Humans of Hebrew College Counting in Binary

Humans of Hebrew College #HumansHC

“I started on a path to becoming a Jewish professional years ago, then became a software engineer, and now am back at Hebrew college studying to be become a cantor. A software engineer, like a musician, spends all day obsessing over formal language, refining it, mixing creativity and technical skill to turn ordinary silicon, wood, brass or, for a singer, simply air into something that affects people. It can seem like magic if you’re unfamiliar with the details. Coding, singing, drawing, teaching—people tend to say they can’t do these things, but they’re all things I’ve learned to do with willingness, intelligence, and good teachers. Studying at the School of Jewish Music has felt a lot like when I was starting to acquire professional software skills, something I went on to make a living at even though it wasn’t my college degree—and I can do it again. Sometimes I even get to combine my technology background with my cantor-educator training. Just last week, as part teaching my Prozdor class about how computers represent Hebrew letters, my students learned to count in binary using Oreos. A couple got eaten before I could take this pic!”

(Marc Stober, former software engineer and first-year cantorial student in the School of Jewish Music’s Cantorial Ordination for Spiritual and Educational Leadership (COSEL) program.)