Thursday, July 16, 2009

Fond Farewells


We concluded two extraordinary weeks at Hartman today, and I will miss the learning a great deal. It has been such a pleasure to study with terrific teachers and colleagues.

The best part, for me, was the learning I did with my two hevruta study partners. Yitz Miller is a rabbi in Santa Cruz, CA and Pat Fisher is a retired professor from Chapel Hill, NC (where her husband was the Hillel rabbi.) From the start, the three of us developed a wonderful connection to one another; we shared our lives as much as the texts themselves. Indeed, this is what Torah study is all about, for me, when it is at its best: seeing our lives through the mirror of our traditional texts, and finding guidance in the meeting of the traditional narratives and our personal stories. You can see Pat and Yitz and me in the Hartman beit midrash (study hall) above.

We're getting ready to head out on Sunday night, but still have one last Shabbat to savour here. I know it will be a sweet experience.


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