Newsletter
Vayakhel, January 26, 2011, 22 Adar 1 5771
Dear Talmidot, Parents and Friends –
1) This week at Midreshet Moriah
2) Faculty Devar Torah – Rav Eitan Mayer
3) Mazel Tovs
4) Mi She-Berach List
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This Week at Midreshet
Last Thursday at Midreshet, our students enjoyed the first-ever Midreshet Night Hike!! The girls were nervous, but they had a great time seeing by moonlight and learning how to tell time by the stars. After a challenging and steep hike , they sang and drank hot cocoa into the night.
This Tuesday night, in keeping with our monthly theme of Shabbat, the rakazot brought home-made potato kugel and discussed qualities of Shabbat that sometimes get overlooked. The girls will end this month and its theme with a Shabbat BaBayit next week.
Thursday morning, nine Midreshet girls met with a group of 15-year-old English students who are visiting Israel on a leadership mission. They learned in the Beit Midrash b'chavruta, studying sources which explored Jewish identity.
As a new program this zman, faculty have been offering mini shiurim each day at the end of lunch break at 2:40. The girls have been enjoying learning l'shma and have been covering topics related to Purim and Pesach.
In the wake of Midreshet's tour of the Knesset, Midreshet students Juliet Gerber and Devorah Finkel were interested in seeing a Knesset session live. They returned to the Knesset Wednesday afternoon and witnessed a debate which made headline news the next day, since - by mistake – Prime Minister Netanyahu voted against the bill he had been presenting!
Pictures from our year can be seen at http://midreshetmoriah.com/pictures/
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Parshat Vayakhel
Positive Teshuvah
Rav Eitan
Parshat Va-Yak’hel begins very strangely:
“Moshe gathered (“va-yak’hel”) the whole congregation of Bnei Yisrael and said to them, ‘These are the things God has commanded, to do them. For six days, work shall be done, but on the seventh day, it shall be holy for you, an absolute day of rest for God; anyone who performs work on it shall be put to death. Do not light fires in any of your homes on the day of rest.”
The previous parshah, Ki Tisa, had ended with Moshe Rabbeinu returning from Har Sinai, having achieved total forgiveness for his people. Our parshah opens with the very first words he utters upon returning. The questions jump right out of the text:
* Usually, the Torah simply tells us that Moshe “spoke to Bnei Yisrael.” Here, however, it was necessary to first “gather” them. Why? And usually, he speaks simply to “Bnei Yisrael,” but here, the Torah calls his audience “kol adat Bnei Yisrael”; why the emphasis on the fact that everyone was there?
* Since Bnei Yisrael were already commanded – by Hashem Himself, when He delivered the Ten Commandments – to keep Shabbat, why repeat the command now? (In fact, they had been commanded regarding Shabbat even before Matan Torah, when the “man” began to arrive – so this is the third time, at least!)
* Of all the things that Moshe could have said in his first message to his people upon returning with forgiveness for the Egel, why did he choose Shabbat? We would understand if he had chosen to speak about the Mishkan, which had been canceled by the Egel and was now being reinstated; we would understand if he had spoken about idolatry, in which the people had shown weakness; but why Shabbat?
* When Hashem had spoken to Moshe before the Egel at Har Sinai, He had first detailed all the plans for the Mishkan, and only then added on instructions to keep Shabbat (including an emphasis on the death penalty). Since Moshe is delivering Hashem’s instructions, not his own, why does he change the order, first speaking about Shabbat and only then delivering the instructions for the Mishkan?
Usually, we think of teshuvah (repentance) as the process in which we stop committing sin, experience regret for having transgressed, make a full confession to Hashem, and commit to never returning to our former ways. In short, we address the sin, attempting to root it out behaviorally, psychologically, and spiritually.
But perhaps Moshe Rabbeinu is teaching us that addressing the sin is only half of the process. In order to achieve a real return to Hashem, forsaking sin is not enough; not only must we abandon evil, we must seek out holiness and immerse ourselves in it, achieving not only “sur me-ra” (“turn away from evil”) but also “aseh tov” (“perform good deeds”). One who has sunk into sin must repair his or her relationship with Hashem, not merely improve his balance of mitzvot and averot, and a relationship cannot be repaired just by ceasing to actively damage it. The sinner is not simply a person with too many sins in his or her account; the sinner is a person who has become estranged from Hashem and distant from holiness. The way back begins with abandoning behavior destructive to the relationship, but the sinner is not back in the embrace of Hashem until he re-sanctifies himself and actively searches for Hashem through positive action.
