i am in awe...
One of the classes I'm taking this semester is American Judaism, with Jonathan Sarna, who literally wrote the book on American Judaism. It is an incredible class. For starters, I love history, and Sarna is an incredible teacher and lecturer. I sit in class and I just listen and take notes and absorb. The thing that's really incredible about this class-it's MY history. American Judaism, can you get any more specific? I just read an article for it, by Malcolm Stern, "The 1820s: American Jewry Comes of Age." Mentioned in this article were the founding of the first reform synagogue in the US, even before German Reform Judaism hit the States. Also mentioned, even more interestingly, were the founding of 2 synagogues that I hold near and dear. Baltimore Hebrew Congregation and Congregation B'nai Jeshurun. When I was little and we were visiting family in Baltimore I used to look at the exhibits in the BHC lobby that described the history of the congregation and how it grew and changed over the year. And now it's a relevant part of a class that I'm taking! And B'nai Jeshurun, which has become one of my many models for the kind of synagogue I want, is described in detail, in how its founding related to American Jewish history on a larger scale. When I studied Ellis Island and immigration and whatnot, I never really appreciated that that was my history too, even though I have relatives who went through Ellis Island. Perhaps it takes maturity, and a different world view? And yes, I definitely related to core class on EIE with the attitude that this was "my history." But that was more because we were told, every day, "this is your history, take advantage of it." This seems much closer, and nobody's telling me that it's my history. It's just sitting there, waiting for me to claim it as my own. I love being able to take such relevant classes.