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Sep. 21st, 2002 01:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xiphiasSo, I haven't posted in a while, since before Yom Kippur. So, to start, I want to mention some of the unheralded dangers of Yom Kippur.
Of course, one can understand that not eating or drinking for 25 hours, 11 hours of which one is praying during, can really mess up one's back and joints. But a good night's sleep takes care of much of that.
But Lis still has bruises on the back of her knees. See, you do a lot of standing up and sitting down, and the shul we went to has sorta theatre-style seating, which, if you're going to stand up for an Amidah, you really need to fold up to have enough room to stand. So you get in the habit of pushing the seats up and down with your legs. Lis managed to bash up the backs of her knees pretty badly doing this. She didn't even notice until I pointed it out when we went to sleep that night.
Other than that, I've been doing prep work to get ready for teaching Hebrew School. I'm absolutely terrified about this, but, intelectually, I'm pretty certain I'll do a great job. It just bothers me that my Hebrew is so marginal. But I'm working on that -- and, honestly, that won't be a problem in my job. I do know more Hebrew than first graders are expected to know, so I can do this.
And I have some advantages which most folks wouldn't. I grew up in a community similar to the one I'm going to be teaching for, and I have a background similar to that of many of the kids I'll teach. And I know a lot of what the problems are. I know what I think I should have been taught, but never picked up.
Like, "what's a rabbi, and why is one important?" My community, like the one I'll be teaching at, has none. What is Yiddish, what does it have to do with Judaism? What does Eastern Europe have to do with Judaism? What's gefilte fish? Why is chicken soup considered Jewish?
A lot of progressive communities tend to forget that their kids have no way to encounter what's known as "cultural Judaism" unless we show it to 'em, and it's a lack that I feel was significant in my childhood.
Of course, one can understand that not eating or drinking for 25 hours, 11 hours of which one is praying during, can really mess up one's back and joints. But a good night's sleep takes care of much of that.
But Lis still has bruises on the back of her knees. See, you do a lot of standing up and sitting down, and the shul we went to has sorta theatre-style seating, which, if you're going to stand up for an Amidah, you really need to fold up to have enough room to stand. So you get in the habit of pushing the seats up and down with your legs. Lis managed to bash up the backs of her knees pretty badly doing this. She didn't even notice until I pointed it out when we went to sleep that night.
Other than that, I've been doing prep work to get ready for teaching Hebrew School. I'm absolutely terrified about this, but, intelectually, I'm pretty certain I'll do a great job. It just bothers me that my Hebrew is so marginal. But I'm working on that -- and, honestly, that won't be a problem in my job. I do know more Hebrew than first graders are expected to know, so I can do this.
And I have some advantages which most folks wouldn't. I grew up in a community similar to the one I'm going to be teaching for, and I have a background similar to that of many of the kids I'll teach. And I know a lot of what the problems are. I know what I think I should have been taught, but never picked up.
Like, "what's a rabbi, and why is one important?" My community, like the one I'll be teaching at, has none. What is Yiddish, what does it have to do with Judaism? What does Eastern Europe have to do with Judaism? What's gefilte fish? Why is chicken soup considered Jewish?
A lot of progressive communities tend to forget that their kids have no way to encounter what's known as "cultural Judaism" unless we show it to 'em, and it's a lack that I feel was significant in my childhood.