When Moshe returns to his sinful people, he realizes that now that they have repented for the Egel, the next step cannot yet be building the Mishkan; the people must first re-sanctify themselves, embracing kedushah in their own person, and only then can they establish a center of holiness in their midst, a place in which Hashem will feel truly at home.
We now understand why the entire people must be gathered, for the Mishkan is meant to stand in the midst of the entire nation as a holy whole; we understand why Moshe reversed the order, placing Shabbat before the Mishkan; and we understand why Shabbat, an immersion in holiness, comprised the very first message Moshe delivered to a people eager to reconnect with Hashem.
May we merit to find our way back to Hashem whenever we stray, finding both the strength to leave sin behind and the wisdom and creativity to identify opportunities for holiness through which to return fully to Hashem’s embrace.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Mazel Tov
Engagements:
Sarah Blumenfrucht (06-07) and Avrumi Bram
Yhi ratzon shetivnu bayit ne'eman bYisrael
Weddings:
Shira Yudkowitz (03-04) and Avi Zimmerman
Yhi ratzon shetivnu bayit ne'eman bYisrael
Birth:
Shayna (Saxe) (01-02) and Danny Shaw
Yhi ratzon shetizku lgadla lTorah lChupa ulMa'asim tovim.
Birth:
Sarit (Zauderer) (98-99) and Elliot Bekritsky on the birth of twin boys
Yhi ratzon shetizku lgadlam lTorah lChupa ulMa'asim tovim. Kshem shenichnas lBrit kein yikanes lTorah lChupah ulMa'asim tovim.
Please help us stay informed - http://midreshetmoriah.org/send-mazaltov.asp
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Mi SheBerach List
**** Due to the length of the list we started a NEW list. Please email midmoriah@gmail.com if there is a name you would like to add or remove!
Tziporah Feiga Bat Sima Sheindel (2/26/2011)
Shira bat Deena Miriam – premature baby on a ventilator (2/19/2011)
Noa Batya bat Daniella Rut – 7 month old with leukemia (2/5/2011)
Leah Alona Bat Tziporah (2/5/2011)
Leora bat Sarah (2/5/2011)
Frimit bat Devorah (2/5/2011)
Rivah bat Jane (1/29/2011)
Amitai Yaakov ben Bracha - a 16 yr. old just diagnosed with leukemia (1/29/2011)
Dina Eta bat Chaya Tzippora Sheva (1/22/2011)
Aharon Yitzchak ben Deena Yehudis (1/6/2011)
Adi bat Zahavit (twin baby who is sick)
Reut bat Zahavit (twin baby who is sick)
Chaim Yissachar ben Chaya Mushkit (26 year old with 2 children, leukemia)
Shraga Feivel ben Sasha
Ari ben Rivka (young husband with brain tumor)
Inbal bat Nelya
Zacharia Kalman HaCohen ben Yael Margalit
Shai Ben Meital - 4 yr old with brain damage and seizures
Aviva Miriam bat Esther - 9 month old baby with cancer going through chemo
Tzipora Fayga Bat Sima Shaindel- 33 year old mother of 3 with Leukemia (9/19/2010)
Ester bat Rivka- baby undergoing treatment for rare heart condition (9/19/2010)
Tzvi Ilan ben Gita (8/12/2010)
Chaya Tziporah Sheva bat Faiga (8/12/2010)
Chisha Bayla bat Miriam
Chaya Meira Mindel bat Chava Golda - Midreshet alumna with cancer
Refael ben Nomi- 10 month old baby who has meningitis
Avraham ben Elka (5/21/10)
Rivka Bracha bat Yehudit - mother of 6 with cancer, doing better BH
Rivka Margalit bat Ita - 12 year old girl with a brain tumor (5/27/2010)
Rachel bat Re-ayah - mother of 7 with cancer that has spread
Batya Leah bat Sara - cancer
Noa Chaya bat Nava Yehudit - baby
Yehuda Moshe Yosef ben Miriam
Rayzel bat Rifka
_______________________________________________
Midreshet Moriah
The Educational Wing
Shaare Zedek Medical Center
P.O. Box 3235, Jerusalem, Israel
tel: 972-2-652-7449 fax: 972-2-651-1524
www.midreshetmoriah.com
ãó æä éåöà áñéåò îùøã ä÷ìéèä
--
Please contact midmoriah@gmail.com if you wish to no longer receive mail from Midreshet Moriah.
