Trope, Fun Work Anecdote, Recipe

When I got back from Passover break, one of the things I did was go to my first trope (Torah chanting notes) session. It's taught by a Brandeis student, and it's one-on-one which is wonderful. I never got around to learning trope as part of my conversion process. Part of it was that, at 17, the idea of having a bat mitzvah in high school seemed weird - I'd be older than the traditional b'nei mitzvah students but much younger than most women who have bat mitzvah ceremonies later in life (the usual age range at my synagogue is 40-60, sometimes higher). My mom was relieved, because she was afraid she'd have to organize a big party. However, now that my Hebrew reading ability has improved markedly, and I've been helping my rabbi and cantor at some Shabbat morning services, learning trope has become a more approachable, and less intimidating.

My first trope lesson involved repeating (and repeating, and repeating…) several common notes and note sequences, and beginning to chant from Genesis 1. Keep the notes separate is a challenge, but making the leap from chanting the note names to chanting words in Torah is an even bigger one. But it's definitely a very rewarding process. Before learning trope formally, I spent a lot of time staring at the trope notes in Torah commentaries during services and trying to see how the sung notes corresponded to the trope. I figured out about two notes. Sometimes you just have to go out and learn.

Other times, you go out and teach, as I learned at work. I was in the specialty clinic, at the art table, illustrating my Hebrew vocabulary list (figuring that having pictures of some of the nouns would help me study). One of the girls at the table, who was probably about 8, looked at the sheet and asked, "is that Spanish?" I managed not to laugh, but it was really hard. I guess I assumed that almost all children in the U.S. have seen Spanish written on signs or at least on Sesame Street or Dora the Explorer, or at least *know* it's not in a different alphabet. Apparently that assumption was incorrect. However, given that there are more Spanish speakers in the US than when I was a kid, I think it's all the more unusual for someone to mistake Hebrew for Spanish. Of course, this is coming from someone whose family is really into learning non-English languages, so maybe I'm being unfair.

Finally, for my own reference a relatively low-fat, non-chili, vegetarian recipe:

*Add 1 cup boiling water to 1 dry cup couscous. Cook until couscous is al dente (around 7 minutes on medium heat on the stove).

*When couscous is almost done cooking, heat chopped white mushrooms and snowpeas with a pat of butter (about 30 seconds in the microwave).

* When the couscous is done, season with cumin, salt and pepper. Stir in veggies.