ooh, shiny!

[cellio]

I just learned about this one-week learning program (in July) at Yeshivat Hadar, an egalitarian yeshiva in Manhattan. The classes sound really engaging and meaty (click through for descriptions). Here's what they say is a typical day:

Morning:
7:30 am - Davening with Yeshiva community (optional for Seminar participants)
8:00 am - Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 am [sic] -- Text Classes offered for participants with varied levels of Jewish text experience, with special Talmud class for beginners, and an opportunity to integrate with Yeshivat Hadar's Talmud class for participants with Jewish text backgrounds.

Afternoon (all classes are with the Yeshivat Hadar fellows):
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm -- Lunch with the Yeshivat Hadar community
1:30 pm - 3:00 pm -- Halakhah Seminar with Rabbi Ethan Tucker
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm -- Break and Minhah (optional for Seminar participants)
4:00 pm - 6:30 pm -- Jewish Thought Seminar with Rabbi Shai Held (and Yeshivat Hadar students)

Evenings:
Dinner
Special Speakers
Nights out in NYC

I only know Hadar by reputation (of, mainly, the associated independent minyan, and what I read in Empowered Judaism by R. Tucker). Do any of my readers know more? They say they welcome students of diverse backgrounds; I assume the guiding principles (for learning and davening) are traditional.

Do I know anybody else who might attend? And is it actually practical to (1) lodge and (2) park a car in the upper west side? (Please take as given that I basically know nothing about NYC neighborhoods and precious little about getting around beyond "I hear good things about the subway system".)

Comments

[sanpaku.livejournal.com]

The stuff on their website seems to speak for itself. I saw one of their seminars online and it was great. Shai Held is supposed to be incredible, too. I've always managed to park cars in New York, if you have the patience to wait around for a spot.

[mbarr.livejournal.com]

It's really not too bad, especially if you know anyone in NJ, and can take the train in... if you leave the car out there, you don't have to deal w/ parking it.

However, it's not that bad to drive up to the west side, and then find a spot to park... if you have some flexibility.

But it's an amazing program, and i have multiple friends that can talk to the quality.. (some of whom are from the other end of the spectrum - ortho)

And it's in my neighborhood :)

[zevabe.livejournal.com]

I heard both Ethan Tucker and Shai Held at the last LimmudNY. Both are amazing and I'd be happy to listen to either of them a great deal more. I am not however going to a Hadar event.

By July I may or may not still be living here, and should ask my wife before offering crash space, but... I for one would be happy to have you.

more information than you may have wanted

[gingicat]

When we go to NYC, we stay with my parents in Riverdale (where I grew up) and take a bus to the #1 train south (downtown, street numbers get smaller). These days, anywhere along the #1 train is reasonably safe in daylight, but you'll find everything you need between 122nd St and Broadway (Jewish Theological Seminary) and 96th St and Broadway. The barrio is pretty safe and full of great front-stoop music (or so says my high-school memory), so going east can be fun but you are unlikely to have time.
(and now I am typing around a three-year old who is taking advantage of the fact that I am staying home with the sick 5-year-old)
From Riverdale, it's a 15-minute bus ride (not counting wait time) and then about 40 minutes to 72nd St,
From Jersey City, there are a number of PATH train options that will bring you to the #1 train; one will take you to the World Trade Center, where you take the A train north (uptown) to the 1 train north (uptown).

Train system maps:
http://www.mta.info/maps/
I don't know that much about the NJ end - I know that buses go into Port Authority at 33rd and 9th Avenue and you can easily catch a bus to your destination there. NJ Transit goes into Penn Station (34th St) where you can easily catch the #1 train.

I know you have limited vision, so I should let you know that most subway signage is in a font where the capital letters are about 6 inches high, and 6-10 feet from the floor. (There are exceptions - the station names on the platforms are considerably bigger.) There are lots of signs, and following them has not gotten me lost.

There are four or five kosher restaurants in the general area and most restaurants have excellent vegetarian options.

Columbia University is at 116th and Broadway. St John the Divine (which is well worth a visit on beauty alone) is at 110th and Central Park West, Riverside Church is at 110th? and Riverside Avenue. Grant's Tomb is also in that general area. I've already mentioned the Jewish Theological Seminary. The Museum of Natural History is at ~79th and Central Park West, a pretty easy walk from 72nd and Broadway. Other museums are on the other side of Central Park. There's the Central Park Zoo and a number of other nifty things in Central Park.

[hatam-soferet.livejournal.com]

*wave*

here via a mutual friend

Yeshivat Hadar is super awesomecakes.

Driving in is possibly not too bad if you come in superearly for minyan and miss the worst of the traffic, but finding parking is a bitch and a half, unless you reserve space with a garage which is kind of pricey but maybe worth it for the time and rage you save.

I expect you might find a summer sublet on the UWS or in its Jewy-neighbourhood cousin Washington Heights, a little further north. Or crash space.

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

If your other crash space falls through, you can come stay with us. We're in Jersey City, but the commute to the upper west side isn't terrible, probably about 1 hour round trip, and it avoids having to drive in Manhattan.

As a bonus, if you come out a bit earlier, you can come to Contata (http://www.contata.org). ;)

[goljerp]

Some thoughts:

If you do drive to NYC, you could easilyleave it parked (or garaged - not sure about rates, but there is a garage across from JTS) and travel everywhere by bus or subway.

Places to stay: assuming you're not crashing with someone (I'd offer our couch, but we will probably be hosting someone that week already), you can investigate JTS guest rooms (just a few, but reasonable), or Union Theological Seminary Guest rooms (across the street from JTS). Of course, it looks like the Hadar stuff will be at 69th street, but that's not bad via subway (or about 35 min by bus). Regular Hotels in UWS are either a lot more expensive, or are not so great - I haven't checked it out recently, but my joke about Hotel Newton was, "Well, the gravity works!"

If you do come, we should figure out a way to get together. My minyan meets on the Saturday after that weekend (as does Hadar, of course). Or we could try to have dinner or something, but I'm sure the program will keep you busy.