I may just be a tad overextended. The big task this past month was to get my thesis to about a halfway point so that when a new course begins tomorrow, I’ll be in a good place. I have done that… whew. Juggling tax prep, a pool leak, a school-required conference this week (online thankfully), writing content for the Mussar Institute Omer program, thinking about a Passover seder, a couple of family trips, it’s a lot. The fact that it will be March tomorrow is anxiety-inducing. I thought perhaps listing it here might help me somehow get it organized in my head.
- Writing my thesis. This has to be #1 because it takes so much time. The scope of my topic continues to narrow as I read more, simply because there is too much to cover. As of now, the topic is the Modern Mussar Movement: Yisrael Salanter, his disciples, the main 3 philosophies that came from this, and how those leaders were resilient in the face of hardship and major struggles. It was originally about specific leaders’ reactions to the Nazi invasion during WWII, but that grew far too large. Still, this is a broad topic. I’ve read about 8 books and loads of articles, making notes and organizing the research.80% of the research is done and about 50% of the writing because (not on this list) I begin another class (my final Gratz course) on March 1 and I’d like to have a large portion of this finished before then.
- Planning the Omer program. The Mussar Institute runs this 49-day program between Pesach and Shavuot every year. I’m honored to be planning this year’s program with one other friend. We have a general theme and weekly sub-themes, and now we are putting together the email and webpage templates, recruiting speakers for the weekly webinars, writing content for each week, creating extra readings and quotations, and on and on. I was ahead of the game (maybe still am for a week or so). The more I can do now the better because April and May are already busy with finishing the thesis and the new class.
- Taking AJR Hebrew. Yay – I was accepted into rabbinical school at the Academy for Jewish Religion. (Maybe a separate post is required, yes?) However, my Modern Hebrew is not up to snuff just yet. They offer three levels of preparatory Hebrew classes and I’m in Level 2. The class meets two days a week, for 2.5 hours each time. Plus homework. It’s a lot, but it’s great to practice speaking. I know much of the vocabulary and grammar from my Biblical Hebrew courses, so I think I’m ahead of the game here. Still, I have not studied this since college! Writing in script has come back to me, thank goodness, and I’m enjoying the class. This summer, I’ll take Level 3. Then I am finally able to take the school’s Hebrew A class. And OMG… there’s A, B, and C, each of which are two trimesters. There is a lot of Hebrew in my future.
- Participating in an Advanced Facilitation group. This is an honor to be chosen for. There are 9 of us meeting with a facilitator for two hours about every other week. She is guiding us through various pitfalls and opportunities of Mussar facilitation. I have learned a great deal and it has revolutionized the way I facilitate. I’m much more confident and centered, secure in my own gifts. This commitment also involves meeting with a chevrutah in between meetings to process and apply what we’ve learned. That too has been a gift.
- Studying Alei Shur. This is a classic Mussar text written by a recent Mussar great, Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe. (I study sometimes with two of his grandsons, who live in Houston.) The Mussar Institute (Avi) teaches this weekly course and this is the fourth segment of it. Avi is a student of a student of Rav Wolbe. We’ve been together for over two years at this point as Avi reads the Hebrew text, translates it for us, and explains its meaning. The concepts are large, but I attribute much of my personal growth to these teachings.
- Taking a Biblical Poetry class. I’ve completed three courses of Biblical Hebrew and this is the next in the series. The teacher of this section is amazing — so detailed and explains things very well. The material is dense with detail. She sends her notated slides after the class so I’ve been able to make a separate notebook with helpful grammatical material and her color-coded verb charts. Because of her thoroughness though, I have to watch the recording of the class so I can truly learn the concepts, pausing to paste in my notebook or make notes. Besides this class, I also meet with a personal tutor an hour each week to solidify concepts and do practice exercises. Yes, I’ve got about 8-9 hours of Hebrew each week.
- Facilitating Houston Mussar group. I’ve been doing this for five years now. I enjoy it, though it involves a bit of logistical time: sending out reading material, the meeting notices and Zoom link and agenda, facilitating two separate groups (one Sunday afternoon and one Thursday morning) each month, following up with study and practice materials. I have an awesome co-facilitator to plan each topic with and run ideas by, which is great. Just about each time I facilitate, someone has a huge aha moment and is so thankful to us for this spiritual experience.
- Weekly Torah study from a Mussar lens. Pretty much as it sounds, but I enjoy this group of people so much. We’ve been meeting for 2.5 years now. This hour adds meaning to my week.
- Learning with Akiva Tatz. Rabbi Dr. Tatz is truly remarkable. He has a myriad of books and I don’t even know everything he does. He’s a specialist in medical ethics, incredibly well-read, and an excellent teacher. We have just started the eighth course going through a specific text, the Ramchal’s Derech Hashem, each course consisting of 8 Sunday classes.
- Attending AJR lunchtime programming. Every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, from 11:10-11:40, there’s either a guest speaker, a discussion topic, or a meeting of some sort. Yesterday’s speaker was talking about the recent political changes on the table in Israel. Before that, someone presented on what synagogue search committees look for. Next week there’s a session where someone will present her Master’s Project about medieval Jewish women. Sometimes there’s a lesson. Sometimes a Student Association meeting. (And sometimes I can’t attend because I have another class.)
- Finally, there’s all the rest of daily life. Being a wife and a mom, driving to and from school, making meals, fixing a leaky pool pipe, talking with family and friends, reading, listening to podcasts and audio books, diamond painting, laundry, taking the cat to the vet, paying bills, walking, sleeping. Ah, I love sleeping.
