Progress Now On The Street

In addition to working on the lot "next door" (see earlier posts here and here), the work has now progressed to the street directly adjacent to the lot. On Monday, they put up some poles in the street (they drilled holes in the pavement and put down cement to hold the poles there), followed by Tuesday, when they finished lining the street exactly adjacent to the property, followed up with yesterday (Wednesday), where they began putting up boards alongside the poles. My conjecture is that they are beginning to set up scaffolding, a common "weed" in NYC.
While I don't particularly mind, were I to be a car-owner, I would be somewhat upset, as they took out upwards of 8-10 (perhaps even a dozen?) parking spots with their construction. This, in an area where parking was not easy anyways, now makes it all the much more difficult. Again, I count my lucky stars I do not own a car in Manhattan.

Presentation

After presenting on psalm 6 (תהילים ו) today (click here for my materials), I realized how much work and experience one is required to master in order to present well. While I was thinking mainly in the rabbinic field, as far as giving shiurim (lectures), this, I imagine, also extends to any other field of presentation. I definitely gained another level of respect for people who present solidly.

Pondering My Blog's Existence

In the last few days I have been pondering how to continue my blog. While I am merely a first-year rabbinical student, I'm unsure as to how my thoughts are perceived by others. Even if I were to continue on blogging through my second year, the same thought occurs. But, once I enter my third year, I start interning, and I imagine that won't be so simple - not necessarily in a time-crunch sort of way, but rather a perception sort of way. As I get another internship and start job-hunting in my fourth year, I would assume that my blog would certainly no longer be operating. I certainly wouldn't want potential employers finding out everything about me. Granted, I know that people would want to know all the intricacies of my life and thought, but there's a line somewhere.
I've realized that for both dating purposes and professional(?) purposes, it is better not to leave some areas of my life untouched on this blog. Therefore, I have purged - or, at least, have tried to purge - my dating posts as well as some of the more "touchy" posts. So, I apologize now for anybody who was trying to look at back posts regarding these items, but they have now vanished.
So that leads me to my next point - my change in direction in both this blog and in my life: whither? While I certainly see my blog lasting, at the longest, two years more, it may meet its demise much sooner. Furthermore, if I want to present myself as a future rabbi rather than merely as a student, I should also blog as one. This last point, however, strikes me as a haughty one: that I should conduct myself as if I were already a rabbi, which might be construed as arrogant. That's a "toughy".
I'm going to try to work on sounding more rabbinic or something on my blog - or at least blog about things that aren't so non-rabbinic. Okay, let's face it, I'm having a hard time identifying my status and outlook at the moment.
I'm done with this post, but not finished with the idea - very not finished.
Props to Shira for voluntarily suggesting edits to this post.

Review Assignment and Test

Today, I handed in an my efforts for a review assignment, prior to taking a test on various Tosafos texts in the tenth chapter of Pesahim for my Rishonim class at school. We started taking a test today and will hopefully be finishing it up. I have been exhausted of late, working on that and my rabbinic sleep ethics paper, which should hopefully be finished by this weekend, and will be in a much better condition than when it was even a week ago.

News in Drew

Some recent goings-on in my life:
1) Tonight, I bought my first ever digital song online (and, for that matter, my second) [from iTunes].
2) The last few days have seen a lot of me working on my Rabbinic Sleep Ethics paper, as I have been revising my paper after I sent it to Professor Elman and he had some comments to add, plus what's making it somewhat laborious, aside from having found a whole bunch of material to consider (a whole book on sleep in antiquity, plus an article on sleep in Israel for the Talmudic sages), but, to top that all off, I am trying to inject some conceptualization into the paper, as well. I look forward to finishing it in the next day....
3) Our review for Rabbi Katz' class involves going through all of the Tosafosos that we have done in the tenth chapter of Pesahim and to do stuff - I will be posting the fruits of my labor tomorrow after I turn it in.
4) I'll be spending my last shabbas in the Heights for a month this shabbas. I will be elsewhere in the meantime.
:)

Interesting Excerpt From BBYO Report

Tonight, I typed up and published online four pages of Dr. Max F. Baer's 1975 report as International Director of BBYO, which was printed almost exactly thirty years ago (3 April 1976). Why did I bother with that and why am I bothering to blog about it? The initial answer was that I found in his words some good and important things for BBYOers to consider. However, while typing up the piece, I realized that there were things of general Jewish importance, as well. I definitely recommend it.
One thing that's interesting about it is getting somewhat of a picture of Jewish youth thirty years ago, as well as of general culture.
The excerpt which had initially struck me was the following (to be found on the third of the four pages):

The raison d’être of BBYO, for example, is that the movement represents specific standards of ethical and moral conduct, that the joiner enters into a contract with the movement to make its values his/her own values. Aleph Zadik Aleph was envisaged by its pioneers as an institution for character building through the interaction of the membership under the guidance of model leaders. The process by which a task was accomplished was considered as important as the task itself. Grand Aleph G’dolim, in their Shofar columns and oral messages to the membership, reveled in stories of exemplary conduct by individual members.

However, there were some other good quotes about the Jewish people in general, as well:

Our concern is whether Jewish commitment and identity represent simply affiliation with a people or active involvement with its aspirations and internalization of its values. Organizations of Jews must not only be task-oriented assemblages of Jews. They must stand for the values that have made the Jewish people a distinctive force in the history of humankind. They must act out, not simply profess belief in these values. The leadership of Jewish organizations, both lay and professional, must serve as role models for the members. The process of decision-making must reflect the highest ideals of Judaic thought, not those of the market place.

