Dear Talmidot, Parents and Friends –

1)         Midreshet News – Dana Homa and Amanda Lax

2)         Faculty Dvar Torah – Mr. Zvi Orenstein

3)         Mazal Tov

4)         Mi SheBerach

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Midreshet News

Danna Homa, Livingston, NJ, Shana Alef

Amanda Lax, Toronto, Canada, Shana Alef

This week in Midreshet Moriah, we had many exciting events to keep up the spirit and chessed of our school. 

On Thursday, we had the opportunity to greet a Nefesh B' Nefesh flight, with seventy seven people making Aliyah. The Midreshet girls came prepared to welcome the Olim Chadashim dressed in blue and white with "Welcome Home" signs and excitement in their hearts, to help start the olim's journey in a warm and welcoming way. Whether young or old, or with a family, each new oleh shared our excitement and were so grateful towards all the cheering Midreshet girls. After leaving Ben-Gurion airport, we were taken on a fantastic tour of old Yaffo and got to see the culture, history and beautiful scenery. There was time for us to look around the market as well and see all it has to offer. 

On Saturday night, Avichayil Arfe invited Shana Bet to her apartment for an uplifting movie night, with popcorn and pizza. It was a blast! 

Monday night, after endless preparation and much effort, Shana Bet's comedy night to raise money for Jobkatif (an organization to help former Gush Katif residents find jobs and begin new businesses) was an amazing success! Close to 200 people from all over the community came to hear a great performance by comedian Yisrael Campell (originally from Philidalphia, now Israel) and support the cause by buying raffle tickets for the amazing prizes that were donated; Art work, Judaica, food, gift baskets, an ipod, Hadaya jewelry, books,…there were 46 prizes in all. Overall, the event raised over 10,000 shekel and the state triples the amount so that the total reached over 40,000 shekels! WHAT A HUGE SUCCESS! We are so proud of them!!

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One True Home

Zvi Orenstein

“She (Tziporah) gave birth to a son, and he (Moshe) named him Gershom, for he said, ‘I have been a stranger in a strange land.’” (Sh’mot, 2;22)

The birth of a child, especially the first born, to a couple, is an incredibly meaningful and emotional experience, symbolizing the bringing of a new life (and generation) into the world. Moshe’s life, up to this point, had certainly not been simple. The first three months of his life he was kept in hiding, after which he was placed in a basket on the banks of the Nile by his mother, in the hopes that his life would somehow be spared from the genocidal Egyptian decree to murder all baby boys. Moshe was discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter, Batya, who had compassion on the child, named him Moshe, and raised him as her own. Moshe was then raised in the Egyptian royal palace, and if not in line to one day assume the throne of Egypt, he certainly was assured of living a life of comfort and luxury, surrounded by royalty. 

And then, Moshe seemingly threw it all away. After witnessing a Hebrew slave, who he likely had never met before, being beaten by an Egyptian taskmaster, he took action to save the Hebrew, by killing the Egyptian. Moshe is then forced to flee Egypt and take refuge in Midyan, where he meets Yitro and married his daughter, Tziporah.

Whether in Egypt, or later in Midyan, Moshe could have felt at home in either place. In Egypt, he was royalty, and in Midyan, he had found peace and security. And yet, when Moshe named his first born son, he names him by saying, “I have been a stranger in a strange land.” Perhaps Moshe was referring to his time in Midyan, where he felt a stranger because he knew that the Jewish people – his people – were elsewhere, and that he was not sharing in their suffering. Or, maybe he was referring to being a stranger in Egypt, where, being raised in the palace, he was similarly disconnected from the lot of his people. Alternatively, Moshe could have been referring to being a stranger in both Egypt and Midyan, because in essence, a Jew is a stranger in every land but one, the Land of Israel.

Many of us have been blessed to live lives of comfort and security, whether in the United States, Canada or the UK…. However, we should never forget the message that Moshe sought to internalize, both to himself, and perhaps to the Jewish people who he would soon lead. Namely, that no material or physical comforts can ever take the place of the responsibility that each and every Jew has to his people, and furthermore, that every Jew, both individually and collectively, has only one true home – the Land of Israel – and everywhere else, no matter how comfortable one’s life may be, one should instinctively feel that they are a stranger living in a strange land.    

Shabbat Shalom

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Mazal Tov!               

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:

 Malka Bat Sarah 

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