Drops of Inspiration

But I sensed what was just up ahead: adulthood, complete with its boatload of responsibilities and mundane tasks. I found myself pondering the classic post-seminary dilemma: How could I bridge the gap back into the “real world” while holding on to as much spirituality as possible?

I knew I needed to find an IV drip of inspiration. I didn’t want to lose that seminary spark and decided the best way to keep it aflame was to commit to a learning project with manageable units of daily study.

It started with learning a daily perek of Tanach. I remember the moment it began quite clearly: During one of my last days of seminary, I sat in a room pulsating with lively girls learning around me. I took out a new green Tanach and opened to the first page. The word “Bereishis” greeted me like a positive sign, and I knew I’d found a fitting place to begin my journey.

Within a few months I was in college, and starting Vayikra. There was a lot of homework (and socializing!), and sometimes I returned to my apartment at 2 a.m. I often proceeded to fall asleep over my now patina-green, worn-out Tanach and had to jolt myself awake again and again until the perek was finished. I missed the excitement of a room full of girls learning around me. But I did it. Every night. And with a project like this, that was what counted.