on the road of the forefathers

The Dean David Bernstein gave a shiur on a text in the Talmud dealing with the sanctity of books and the importance of saving those from a fire - even on a Shabbat! He compared that commandment to our work of saving the Knowledge of Jewish text in this world where there is the lowest Jewish text literacy since the giving of the Torah.

After the Deans shiur I hurried to Pardes, the place where I will be studying. Its on the third floor of this building and as you see, Pardes is building a larger newer campus right next to it, to accommodate all the masses of people who share the passion of learning Torah. 

After getting inside the building...

and getting to the third floor, I picked up my registration packet and headed to meet with other Pardesniks to go to the Tayelet and meet with the whole Year Program participants.

We had to wear masks while walking together. I didn't really see the point of it, but it was their wish and I respected that. There were also some older people walking with us, who were also participants at Pardes, so I understood the reasoning.

When we got to the designated meeting place, the view of the old city and at the same time the new city was breathtaking.

 You can see the Temple Mount with the Dome of the Rock, the Hebrew University, and Mount of Menuchot, where my great-grandfather, may his memory be a Blessing, is burried.

We split into two groups to follow the corona guidelines and we each got a nametag. After some opening words we split into groups of  5 to discus texts that deal with the importance of the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem, what they each mean to us personally and how we connect to them. Interrupted only by a very nice singing session where we were singing "Olam Chesses Yibaneh" and "Ose Shalom" and a specially composed niggun by the band leader. While talking and singing we could watch an incredibly beautiful sunset and moonrise. At the end of the event the city lights were shining brightly at us across the valey. 

Just thinking about our forefathers all passing here on their way to what was there before Jerusalem became a city was very inspiring.

On the way back I got some Pizza and passed by the Great Jerusalem Synagogue:

In the Bus it was so cold that I had to put on my jacket

Fun fact: I live around the corner of the Office of the Prime Minister and that is what I saw on the way home:

Basically a bunch of Bibi supporters. Also on the way home the guard talked me up to understand what I am doing why I am looking inside of the property. 

Tomorrow starts early and I am excited! Good night :)