He also has the following to say on Jewish education:

Jewish education must embrace the cognitive and the visceral – knowledge and emotion. They are equally important aspects of Jewish commitment. Basic Jewish knowledge, when we find it in a youth, is nurtured in the home and in the Jewish school – institutions which hold the child for major blocks of time. However most young Jewish people emerge from these experiences with abysmal ignorance of Jewish life and thought. Chanukah, for example, means no more than a Jewish holiday held at the same time as Christmas, with an exchange of gifts and the lighting of candles. There is no cure for Jewish illiteracy in homes without Jewish books, Jewish music, Jewish art, or Jewishly knowledgeable parents. There is no cure for Jewish illiteracy in Jewish schools without qualified teachers, meaningful curricula, and students old enough to understand that undergirding the battles of the Maccabees was the never-ending struggle between Hellenism and Judaism, tyranny and liberty.

I hope people use his words well.
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Tags: BBYO, Jewish youth, Jewish people, Jewish education, Max Baer, Max F. Baer, Dr. Max F. Baer

Articles on Sleep in Judaism

Last night, while Googling, I found a book on sleep in antiquity, which will definitely give me some good material to use for writing on sleep in Judaism - certainly currently, as my article on Talmudic sleep ethics is undergoing revisions. I thought it would be helpful for people who are interested in this topic to have a bibliographical listing of relevant material. As such, here it is:
-Ancoli-Israel, Sonia. "Sleep Disorders in the Bible." Jewish Bible Quarterly 31, no. 3 (July-September 2003): 143-152.
-Isbell, Charles David. "Sleep From the Eyes, Slumber From the Eyelids." Jewish Bible Quarterly 34, no. 1 (January-March 2006): 39-46.
-Kaplan, Drew. "In Your Lying Down and In Your Rising Up: A Biblical Sleep Ethic." Jewish Bible Quarterly 34, no. 1 (January-March 2006): 47-50.
-Kaplan, Drew. "Talmud Sleep Ethics" (we'll see if this title sticks or not...). Milin Havivin 2 (2006): forthcoming.
-McAlpine, Thomas. Sleep, Divine & Human in the Old Testament. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1987.
-Thomson, J.G.S.S. "Sleep: An Aspect of Jewish Anthropology." Vetus Testamentum 4 (1955): 421-433.
-Tovar, Sofia Torallas. "Philo of Alexandria on Sleep." In Sleep, edited by Thomas Wiedemann and Ken Dowden. Bari, Italy: Levante Editori, 2003. (41-52)

Also, while running a RAMBI search last night, I came across two articles in Hebrew - the first, which seems rather significant, was done by Joshua Schwartz, published in 2004 in a volume called רצף ותמורה, running from pages 197 - 209. Another work, written by Yizhak Shaz, came out nine years ago on a prayer said after waking up. I hope to look at both of these on Sunday.

As to whether or not Sofia Torallas Tovar's article knocks my idea of writing about Philo's views on sleep, I doubt it, as she didn't cover the topic extensively. Nevertheless, I haven't been productive lately [at all], though I hope to make Sunday a productive day.
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Tags: sleep, Judaism

Canfei Nesharim Shabbaton: Their Press Release

Canfei Nesharim recently just released a press release about their third annual shabbaton (for my blogging about it, click on this link):

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Evonne Marzouk

March 17, 2006 703-868-5356

“Spring Forward in Hillside:

A Fresh Look at the Environment Through the Lens of Halacha”

Successful Environmental Shabbaton in Orthodox Jewish Community of Elizabeth, NJ

ELIZABETH, NJ—Canfei Nesharim (“The Wings of Eagles”), an organization dedicated to educating the Orthodox Jewish community about protecting the environment from the perspective of Torah and Jewish law, held its third annual Orthodox Environmental Shabbaton, March 10-12, 2006, at JEC- Adath Israel in Hillside, New Jersey.

Entitled, “Spring Forward in Hillside: A Fresh Look at the Environment through the Lens of Halacha,” the Shabbaton included an afternoon shiur from Rabbi and VT Maple Syrup Farmer, Rabbi Shmuel Simenowitz; a community lunch with Canfei Nesharim Associate Director Ora Sheinson speaking on “Am I My Brother’s Keeper?”; a Friday-night program for high school students; a melava malka with Torah learning on environmental issues; and a Nature Walk with a shiur from Evonne Marzouk, the organization’s new professional Executive Director.

The event also included kosher organic food and eco-friendly paper goods at the meals, educating the Elizabeth community on simple actions that can protect the environment. Through its activities this weekend, Canfei Nesharim reached approximately 180 Orthodox Jews with its message of the Torah responsibility to protect the environment. The community also expressed interest in organizing future events related to environmental education.

“The event was an opportunity for us to share our work with the community, while bringing together Orthodox Jews from around the world, who are already concerned about the environment,” said Marzouk. Jews from Canada and England attended the event.

Canfei Nesharim is guided by a Science Advisory Board and a Rabbinic Advisory Board that includes well-known scholars such as Rabbi Mordechai Becher, Rabbi Barry Freundel, Rabbi Michael Skobac and Rabbi Jonathan Rietti. International in scope, the organization’s steering committee has members in Canada, England, Israel and the United States.

This event was supported by a mini-grant from Hazon and the New York Jewish Environmental Bike Ride. Canfei Nesharim benefits from support from Bikkurim: An Incubator for New Jewish Ideas, a project of JESNA, UJC, and the Kaminer Family.

For more information about the Shabbaton and Canfei Nesharim, please go to www.canfeinesharim.org.

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Tags: Canfei Nesharim, Canfei Nesharim shabbaton, Jewish environmentalism, environmentalism

Progress Next Door

A little further progress has been made in the lot next to our building, as there have been boards put up on the frames put up previously.

My Computer's Back From The Shop

My computer's back from the shop and working properly. Yay. That would account for only two postings since I brought my laptop in on six days ago.