I felt kind of confused after the first class, and a little apprehensive. I can be pretty free-wheeling in my thinking and approach to life; however, I also need some kind of concrete understanding of basics. At this point, I still only have a nebulous understanding of what Judaism is (or really, of what it isn't) and how it is organized. The reading has helped a little (especially "Jewish Literacy") although in some instances I feel like excerpts are out of context and that I have walked into the middle of a conversation. Reading the Bible especially gave me this feeling and gave me flashbacks to crashing Christian Sunday School and Bible camp with my best friend as a kid ... Anyway, a general introduction to what Torah vs. the Bible vs. other Jewish writings, their order of importance/significance and historical background would be helpful.
Reading "Jewish Literacy" and the Bible (even though it's confusing) does make me feel excited about this opportunity Nancy and I have made for ourselves to truly learn about Judaism. The class, for me, is both an academic and very practical exercise, and pulling the two apart will be interesting -- I can already see the very different levels that the books in the class are operating on. Which brings me to my last point -- some introduction of the texts used in this class, their connection to the Reform movement (if any) and the reason behind choosing them would be really welcome and help orientate me as well!
--Megan
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment