.  Ulpan starts every morning around nine o'clock.  Anyone who knows me knows that getting up is nearly impossible.  Ani loh rotzeh l'koom b'boker--I don't want to get up in the morning!  Fortunately, I have been good about getting out of bed and getting to class on time, but we will see how long that lasts.  So far, I am very proud of myself.  I am hopeful, though, that the fact that I am actually in Israel will continue to motivate me to get up and get going well into the future.

Ulpan lasts about five hours per day with two breaks in the middle, one of which is 30 minutes and the other which is 15 minutes.  My class is taught by two Israeli women named Chaya and Yochi.  They are both very enthusiastic and a lot of fun so far.  They are very different from Rivka, my Hebrew professor at AU, but all share a common passion for the Hebrew language which is evident in the way they teach.  I was fortunate enough to catch Chaya after class on Monday to sit outside and practice my Hebrew, so I am already starting to feel comfortable around them.  It has been beautiful here lately, so it was a joy to sit on the grass under the sun, or shemesh, and speak b'Ivrit.  I also find the people in my ulpan class to be very interesting.  There are, of course, many Jewish students studying abroad from all over the world, but there are also many Koreans as well as some native Arabs from Jerusalem.  This makes for quite an interesting mix!

After the first class on Sunday, a student activities fair was held in the lobby of the Boyer building, where the Rothberg International School is located.  There is not too much in the way of student groups, but there were some good offerings from various tour guides and religious organizations.  It seems as if everyone wants to get you on a Segway tour of Jerusalem!  After the fair, an orientation was held on registering for classes.  Classes do not start until October, but registration is soon.  I'm still not sure what I'm taking except for Foreign Policy of Israel, which I petitioned to get in.  According to the professor's biography, he knew Golda Meir.  There is no way in the world I could pass up his class!  It was also at orientation that I ran into a problem.  The course rosters showed me as in one ulpan class, but the computer showed me in another.  After being run in circles to many different people (nobody ever knows what's going on at this school), I was told that I was accidentally registered for two ulpanim at once.  Fortunately, the problem was fixed in less than a minute and all is well.

That night, some people and I went to the Jeff Seidel Student Center right next to Kfar Studentim.  Jeff Seidel has a place near all the major Israeli universities where he hosts students from abroad for shabbat dinners, different activities (shooting and kayaking this week), Torah study, etc.  I went for a free BBQ dinner meant to be a sort of meet-and-greet for everyone.  The food was good, but I do not know how involved I'll get with Mr. Seidel.  (His center has free laundry, though, and that is a HUGE draw).

The next day, on Monday, I had ulpan again.  In the course of two days, we already covered chapters seven to 11!  There is so much to study and it is all very time consuming.  Monday did not differ much from Sunday, so I don't think there is too much more to say.  After ulpan, my friend Rachel and I went to the library to use the internet.  Kfar Studentim has no wireless so I am using a small USB stick that gives me a terrible connection (I am using it right now).  On campus, the internet is lighting fast.  It is nice to be able to use Gmail in its standard form, not the basic HTML mode.  Anyway, we spent a few hours online, sending emails, checking Facebook, and reading the news before going to Hillel.  The library is also nice and I am sure I'll be spending countless hours in there.

As an aside, there is a lot going on in the Middle East right now and almost none of it is good.  The Palestinian unilateral declaration of statehood looms ahead (September 20), and that threatens to bring a whole new round of violence.  Some are predicting another intifada, but I don't think it will get to that point.  At least, it better not!  On top of all that, Turkey has broken off almost all relations with Israel, bringing to an end a once great friendship.  Turkey has not been shy in its intention to sanction Israel by taking it to the International Criminal Court over the death of nine Turkish activists on a flotilla to Gaza, which is under blockade to prevent arms smuggling, in 2010.  The supposed "peace" activists bringing "aid" turned out to be dangerous individuals that threatened the lives of IDF soldiers who acted in selfdefense.  Much of the cargo onboard was weaponry, which included knives and metal poles.  This were not people bringing food, water, and medicine as claimed.  Even if they were, it is completely unnecessary since Gaza is not suffering from a humanitarian crisis; rather, it suffers from horrendous leadership.  These activists were threatening a legal blockade of Gaza while challenging one of the strongest militaries in the world!  In my view, Turkey is just using this event to elevate itself as a respected regional power among the Arab world.  It is a shame that this has happened and that Israel lost a close friend, but at least Netanyahu did not apologize and embarrass Israel as the as the Turks wanted.  This would have supposedly patched things up (not likely), but with friends like that, who needs enemies?  Other than Turkey, Iran still poses a potential nuclear.  Hezbollah to the north and Hamas to the south still pose great dangers, too.  I pray that Israel sees the day soon when all its enemies are vanquished!  Until then, Israel must stay strong and ever vigilant.

Oy vey!

Last night, some friends and I went to Hillel.  Hillel at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is very interesting and nothing like that at AU.  The Hecht Synagogue is the center for Jewish study and is an experience in itself.  At the front of the room is a big picture window that looks right at the Temple Mount.  It offers a prayer experience like no other!  The synagogue also was built to look ultramodern, kind of like a spaceship landed and was converted into a house of worship.  The school has many ravanim, or rabbis, and each seemed to have a unique personality.  One was young and hip, one was old and soft-spoken, and another sang and seemed very outgoing.  Each took some time to speak and show us who exactly they were.  The first one simply explained what he loved about the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.  The second spoke on the idea behind the shofar for Rosh HaShanah: that every breath you blow in to make a sound symbolizes new life.  The last one brought in his guitar and had everyone participate in niggunim, which are melodies that have no lyrics.  The "lai-lai-lais" and "bum-bum-bums" are supposed to come from the heart, which makes them more spiritual than songs with lyrics.  Afterwards, their was a free dinner of sushi and noodles.  The sushi ran out really fast, but the noodles were great!  Free food always tastes better, too.

From this picture of the Hecht Synagogue, it is possible to see the funky design on the walls as well as the large window to the front.  The Hebrew University of Jerusalem offers amazing views from all over campus but this might be one of the best.

So, that has been my life the past two days.  My next post will be about the practical Jerusalem tour on Tuesday as well as any other interesting things that may come my way.  There's always something happening here in Jerusalem and I am so happy to be here to experience it!