1) This week at Midreshet Moriah
2) Faculty Devar Torah – Rav Eitan Mayer
3) Mazel Tovs
4) Mi She-Berach List
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This Week at Midreshet
Last Thursday at Midreshet, our students enjoyed the first-ever Midreshet Night Hike!! The girls were nervous, but they had a great time seeing by moonlight and learning how to tell time by the stars. After a challenging and steep hike , they sang and drank hot cocoa into the night.
This Tuesday night, in keeping with our monthly theme of Shabbat, the rakazot brought home-made potato kugel and discussed qualities of Shabbat that sometimes get overlooked. The girls will end this month and its theme with a Shabbat BaBayit next week.
Thursday morning, nine Midreshet girls met with a group of 15-year-old English students who are visiting Israel on a leadership mission. They learned in the Beit Midrash b'chavruta, studying sources which explored Jewish identity.
As a new program this zman, faculty have been offering mini shiurim each day at the end of lunch break at 2:40. The girls have been enjoying learning l'shma and have been covering topics related to Purim and Pesach.
In the wake of Midreshet's tour of the Knesset, Midreshet students Juliet Gerber and Devorah Finkel were interested in seeing a Knesset session live. They returned to the Knesset Wednesday afternoon and witnessed a debate which made headline news the next day, since - by mistake – Prime Minister Netanyahu voted against the bill he had been presenting!
Pictures from our year can be seen at http://midreshetmoriah.com/pictures/
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Parshat Vayakhel
Positive Teshuvah
Rav Eitan
Parshat Va-Yak’hel begins very strangely:
“Moshe gathered (“va-yak’hel”) the whole congregation of Bnei Yisrael and said to them, ‘These are the things God has commanded, to do them. For six days, work shall be done, but on the seventh day, it shall be holy for you, an absolute day of rest for God; anyone who performs work on it shall be put to death. Do not light fires in any of your homes on the day of rest.”
The previous parshah, Ki Tisa, had ended with Moshe Rabbeinu returning from Har Sinai, having achieved total forgiveness for his people. Our parshah opens with the very first words he utters upon returning. The questions jump right out of the text:
* Usually, the Torah simply tells us that Moshe “spoke to Bnei Yisrael.” Here, however, it was necessary to first “gather” them. Why? And usually, he speaks simply to “Bnei Yisrael,” but here, the Torah calls his audience “kol adat Bnei Yisrael”; why the emphasis on the fact that everyone was there?
* Since Bnei Yisrael were already commanded – by Hashem Himself, when He delivered the Ten Commandments – to keep Shabbat, why repeat the command now? (In fact, they had been commanded regarding Shabbat even before Matan Torah, when the “man” began to arrive – so this is the third time, at least!)
* Of all the things that Moshe could have said in his first message to his people upon returning with forgiveness for the Egel, why did he choose Shabbat? We would understand if he had chosen to speak about the Mishkan, which had been canceled by the Egel and was now being reinstated; we would understand if he had spoken about idolatry, in which the people had shown weakness; but why Shabbat?
* When Hashem had spoken to Moshe before the Egel at Har Sinai, He had first detailed all the plans for the Mishkan, and only then added on instructions to keep Shabbat (including an emphasis on the death penalty). Since Moshe is delivering Hashem’s instructions, not his own, why does he change the order, first speaking about Shabbat and only then delivering the instructions for the Mishkan?
Usually, we think of teshuvah (repentance) as the process in which we stop committing sin, experience regret for having transgressed, make a full confession to Hashem, and commit to never returning to our former ways. In short, we address the sin, attempting to root it out behaviorally, psychologically, and spiritually.
But perhaps Moshe Rabbeinu is teaching us that addressing the sin is only half of the process. In order to achieve a real return to Hashem, forsaking sin is not enough; not only must we abandon evil, we must seek out holiness and immerse ourselves in it, achieving not only “sur me-ra” (“turn away from evil”) but also “aseh tov” (“perform good deeds”). One who has sunk into sin must repair his or her relationship with Hashem, not merely improve his balance of mitzvot and averot, and a relationship cannot be repaired just by ceasing to actively damage it. The sinner is not simply a person with too many sins in his or her account; the sinner is a person who has become estranged from Hashem and distant from holiness. The way back begins with abandoning behavior destructive to the relationship, but the sinner is not back in the embrace of Hashem until he re-sanctifies himself and actively searches for Hashem through positive action.
