ד"בס MIZRACHI MATTERS

SHABBAT VAYIGASH (Vol 10, No 14) Rabbi Mottel Krasnjanski will speak from the Pulpit Friday night.

Friday, 18 December (6 Tevet)

EARLY SHABBAT Plag Mincha: 6:55pm (Beit Haroeh)

Candle Lighting between 7:15 - 7:20pm

LATER SHABBAT Mincha: 7:15pm (Beit Yehuda)

Candle Lighting: 8:21pm SHKIYAH MINYAN

In recess during summer holidays 1. Beit Yehuda 2. Beit HaRoeh 3. Kehillat Ohr David/Beit Midrash 4. Bnei Akiva 5. Elsternwick 6. Midrashah 7. Goldberger Hall

Shabbat

19 December 7 Tevet

Sunday 20 December

8 Tevet

Monday 21 December

9 Tevet

Tuesday 22 December

10 Tevet בטבתעשרה

Wednesday 23 December

11 Tevet

Thursday 24 December

12 Tevet

Friday 25 December

13 Tevet Public Holiday

Shacharit 7:30am 1 9:30am 1

7:00am1; 8:00am 1 9:00am 4

6:25am 1 7:30am 1

6:20am 1 7:20am 1

6:30am 1 7:30am 1

6:25am 1 7:30am 1

7:00am 1 8:00am 1

Fast Begins 4:13am Dawn 4:42am 4:42am 4:43am 4:43am 4:44am 4:44am 4:45am Tallit & Tefillin 4:50am 4:50am 4:51am 4:51am 4:52am 4:52am 4:53am Sunrise 5:54am 5:54am 5:55am 5:55am 5:56am 5:56am 5:57am Sh'ma (גר״א) 9:35am 9:35am 9:36am 9:36am 9:37am 9:37am 9:38am Earliest Mincha 1:54pm 1:55pm 1:55pm 1:56pm 1:56pm 1:57pm 1:57pm

Early Shabbat Early Mincha: Candles between:

7:00pm 7:20-7:25pm

Candles 8:25pm Mincha followed by

8:15pm1 6:55pm1 6:55pm1 8:20pm1 6:55pm1 6:55pm1 7:15pm1

Plag HaMincha (גר״א) 7:08pm 7:08pm 7:09pm 7:09pm 7:10pm 7:10pm 7:11pm Sunset 8:40pm 8:41pm 8:41pm 8:42pm 8:42pm 8:43pm 8:43pm Fast Ends 9:15pm Night 9:28pm 9:29pm 9:29pm 9:30pm 9:30pm 9:31pm 9:31pm Second Ma'ariv 9:30pm3 9:30pm3 9:30pm3 9:30pm3 9:30pm3

SHIURIM

R’ Leor Broh 9:00am

Doodie Bankier 9:30am7 Drashot

R’ Leor Broh2

R’ Danny Mirvis3

Rina Pushett Emunah Shiur

Roy Steinman 6:00pm

Daf Yomi 8:45am6

Gemara Beginner Workshop with Doodie Bankier

8.30 pm

Daf Yomi 8:15am6

Ramban Shiur for Ladies with Rabbi

Danny Mirvis 9:30am6

Restarting February 2016

Bein Haftara leParasha Shuir Adina

Bankier-Karp Shiur for post high

school girls Restarting 1 February

2016 R’ Chezy Deren Contemporary

Halacha 7/93 Hotham St

8:30pm Michal Kaufman (Lewis’ house)

9:00pm

Daf Yomi 8:15am6

Shiur Without Scotch with Rabbi Danny

Mirvis 12:00pm3

Daf Yomi 8:15am6

Lunch and Learn Restarting on 13

January 2016

Daf Yomi 8:15am6

Gemara Shiur for Women

For women in high school and University

8:30pm Parasha Shiur

(Ivrit Kala) with Rabbi Danny Mirvis

In Recess

Daf Yomi 8:45am6

Mishnah Yomit

Nidah 6:1-2 Nidah 6:3-4 Nidah 6:5-6 Nidah 6:7-8 Nidah 6:9-10 Nidah 6:11-12 Nidah 6:13-14

8:05pm Between Mincha and Ma'ariv

Between Mincha and Ma'ariv

Between Mincha and Ma'ariv

Between Mincha and Ma'ariv

Between Mincha and Ma'ariv

6:50pm

EVENTS Seudah Shlishit: Yankel Wajsbort

Holy Bagel 9:00am

YAHRTZEITS

Baba Schwartz (Sister)

Ruth Rosenblum (Mother)

Zvi Brooks (Father)

Robert Reisner (Father)

David Cook (Father)

Raie Levy (Son)

Naomi Arber, Danny Levy, Pninah Lissauer & Tamara Rubinstein

(Brother)

Robert Epstein (Mother)

Robert Lebovits (Father)

MAZAL TOV MAZEL TOV

Esther Malka and Simon Lewin on the birth of a baby boy.

