Last week I wrote about the iphone and prayer and learned that there is indeed Tanahk for All available through the itunes app store. I also did a small experiment and simply shut off my electronics for Shabbat. I enjoyed tremendous peace but was pretty much," land locked," since I was on call to the Hospital's Labor and Delivery floor, I needed to be near a phone. There were no beeps, blings, whirls or melodies emitting from any device: it was so NICE! Oh yes, there was one beautiful little girl born, but on Sunday.
This week we are studying about modern Chavurah in the mobile age. Chavurah comes from the root chaver, and can mean peer, friend or fellowship. The plural form is chavurot. Traditional style Chavruta ("paired") learning usally occurs in a Yeshiva, or similar setting where students challenge each other to analyze, explore and explain material that they are studying before a class. It occurs at long tables in a large learning hall , where the Chavruta pairs are all simultaneously pointing out perceived errors in the partners' reasoning and each student is trying to help the other come to a better understanding of the traditional texts. Quite a lively place these learning halls! I am not sure how each pair can focus and drown out all of the other conversations, since I do my best thinking at 3 am in the quiet of the night :-) But it seems to be a learning system that has stood the test of time.
Since the 1970's Chavurot typically decribe people who meet on a regular basis to study or celebrate Jewish life cycle events together. My wiki search this morning ( http://wikipedia.org/ ) brought me to this statement about the emphasis of Chavurot." Most chavurot place an emphasis on egalitarianism in the broad sense (of which gender is one piece) depending on participation by the entire community rather than top-down direction by clergy." Much in the spirit of this definition, I would define our Forum posts and discussions for each of our Gratz On-Line classes. We have the luxury of peace and quiet by which to focus our thoughts and form logical cohesive arguments without other students shouting their point of view just a few feet away from us. Ideally, we each post and respond to one another and help each other better understand the course material and perhaps attain new insights. Ideally we connect to each other and make contributions to each other's learning.
How else can we make adult learning connections, contributions and become part of Chavurot in the 21st century? There are so many wonderful opportunities both real and virtual! Here are just a few ideas I've uncovered: Adult camp! Yes Summer camp! Go to http://www.havurah.org/ The National Havurah Committee is offering a program Aug 5, 2013 - Aug 11, 2013 in New Hampshire... study, prayer, "spirited conversations," and hiking! Another idea is to join a chavurah, find one at http://chavurah.com/ . They even offer a guide to starting your own Chavurah. For more ideas check out http://Torah.org/ . If you like the radio there is Radio Chavura with learning programming every Sunday at 1830 hrs (990 KRKS AM in Denver).
Finally, I realize that this last suggestion isn't very technical, not cloud based and doesn't require a single piece of digital software , but it is still very relevant in the 21st Century: Go to your local Temple. There are like minded individuals, there are peers who can challenge your perceptions, help you participate more fully in (Jewish)life and help find ways to repair the world. And you don't have to do it yourself at 3 in the morning.
Shavua Tov
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