Yet another post

So hey not sure what is happening that i am posting again so soon. Mum and Dad have returned to Enland, well actually at the moment they are still on route, it was really nice having them here even for such a short time. I have had my Hebrew oral and i think that it went well. It was about Herod's tomb (which is in a park behind the King David Hotle) .

I also want to reassure anyone reading this that I am okay and well after yesterday's event.

Purim and mum and dad

We are having fun, on Saturday night I took mum and dad to Havdalah at HUC, although it was a small turn out, and then we went to the old city and the westernall...on Suday we went shopping at the Shuk which both mum and dad liked a lot. Latter that evening we all went to Kol HaNeshamah (where we went for Friday night as well) to hear the Megilah read. Its been lots of fun so far. :)

Today they went on a tour of Jlem while i stayed home at the flat to get ready for my Hebrew oral examination tomorrow and to do some other things as well

The year continues 2

So once again it seems that I am going to start a blog entry with an appology about not updating my blog sooner. I guess that that is just one of those things. And again like last entry i want to comment on how quickly the year is going now! Summer ulpan seemed to take forever and first semester was slowish but second is simply flying by; i can hardly believe that a) I have been in Israel now for eight months (thats almost unbelievable) and that in 72 days time I return to the UK.
Since my last update quite a lot has happened.
We had the southern Tiyal. We started off in Yeroum, which is a develpoment town south of Bethsheba, and we then went to the Kibbutz were we were staying Yahel, and after a day walking in Timmnah natinal park we went down to Eilat and went swiming of the reef, amazing fishes. The next day we went to an envirmental Kibbuzts also in the deep Negeve. The desert is amazingly beautiful and after being there even if only for a few days it is more obivous why the great religons emerge from there.
Apart from the southern Tiyal my year is continuing as normal, with classes and lots and lots of work. Rabbinic Texts is going well, in fact I am going an extra not for credit class there just me and Tina (a felllow rabbinical student) it is great and Aliona is also an amazing teacher. The continuing (two semister classes) are carrying on Mordern Hebrew is still by far and away my worst subject but even there I am making progress. I have also given my second Sermon (this time on a Saturday) and as it turned out Jonathan Magonent was in the congregation.
Last week Emily's parants came to Jlem to vist with her and this week my mum and dad are in town.

So all in all things are going well and i am enjoying myself.

The year continues

I seem to be really really bad at up-dating this blog. Ah well better late than never I guess. Things are still much the same although after going really slowly at first this year has started to speed up, not sure if thats a good thing or a bad. I have settled into my second Semister nicely (I am enjoying Rabbinic Texts) its relatively striaght forward at the moment. Hebrew Modern is still progressing (i think it is getting better but ask me again tomorrow after my next mini-exam), Late Antiquity is really interesting and goes well with Rab. Texts...I am also really enjoying 'Jewish identity in Contemporary Israel' which is one of my elective course. It is very phiolosphical which really suits me.
I still think that one, if not the high-light of the year is Israel Seminar which is great and gives us access to a whole range of Israeli society that it would be very hard if not impossible for me to access on my own.
Bible is wonderful I think that Yossi is among the best and most interesting teachers I have every had.

Its not all work work work tho., a lot of it is. I do get sometime to socalise as well. Yesterday I went for Shabbat dinner at Joel's house (Joel is a friend from back home and a Masorti Rabbi).

It has also started raining here, which is great as we really really really needed the rain. I am busy working on my next drash (due on the 26th) and on my Traruma project(s) so there is plenty to keep me going. The next big thing that is coming up is the Southern Tiyal. I am quite excited for that as I haven't been to the south of Israel as yet and it looks really really beautiful. Well I had better go. Hebrew to learn and books to read.

Home and my Drash

Hey there. Quite a bit has happened since I last posted. Firstly i went home back to the UK for a short brake it was really nice to see family and friends and little Aaron who has grown so much. The only real problem was that it was too short atime to spend there before I had to come back to Israel (although Jlem really does feel like home now-I guess I am luck to have two place that feel that way) anyhow school has restarted and I am busy again. I still have modern Hebrew which I think may actually be getting a little easier, I also stil have grammar, and liturgy. The new subjects are Rabbinic texts and and Late Antiquity both of which I think will be really interesting.
I have given my first sermon (or Drash) i was more nervous than I was expecting altough I think it went quite well. Apart from that not that much has been happening.

More exams and back home.

Hi its been ages and ages since I last posted sorry about that. So long in fact that I have taken all my end of term exams. I think that they went well with the exception of Modern Hebrew, which didn't go great but was not as awful as it might have been. But I shall have to wait until I get the results back to know for sure. So far the only exam that i have had back was Second Temple Period History. I got 95%. So I am quite happy.
At the moment I am back home in the UK although only for a few days. I am still working on Modern Hebrew although at the present my main priorities are my up coming drash and writing the booklet on Fast for NIffty. Any how its good to be home however briefly and to have gotten though the whole first semester. Yeah only nine left to go. :)

No voice and exams

Hey well in the end I was with out voice completly for ten days and had hardly any for more. I can now speek again although making a lot of noice is still someway off. I am in the middle (well near the end now) of mid-terms and frankly feel completly examed out.

I still have Biblical History to do, Hebrew seems to be a continus flow of examinations. I haven't had any back yet so really really don't know how they have gone. I also have a number of essays (and sigh) reflections to write but that must all wait until motizi Shobbos.