Learn and Lunch

Last week I suddenly found myself with spare time which I wanted to fill, so I contacted my chevruta, Bible-study buddy about meeting to catch up on some difficult chapters in Yeshayahu, Isaiah, which we're studying in the Matan course, Al HaPerek.

Al HaPerek is an innovative. guided Bible study course offered by Matan.

Matan’s Al Haperek: The Worldwide Online Weekly Tanach Learning Program
Learn two chapters a week and in five years finish one entire cycle of Nach! Join us this year and learn Melachim and Yeshayahu.
Once a week, Al Haperek participants receive an emailed sheet containing the weekly material which guides in depth, creative and enlightening learning of two chapters a week of Nach.
At the completion of each book, a yom iyun is held in Matan with lectures given by some of the finest educators in Israel.
Additionally, a short weekly shiur is sent with the sheets to enrich the learning and create a more personal connection between those who work on the program and those who participate in it.
Al Haperek's framework is appropriate for individual learners, for joint-learning with children or a spouse, by all ages and on all levels.

For various reasons, my study partner and I had gotten a few weeks behind, and the material is very difficult.  We meet once a week at Matan, and we needed at least another session.  We're also having more trouble following the prophetic warnings and comforts of Yeshayahu than we had when we studied the earlier books, Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings, which are narratives, stories about mostly familiar Biblical characters.  I started to have trouble keeping up in the second part of Kings, because my Bible study background is very weak.  And the kings mentioned were all strangers  to me.  Their names got all mixed up in my head.  It became even harder to remember who was who than to fit names to my students faces.  (That was one of the reasons I felt the time had come to leave teaching.  When I had taught small remedial groups, it was much easier for me, and I'm a better remedial teacher than regular classroom teacher.)

My friend and I met at the Pisgat Ze'ev Mall branch of the popular dairy restaurant chain Cafe` Cafe`.  We sat inside, as far from the action of the mall as we could, and it was nice and quiet, especially being that it was early afternoon, before the heavy afternoon-evening crowds. 

We ordered their halumi salad and shared it, including the delicious rolls.  It was a perfect meal and we had no problems studying a few chapters there. 

Israeli restaurants generally give very large portions, and I've shared meals with friends before.  With the bread, I find half a meal comfortably filling, but when I don't eat the bread, I need the entire salad to feel satisfied. 

Recently I've been terribly disappointed with the service in branches of Cafe` Cafe`, most probably because they've cut down on staff to save money.  I even refused to tip after my latest visit to the branch in the mall next to Center 1.  The service was totally abominable.  They even abandoned our charge cards, and I had to rescue them off of the main counter.