summer learning

[cellio]

After dithering for a while, I've decided not to go to the program at Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem this year. It was going to be expensive before the dollar tanked (let alone now), and I haven't been able to find out a lot about it, and I figure I can wait for a review from the fellow congregant who's going and re-evaluate for next year.

I am pretty sure I am going to National Havurah Committee's summer institute, unless all the classes I'm interested in have filled up since the list went live a couple months ago. (I've sent email to inquire.) This is the week after Pennsic, which is a little awkward, but I should be able to make it work. (I want some down-time, but I'll come home from Pennsic on Friday and not need to leave for this until Monday morning, probably.) Do I know anyone else who is going this year? I know magid has gone in the past.

(By the way, can anyone from the area tell me what NH temperature and humidity tend to be like in mid-August? This informartion seems remarkably hard to gain via Google.)

I have also heard some really good things about a short program called Limmud. When I first heard of this what I found was a weekend(-ish) program in the UK, which seemed rather a bit of trouble for something so short. (At the time I didn't have a passport. I do now, so it would just be about time and airfare.) But someone on a mailing list recently mentioned the New York instantiation. This program is for a long weekend in the winter. They don't have any details posted yet, but I'll check back later. (I wonder what the least-bad way is for getting to the Catskills in January. Maybe some other congregants will be interested and we could drive; flying is not clearly a win.)

Comments

[talvinamarich.livejournal.com]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hampshire#Climate This lists the July temperatures.

*hands you a grain of (kosher) salt to go with that*

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

In Boston and near-north, frequently hot and humid, but quite variable. You can count upon warm to very hot, rain is always a possibility.

[zevabe.livejournal.com]

LimmudNY was a lot of fun last year. I hope you are able to come as I expect to be there this coming year also.

[gingicat]

We're going to Havurah courtesy of Wolf's (and Magid's) parents. We'll be having some sort of mini-celebration for Joshua's 3rd birthday on August 13 (have to find out what arrangements we can make), so consider yourself invited. :)

If I brought my tenor recorder, is there any chance we could do some music together?

[goljerp]

A bunch of people from my shul go to the Havurah thing, but Joy and I won't be making it this year. For Lilmud, I think there are usually several busses from NYC; maybe if you can make it to NYC, you can get a seat on a bus?

[msmemory.livejournal.com]

The lows can feel cooler than Pennsic, the highs every bit as warm. Mostly sunny with late-day t-showers would be typical. Like goldsquare said.

[cellio]

Thanks! I should have thought to try Wikipedia...

[cellio]

Thanks. The reason I'm asking is so I can choose between the convenient un-air-conditioned housing and the inconvenient air-conditioned housing. (I'm bothered by humidity far more than by heat.)

[cellio]

Thanks for the invitation! (I thought you had said you were going, but couldn't remember (1) for sure and (2) whether you'd said so publicly.)

Music: alas, if I go I'll be flying, which makes the hamme dulcimer a little impractical. One of these days I will learn a small instrument! Hanging out and jamming would be fun.

[gingicat]

For some reason I thought you also play recorder.

Hope to see you!

[cellio]

Their site alludes to buses from NYC, yes. I don't have a good sense of how efficient, or silly, flying to NYC to take a bus to the Catskills would be. The info about buses reads like it's intended for locals. (Clearly I need to spend some time with Google Maps; I don't even have a sense of how long a bus ride that is.)

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

I would choose the air-conditioned.

The weather here is Pennsic-equivalent. But can also be quite buggy, so open windows are not a good idea.

Is the price delta particularly significant?

[cellio]

Thanks!

[cellio]

Is the price delta particularly significant?

Nope. To me it's entirely about the convenience of being "downtown" versus the comfort of AC. Sounds like the AC wins. Thanks for your help.

Sorry you're not coming to Jerusalem for Shalom Hartman Institute :(

[(Anonymous)]

I'm sorry to hear that you are not coming to join us in Jerusalem this summer. I work at the <a href="http://hartman.org.il/>Shalom Hartman Institute</a> (http://www.hartman.org.il/) as Website Manager, and part of my job is to make sure there IS enough information about the programs online. What were you looking for that you did not receive? I will correct. Unfortunately, travel to Israel IS expensive right now. There isn't much we can do about this. But this will be a great summer in Israel. There is so much going on, let alone what you would have gotten at the Hartman Institute. In Jerusalem, by the way, you will not have to worry about summer humidity. It's hot in the day, sure, but cool and breezy at night, and never humid. But, beyond that, even with political scandals and external threats, people are upbeat for the 60th summer; there is great stuff all summer in Jerusalem, too: Israel Festival, Jerusalem Film Festival, Hutzot HaYotzer, and more. The learning and community at Hartman are amazing - top-level scholars, fascinating visitors, dozens of engaged rabbis. B'shana ha'ba'a b'Yerushalayim ha'bnooya. Alan Abbey

Re: Sorry you're not coming to Jerusalem for Shalom Hartman Institute :(

[cellio]

Thank you for this reply! I wish I'd made contact with you three months ago.

I heard about the program through my rabbi, who praises SHI highly (but didn't have experience with this specific program). The information I couldn't find was about the program content, calibration, and "style" -- large lectures or small discussions, academic or more casual, level of text knowledge that could be accommodated (beginner or more advanced?), full-day programming versus something more abbreviated, etc. My approach toward study programs tends toward "fill my day" and "fill my brain"; I love learning, and I love it to be challenging. (My past formal experiences: HUC/CCAR/URJ's Sh'liach K'hilah program, Hebrew College's Open Beit Midrash, and one year of the Florence Melton program. Informally, many years of chevruta study with my rabbi.)

In February I sent mail to the email address published on the site; after a full month I got a reply that repeated the information on the web site (which I'd said up front I'd already explored). I asked my questions again (I hoped more clearly), and my next reply was in early May saying a program book would be coming out soon. I haven't received that yet, but it's a little late for me to be making decisions now. Even now, I don't see more than this page on your site; did I miss something?

The financial issues are totally not under your control; I understand that. While the $1500 tuition didn't make me blink, by the time I added in air fare and housing the cost had tripled, not counting the effects of the weak dollar. I can spend that for the right program, but I didn't feel I could do it "blind". Your institute has an excellent reputation, but I needed to know a little more abut what I was likely to experience in this specific program. Does that make sense?

For next year I'll have much better data; a fellow congregant (who was already committed to going to Israel this summer for other reasons) will be attending, and I'm looking forward to hearing what she says about it when she returns.

I hope to meet you there next year.

[(Anonymous)]

(from Goljerp)

I spoke to a guy on Shavuot who's one of the Lilmud NY coordinators, and he thought there was nothing wrong with getting to NYC and taking the bus from there to the catskills. In fact, I think he said that's how some of the speakers are getting there.

Gotta run, shabbat shalom!