Dear Talmidot, Parents and Friends –

1)       This week at Midreshet Moriah

2)       Faculty Devar Torah – Rav Zvi Ron

3)       Mazel Tovs

4)       Mi She-Berach List

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This Week at Midreshet

The day we've all been waiting for has finally arrived! Yesterday at exactly 12:10pm, the new Midreshet students of 5772 landed safely in Israel. Rav Eitan, Rabbi Berglas, Vicky, Bracha and our amazing Madrichot were there to greet them with signs and smiles.

After everyone got their luggage, the girls boarded the bus and we began our surprise trip with our first stop at Mitzpeh Rechavam, a beautiful look-out from above Har Ha-Zeitim. From there we saw the entire Har Ha-Bayyit and talked about the history of davening for our return to this special place in Yerushalayim. The girls heard words of encouragement about living al kiddush Hashem and making the most out of the year.

All the girls received a Midreshet shirt with “Im Eshkachaich Yerushalayim” printed on it, and were thereby able to fulfill the practice of “tearing kriyah,” as a mourner does, upon seeing the ruins of Yerushalayim after many months (or years) of being away. A group photo with the Har Ha-Bayyit in the background was in order (appearing soon in our website photo gallery) and afterwards the students were given a few moments to write notes to place in the Kotel as well as daven minchah at Mitzpe Rechavam, a quite inspiring and unique place to visit.

Next stop was the Kotel with a few minutes for Tehillim and personal introspection, after which we proceeded to our long awaited and final stop for the day, Midreshet, for supper and unpacking. 

That night, the dorm was full of friendly chit-chat, music and fun as the girls settled in, unpacked and became comfortable with their new friends and surroundings. Thank you to Sarah Proops, our Eim Bayyit, and to Hannah, Avichayil, and Rivki, our madrichot, for staying up late and making sure everyone was settled and happy.

Thursday's a busy day with checking in and orientation in the morning and a trip to Kever Rachel in the afternoon. The evening will follow with a BBQ at Rav Eitan’s catered by our very own 'master chef' Faigie Reves. A great evening awaits the girls, with lots of ice-breaker games and fun to help everyone meet and become fast friends.

Our first in-house Shabbaton of the year is coming up so stayed tuned.   

Wishing everyone a fantastic year, filled with success, personal fulfillment and lot's of fun!   

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Sleep on It

Rav Zvi Ron

In this week's parsha we have the very unusual case of the "yefat toar", the beautiful captive. The Torah instructs us: "When you will go out to war against your enemies and Hashem your God will deliver them into your hand, and you will capture its captivity, and you will see among its captivity a woman who is beautiful of form, and you will desire her, you may take her to yourself for a wife" (21:10-11). We are always told to use self-control and stay away from things that may seem physically enticing but spiritually ruinous, yet here the Torah is telling us to take what we desire! How can we understand this strange rule?

Rashi, based on the Sifri, explains the month long process that this captive must go through before the Jewish soldier may marry her. She must shave off her hair and grow out her fingernails in order to look repulsive. She must change out of the clothing she wore when captured, since in those days one of the tactics used to distract opposing soldiers was to have the local women wear very pretty clothing. She must sit and cry at the entrance of the house so that the soldier will constantly run into her crying and degraded. All this is in order to make her seem repulsive to him, so that he will eventually lose his desire for her and choose a nice Jewish girl instead.

Now we can understand the famous statement in Kidushin 21b, that the case of the "yefat toar" is a case of "lo dibra Torah ela keneged yetzer hara", the Torah is speaking here only against the evil inclination. This is not a mechanism for permitting the soldier to marry the captive, it is exactly the opposite, it is a way for the soldier to combat his evil inclination and leave this captive. As the Zohar teaches, the war spoken about in the beginning of the parsha is the war against the yetzer hara.

What methods did the Torah teach that are effective against physical desires and distractions? There are two main tools here. The first is to see the thing that seems desirable as horrible and disgusting. Taking a moment to really think about a sinful act and how degrading it is may be enough to help a person regain their sense of right and wrong. The second tool is procrastination. Generally, putting things off is considered a negative character trait, but it may be channeled to positive uses. Here the Torah advises to wait a month. Some sinful thoughts dissolve after sleeping on it or even just waiting an hour. I was once told by a psychiatrist friend that most obsessive thoughts dissipate after being distracted for just 45 minutes. By postponing a sinful act, we have time to see the foolishness of what we were planning to do.

These two tools are ones that we are all armed with already. We have all experienced disgust at foul things and we have all pushed off something that we planned to do. The Torah instructs us to use these character traits as effective weapons in our battles against the yetzer hara.

Shabbat shalom!

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Mazel Tov 

Weddings:

Jordanna Birnbaum ('06-'07) and Aryeh Amsel

Yhi ratzon shetivnu bayit ne'eman bYisrael

Birth:

Michelle (Merril) ('06-'07) and Itzik Naftali on the birth of a son

Yhi ratzon shetizku lgadlo 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 

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Mi SheBerach List

Dear Subscribers,

With the approaching of the new year, we are beginning a new Mi SheBerach list.

If names which appeared on our previous list still belong there or you would like new names added,  please email midmoriah@gmail.com and we will make sure the name appears on the new list.

Wishing all Cholei Yisrael a Refuah Shleima.