Mazeltov to the Grandparents: Sara & Allan Garfield and Ahuva & Zwi Lewin

Mazeltov to the Great grandparents: Mordechai and Ruth Gruber.

BAR MITZVAH ANNIVERSARIES

Jonathan Weinberg

Yosef Landau

Avi Paneth

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Shabbat: Carmel Symons, Devorah Waysman, Geoff Bloch

Monday: Aaron Weinstock, Haya Mond

Tuesday: Menachem Broner

Thursday: Zoe Goodhardt

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

Wednesday: Benny & Tamara Berkowitz, Philip & Tamara Rubinstein

If you have an occasion or milestone event that you would like to be mentioned in Mizrachi Matters,

please email it to office@mizrachi.com.au by 12:00pm on Thursdays

[Type text]

NE W S L E T T E R F O R T H E

ELSTERNWICK JEWISH COMMUNITY

ס ב "ד 19 December 2015 7 Tevet 5776 Parshat Vayigash

Yahrzeits during the coming week Michael Suss (Father) [20 December] George Schimmel (Mother) [21 December] Allen Suss (Father) [20 December] Neville Goldring (Brother) [21 December] Bev Brand (Father) [20 December] Gill Wyner (Father) [23 December] Helen Steinberg (Mother) [20 December] Leah Shmerling (Grandmother) [25

December] Shabbat times Candle Lighting this week 8.22 pm Candle Lighting time if attending Kabbalat Shabbat 7.07 pm Kabbalat Shabbat this week 6.45 pm Pre-Shacharit Shiur 9.00 am Shacharit 9.30 am Shabbat Shiur (Mark Freedman re his trip) 7.25 pm Mincha at 8.10 pm Shabbat ends at 9.27 pm Tuesday 22 December – Fast of 10 Tevet Start 4.13 am Finish 9.15 pm Candle Lighting next week 8.25 pm Candle Lighting next week if attending Kabbalat Shabbat 7.10 pm Kabbalat Shabbat next week 6.45 pm The Rabbi’s Shabbat Shiurim The early shiur (9.00am, before Shacharit) - come join the Rabbi for cake, coffee and an exploration of the mystical parsha Birthdays this week Ari Cowen turns 2 on 22 December In shule this week … Dennis Max will be leading Kabbalat Shabbat, Rabbi Cowen will be leading Shacharit, Daniel Lowinger will be leining, Jordan Simai will be saying the Haftorah and leading Mussaf. Kiddush this Shabbat You are all invited to the kiddush, which will be sponsored by Bella & Mark Freedman in gratitude of all their safe returns (Bella from Johannesburg, Mark from Israel and their son from Paris). Weekday times Weekday and Sunday morning services will take a break over the holidays, from Thursday 24 December until Tuesday 26 January inclusive, there will be no Shacharit Service, however ALL SHABBAT SERVICES will run as usual. Morning services will resume on Wednesday 27 January 2016 FIDDLER ON THE ROOF! See Fiddler on the Roof with EJC on 21 February 2016. Contact Sally-Ann 0437-625-350 or ejc@mizrachi.com.au. Tickets $105 in A Reserve. All bookings and payments must be made by this Monday 21 December or you’ll miss out. ONLY FOUR DAYS LEFT TO BOOK!

Contact numbers Rabbi Rabbi Chaim Cowen

0433-308-584 cowen.chaim@gmail.com Chairman Mark Kras

0410-460-970 imkras@gmail.com Gabbai Elan Jacobs

0419-527-227 elanjacobs@hotmail.com Secretary Sally-Ann Jaye

0437-625-350 ejc@mizrachi.com.au Haftorah requests Dennis Max

9528-6865 classact@werple.net.au

Contributions to Newsletter (please) Sally-Ann

ejc@mizrachi.com.au

Siyum Masechet Sotah

The Daf Yomi Shiur under the dedicated leadership of our Maggid Shiur R Yirmi Goldschmiedt is continuing at a great pace.

Numbers are growing, and our only losses are to Aliya- we can’t complain about that!

We are now getting into the “meaty” masechtot, Gittin and Kedushin.

Anyone interested in gaining a broad insight into Talmud is invited to join us daily, 8.15-9am weekdays, 8.45-9.30 Sundays in the Bet Midrash.

No minimum requirements- all levels are catered for.

14 December 2015 2 Tevet 5776 Dear Parents and Students, I am delighted to inform you of our outstanding VCE results and in doing so, I congratulate our students, their parents and our wonderful teachers.

