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Parashat Behar, May 12th, 2012, 20 Iyar, 5772

Dear Talmidot, Parents and Friends –

 

1)         This week at Midreshet Moriah

2)         Faculty Dvar Torah – Mrs. Neima Novetsky

3)         Mazal Tov

4)         Mi SheBerach       

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This Week at Midreshet

Since the last edition Midreshet News was written, our students have traveled up north for the annual 3-day tiyul to the Galil, followed by an unforgettable Shabbat in Tzfat.

Last Wednesday morning at 6:30 a.m. the girls boarded buses for the first day of hiking and sightseeing in the area by Nachal Keziv (right under Mizpeh Hila, where Gilad Schalit's family lives). It was a difficult hike – going down to the river bed and climbing back up – but it was worth it! Many girls chose to take the path that led them right through the water and then into a natural pool!  

We continued to travel a bit and arrived at Meron in time for Mincha. Just 1 week before Lag B'Omer, this kever of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai was already hustling and bustling with tourists and visitors.

After arriving at the hotel, unpacking and eating dinner, we headed out again for a night at the kever of Yonatan Ben Uziel – more commonly referred to as Amuka.

The next day was another tiyul followed by rafting and some free time in Tzfat. In the evening, we visited an artist who creates paintings based on Kabbalistic ideas. Friday morning a guide took us around Tzfat to see the sites and visit the ancient cemetery.

Shabbat was beautiful, with divrei Torah and lots of singing. On Friday night we heard from a Breslover Chasid who spoke to us about his life journey from Memphis to becoming a Rav of a moshav and then to Tzfat. On Shabbat afternoon we heard from a very close student of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. He explained to us about the dynamic loving personality that Reb Shlomo had and his own experience being drawn to him. We sang together some of his and our favorite Carlebach songs and then we sang our hearts out at Seudah shlishit, as we brought to a close the 4 wonderful days we spent together.

All in all, the weather was beautiful and the inspiration was intoxicating, although getting back at 12:30 was a bit hard… Thankfully, the students were treated to a late wake-up Sunday morning!

Girls are trying to get the most out of these last few weeks of learning and many are working on preparing a shiur they will be giving Shavuot to their peers and teachers. Each girl who signs up to give a shiur is assigned a mentor from our staff who works with her at every stage of this first teaching experience. We cannot wait to "shep nachas" from these girls on Shavuot here in our all-night learning program at Midreshet.

 

See the latest photos on our website: http://midreshetmoriah.com/galleries/

 

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Give it a Rest

Mrs. Neima Novetsky

Parashat Behar opens with the mizvah of shemita (of the land), perhaps one of the hardest mizvot for a person living in an agricultural society to keep.  The mizvah has two parts:

a) not working the land for an entire year 

b) leaving all the produce as hefker, free for all to take. 

What is the purpose of this mizvah?

Many parshanim, focusing on the second command above, suggest that this is mainly a mizvah bein adam lehavero, the purpose of which is to help those less fortunate than ourselves.  The Rambam formulates that the mizvah is "lehemlah al benei adam," that we should have mercy on people.  This one year the poor do not have to worry about their food.  The Keli Yakar, similarly, points to the equalizing factor of the shemita year.  For once every seven years, rich and poor are alike.  Together they can go glean in the fields for all belongs to everyone equally. R. Alex Israel suggests that this is perhaps the Torah's way of combining the ideas of Capitalism ("6 years you should work") and Socialism (shemita and yovel), making a system of checks and balances to ensure innovation and productivity but at the same time maintain some type of equality.

The above approaches explain the hefker aspect of the mizvah very well, but do not account for the first part of the mizvah, not working the land. Furthermore, the verses themselves emphasize that shemita is a "Shabbat laHashem" suggesting that there is some bein adam lamakom side to the mizvah as well.  Akedat Yizhak suggests that mizvah is meant to move us away from materialism and to remind us that work and riches are not an end to themselves.  Our live are not supposed to revolve only around work and profits; every so often we have to stop and serve not the land, but Hashem.  Ibn Ezra takes the idea further, proposing that the idea is to "force" everyone to take a "leave of absence" so as to devote ourselves to Torah learning.  This year is supposed to be a time where we can devote ourselves not to work, but to getting close to Hashem.

Others find the meaning of the shemita year in its close parallels to Shabbat.  Throughout the verses that speak of the mizvah, the shemita year is referred to as "Shabbat" (the root actually comes up seven times in the unit!)  In both we work for a unit of six and rest on the seventh and in both we get a double portion of food (or manna) in the sixth to last us though the seventh.  Both shabbat and shemita express our recognition of Hashem as creator and provider.  In the desert the manna taught us to trust in Hashem for our food and that all comes from His providence.  So too, in Erez Yisrael, in the absence of miracles,  when we are likely to sometimes forget and assume that all is a product of our own hands, the shemita year reminds us that this is not true.  We stop working for a full year, trusting that nonetheless Hashem will ensure that we have what we need, reminding us that in any case, it was all due to Him, not us, anyway.

 

Shabbat Shalom

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Mazel Tov!               

Weddings 
Estee Colman ('04-'05) and Assaf Solomon on their wedding and to sisters Miri ('07-'08) and Bina ('12-'13)

Yhi ratzon shetivnu bayit ne'eman bYisrael 

 

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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.  

 

Names added this week:

 

 

 

For complete 5772 list, please go to: http://midreshetmoriah.com/alumnae/?id=464

 

 

 

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