Dear Talmidot, Parents and Friends –

1)       This week at Midreshet Moriah

2)       Faculty Dvar Torah – Rav Hanoch Teller

3)       Mazal Tov

4)       Mi SheBerach

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This Week at Midreshet

We began our first week of Zman Choref with a half-day Yom Iyun, entitled: My Journey of Personal Growth. We had two outside speakers address the students at the beginning and end of the morning. Rav Gavriel Friedman spoke about using our time well in this world, living up to our potential and lessening the feelings of competition that exist between people. He entertained as he spoke and taught - beginning with a song on his guitar and then following that up with countless stories and examples to illustrate his lessons. Dr. Tzipi Morris shared with the students her own personal journey: the remarkable changes she has made from a Christian girl in small-town in Ohio to a Mitzvah-observant Orthodox Jew living in Israel with her husband and 4 children. The girls were profoundly touched by her story and her openness in sharing her feelings throughout her life. The other part of the Yom Iyun involved the girls' rakazot giving a practical workshop on the topic of Middot, Rena Coren inspiring them to appreciate their mission as Jewish women, and Malka Hubscher shared with the girls the unique opportunity they have to learn Torah in Yerushalayim. 

The week continued with the girls enjoying the classes that they have now finished choosing and scheduling.

Many girls are excited about staying in the dorm for Shabbat. After all the packing and traveling over vacation, it's good to be home! Sarah Proops, our Eim Bayit, and her husband and young son will join the girls for the seudot in the dorm.

Next week, there is a much anticipated Tiyul to Eilat so stay tuned in!

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The Window Perspective

Hanoch Teller

Did you ever stop to imagine what life was like inside Noach’s ark? There were three floors; the middle floor was filled with a collection of the world’s animals: wild, domestic, and otherwise. There were birds and critters of all shapes and sizes, vermin and an endless potpourri of creepy crawlers. Then there was a floor of refuse. There was no recycling center, and no sewage system that I am aware of.

The humans had the top floor. Cramped in an inescapable living space was Noach, his three sons, their wives and one mother-in-law. Surely, it wasn’t The Ritz. 

What intrigues (me, at least), are the ark’s detailed architectural instructions. Why? Are there lessons to be learned from the design of the ark? After all, He promised that there will be no more (global) floods.

If there will be no more floods, then there need not be any more arks. So what difference does it make how it was built? Obviously, there are inherent lessons we can learn from the design of the ark. Let’s consider one.

Noach is told to build a window. It seems practical enough; after all, sitting for an entire year can get awfully stuffy. But does Noach really need a command to add something as obvious as a window? Do we need to know that this was part of the Heavenly plan?

Sometimes when we are locked in our little boxes, we too, need a window, e.g. a perspective. For example, a crying baby that denies sleep is infinitely better than no baby, or a baby that cannot cry.

When we think our world is crumbling and that we are doomed to a fate that is too difficult to bear, the Lord instructs us to make a window. Sometimes, especially when we are frustrated, we should peek outside. Despite our difficulties and hardships, others are undergoing a more difficult lot. And when we realize that they can endure, then we become cognizant that life inside our particular ark is manageable, after all.

Shabbat Shalom.

Author’s note: The idea I have expressed is based on something I saw once, somewhere ― and I cannot remember where. I regret not affording credit.

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Mazel Tov                  

 Valerie Goldblatt (08-09) and David Frankel on their engagement

Yhi ratzon shetivnu bayit ne'eman bYisrael

Please help us stay informed - http://midreshetmoriah.org/send-mazaltov.asp 

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Mi SheBerach List

We have started a new list. Please email midmoriah@gmail.com if there is a name you would like to add.  

Malka bat Tova (10/10/11)

Shimon Dovid Yehoshua bat Rena (6/10/11)

Rifaela Chana Rivka bat Shayna Dena (6/10/11)- diagnosed with Non-Hodgken's Lymphoma

Rachel bat Mindel (6/10/11) - Lymphoma

Tzuriya Kochevet bat Sara - mother of 4 with inoperable stomach cancer (25/9/11)

Chaya bat Zecil (22/9/11)

Perel bat Malka (21/9/11)

Rachaylle bat Turan (21/9/11)

Miriam Leah bat Reizel Dena (21/9/11)

Zechariya Kalman Hakohen ben Yael Margolit (18/9/11)
Refael Matityahu Yaakov ben Gittel Rivka (18/9/11)

Tzipora Sara bat Esther Leah (18/9/11)

David ben Miriam (18/9/11)

David ben Rachel (18/9/11)

Rachel bat Kochava (18/9/11)
Hilda bat Yaffa (18/9/11)

Chana Gitel bat Sarah Chana (18/9/11)
Sarah Sipora bat Shifra (18/9/11)

Moshe Eliezer ben Esther Miriam (18/9/11)
Hilda bat Yaffa (18/9/11)
Moshe Yitzchak ben Shoshana (18/9/11)

Aviva Miriam bat Esther ( 11/9/11)

Osnat bat Clara (11/9/11)

Refael Matisyahu Yaacov ben Gittel Rivka (11/9/11)

Avraham Yehuda ben Davida Yehudit (11/9/11)

Tziporah Faiga Bat Sima Shaindel (11/9/11)

Chava Deena Etya Bat Chaya Tziporah Sheva (11/9/11)