When my longtime colleague and NAASE past president Bob Hill asked me how I liked this year's Week of Study at JTS, my response was something like: "What's not to like? The Week of Study provides great learning with wonderful scholars. The food is delicious. We spend our days in the hallowed halls and classrooms of the Jewish Theological Seminary. And we get to enjoy and explore New York City. All this for a few hundred dollars! Yes, Bob, I enjoyed it tremendously."

But, that's not the entire story. For me, it was an opportunity to engage in serious text study and high-level discussion for an entire week. I felt privileged to sit at the feet of such luminaries as Rabbis Joel Roth, Neil Gillman, Mychal Springer, and Jeremy Kalmanofsky learning from a number of different perspectives, what Judaism has to say about the parameters of waging war. As modern thinkers we often view text study through a lens of practical applicability, but the beauty of learning at JTS during the Week of Study is that we are engaging in Torah l'shma (study for its own sake). Certainly our conversation about war was, and is, applicable to our current situation as North Americans and lovers of Israel, but our high-level conversations had nothing whatsoever to do with our daily work -- and I, for one, was appreciative of that fact. Of course, we also enjoyed presentations from Rabbi Jerry Epstein and Rabbi Marc Wolf about USCJ which provided a refreshing update on our movement.

We were also encouraged to attend daily services and enhance our own familiarity with the prayers and comfort in leading the davening. The beauty and serenity of the Women's League Sanctuary, coupled with a wonderful kehilla of like-minded men and women, made for a meaningful davening experience.

Perhaps what makes NAASE's Week of Study most compelling is the wonderful people who participate -- the "students" (executive directors from across the US & Canada) and the very welcoming JTS/USCJ staff and faculty. In addition to the array of day-time learning opportunities, we all enjoyed getting to know one another over dinner at a variety of NYC's Kosher restaurants, enjoying theatre and other New York attractions, and late-night shmoozing.