Done!! Over!! Baruch Hashem! [literally, Bless the Name!... but it could also be translated, WHEW!]

I've passed Codes (the Shulhan Arukh class that was so challenging) and I think I did well on both the Talmud finals, oral and written. My Hebrew and Aramaic skills are dramatically improved. Best of all, I've learned so much this term that if I made of list of it here, I'd bore you to death. This has been a very fruitful term.

I have a few details to deal with: a graduation ceremony, some tests at the doctor's, cleaning my apartment. I am looking forward to getting serious on the thesis, which has been in mothballs during this oh-so-interesting term. The good news is that I feel capable of getting at the texts that I need without so much help from translations. I've scheduled an appointment with one of the librarians to learn how to get the most out of a wonder called the "Bar Ilan Responsa" software -- a thingie that will allow me to search the Mishnah, the Gemara, the Midrashim, and a bunch of other texts. It is a powerful tool but I had avoided it because I was intimidated; well, no more!

I'm looking forward to having a little free time in which to catch up with current events; the snippets I get on NPR during my morning drive are more tantalizing than anything else. What on earth are folks in Washington thinking? Why hasn't the Enron trial gotten more coverage? Will the Democrats ever get their act together?

Inquiring minds want to know.