When Moshe returns to his sinful people, he realizes that now that they have repented for the Egel, the next step cannot yet be building the Mishkan; the people must first re-sanctify themselves, embracing kedushah in their own person, and only then can they establish a center of holiness in their midst, a place in which Hashem will feel truly at home.
We now understand why the entire people must be gathered, for the Mishkan is meant to stand in the midst of the entire nation as a holy whole; we understand why Moshe reversed the order, placing Shabbat before the Mishkan; and we understand why Shabbat, an immersion in holiness, comprised the very first message Moshe delivered to a people eager to reconnect with Hashem.
May we merit to find our way back to Hashem whenever we stray, finding both the strength to leave sin behind and the wisdom and creativity to identify opportunities for holiness through which to return fully to Hashem’s embrace.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Mazel Tov
Engagements:
Sarah Blumenfrucht (06-07) and Avrumi Bram
Yhi ratzon shetivnu bayit ne'eman bYisrael
Weddings:
Shira Yudkowitz (03-04) and Avi Zimmerman
Yhi ratzon shetivnu bayit ne'eman bYisrael
Birth:
Shayna (Saxe) (01-02) and Danny Shaw
Yhi ratzon shetizku lgadla lTorah lChupa ulMa'asim tovim.
Birth:
Sarit (Zauderer) (98-99) and Elliot Bekritsky on the birth of twin boys
Yhi ratzon shetizku lgadlam lTorah lChupa ulMa'asim tovim. Kshem shenichnas lBrit kein yikanes lTorah lChupah ulMa'asim tovim.
Please help us stay informed - http://midreshetmoriah.org/send-mazaltov.asp
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Mi SheBerach List
**** Due to the length of the list we started a NEW list. Please email midmoriah@gmail.com if there is a name you would like to add or remove!
Tziporah Feiga Bat Sima Sheindel (2/26/2011)
Shira bat Deena Miriam – premature baby on a ventilator (2/19/2011)
Noa Batya bat Daniella Rut – 7 month old with leukemia (2/5/2011)
Leah Alona Bat Tziporah (2/5/2011)
Leora bat Sarah (2/5/2011)
Frimit bat Devorah (2/5/2011)
Rivah bat Jane (1/29/2011)
Amitai Yaakov ben Bracha - a 16 yr. old just diagnosed with leukemia (1/29/2011)
Dina Eta bat Chaya Tzippora Sheva (1/22/2011)
Aharon Yitzchak ben Deena Yehudis (1/6/2011)
Adi bat Zahavit (twin baby who is sick)
Reut bat Zahavit (twin baby who is sick)
Chaim Yissachar ben Chaya Mushkit (26 year old with 2 children, leukemia)
Shraga Feivel ben Sasha
Ari ben Rivka (young husband with brain tumor)
Inbal bat Nelya
Zacharia Kalman HaCohen ben Yael Margalit
Shai Ben Meital - 4 yr old with brain damage and seizures
Aviva Miriam bat Esther - 9 month old baby with cancer going through chemo
Tzipora Fayga Bat Sima Shaindel- 33 year old mother of 3 with Leukemia (9/19/2010)
Ester bat Rivka- baby undergoing treatment for rare heart condition (9/19/2010)
Tzvi Ilan ben Gita (8/12/2010)
Chaya Tziporah Sheva bat Faiga (8/12/2010)
Chisha Bayla bat Miriam
Chaya Meira Mindel bat Chava Golda - Midreshet alumna with cancer
Refael ben Nomi- 10 month old baby who has meningitis
Avraham ben Elka (5/21/10)
Rivka Bracha bat Yehudit - mother of 6 with cancer, doing better BH
Rivka Margalit bat Ita - 12 year old girl with a brain tumor (5/27/2010)
Rachel bat Re-ayah - mother of 7 with cancer that has spread
Batya Leah bat Sara - cancer
Noa Chaya bat Nava Yehudit - baby
Yehuda Moshe Yosef ben Miriam
Rayzel bat Rifka
_______________________________________________
Midreshet Moriah
The Educational Wing
Shaare Zedek Medical Center
P.O. Box 3235, Jerusalem, Israel
tel: 972-2-652-7449 fax: 972-2-651-1524
www.midreshetmoriah.com
ãó æä éåöà áñéåò îùøã ä÷ìéèä
--
Please contact midmoriah@gmail.com if you wish to no longer receive mail from Midreshet Moriah.