51% of the class placed in the top 10% of the State 5% of students placed in the top 1% of the State (ATAR score 99 and above) 24% of students placed in the top 5% of the State (ATAR score 95 and above) Spectacularly, 41% of students achieved an ATAR of 93 or more. Mazal tov to Gabriel Strum, the Dux of the College for 2015, with an ATAR score of 99.2. We particularly congratulate Batya Maron for achieving a perfect score of 50 in Psychology. Our College’s primary purpose is to provide a first class 21st century Jewish education to underpin Jewish continuity. It is within this context particularly, that we are delighted to note that alongside these exceptional VCE results is the fact that a large proportion of our Year 12 students have chosen to further their studies in Israel in 2016. Their choice is a fitting testament to the value that this College and our students in turn, place on both the State of Israel and the primacy of authentic Jewish learning. This year, our proportion of results above 40 soared to an outstanding 30.15% of all results were scores of 40 or above.

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We thank all our Year 12s for their leadership of the College in 2015 and we wish them much hatzlacha for all their future endeavours as we look forward to hearing of their further successes in the years to come. We sincerely thank our teaching staff for their commitment and dedication, enabling our students to maximise their potential. Of course, we are also enormously proud of the achievements of our students in many other areas of College life. Our Interschool Sports Program achieved many highlights. We are proud to announce our Volleyball Team’s spectacular triumph and their

achievement of winning the coveted championship against Rossmoyne Senior College in Perth, a school which has Volleyball included in its curriculum. We will award them their gold medallions at assembly next year. Congratulations to Daniel Jaffa, Jordan Simai, Mikey Lazar, Jack Zuckerman, Yudi Vorchheimer, Arieh Herszberg, Ethan Nissenbaum, Ryan Hendler, Matan Cohen and Saul Goldman.

The Year 10 boys’ Volleyball team has been competing at the Australian Volleyball Schools Cup, featuring over 100 schools from around Australia. Our boys have a perfect 5-0 record to date, having defeated three South Australian schools, one from Queensland, and Bendigo, and dropping only one set out the 15 they have played. They have played bigger and taller opponents in every game but have refused to give up on any point they have played, often winning points from seemingly impossible positions.

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In addition, some of the other standout triumphs for the year have been: The Year 7 Boys Table Tennis team which was narrowly beaten in the State Finals of

the Southern Metropolitan Region

Boys and girls involved in the Victorian Futsal Association Cup that saw Jude Jankelowitz, Amir Meyerowitz and Toby Lieblich from Year 7 selected for the State and in Jude’s case selected for the Australian Futsal Team.

The success of the T & G and LYC Year 7 Futsal team that competes in a Monday night competition at Moorabbin Indoor Sports. This was an initiative for the College to further expose students to the ‘beautiful game’. So far the team has not lost a match and sits at the top of the table.

Ben Goldberg and Daniel Fuchs representing the College at the Southern Metropolitan Cross Country championships where they finished in the top 30 of 80 competitors.

Our Primary School sportsmen kicked “goals” this year with two Year 6 students (Alon Schmidt and Lior Middeldorf) advancing in cross country from district to zone competition, both recording personal best times in the zone event. Our Year 6 Soccer team won the district title and advanced to zone finals and selected students from Years 4 to 6 competed in the District athletics, also advancing to zone level.

2015 was another outstanding year for those Yavneh students involved in the Debating Association of Victoria (DAV) competition. Three of our teams went through to the finals, highlighting the skill, commitment and passion of our debaters. Our Year 9 teams ranked as the top two teams in the DAV’s Brighton region, having won all five rounds. We look forward to witnessing the heights that they, and the rest of our 2016 debaters reach next year.

Our Year 5 and 6 Robotics team was impressive in our first ever Robotics Competition. Competing against 42 other teams, the Year 5s were awarded the Project Presentation Trophy and an invitation to the National Championships.

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Child Protection/Child Safety: 2015 saw the culmination of our year-long Accreditation

process with Child Wise, certifying us as a Child Safe Organisation, the first Jewish Day School to achieve this Certification. Staff Professional Development sessions; student and parent workshops; numerous physical modifications to our rooms ensuring transparency and best practice; together with an update of all our relevant policies and practices; have been a core focus of our 2015 school year. I pay tribute to Esther Meltzer, our Deputy Principal: Student Management, for co-ordinating and directing the entire process leading to our Accreditation and Certification as a Child Safe Organisation.

ICT Policies and Practices: both our staff and student ICT Acceptable Use and Social Media policies have been revised to support the current trends and technological developments facing our staff and students alike. We have now also developed a clear ICT roadmap for the College’s eLearning and ICT implementation.

Launch of YCare: our comprehensive and holistic inclusive education inclusive education/well-being program. With enormous gratitude to a very generous benefactor, we have been able to launch an exciting pro-active and targeted “Wellbeing Program”, aiming to address the needs and issues of our student, parent, teacher and youth group populations. Through YCare we will focus on the creation of a Culture of Caring throughout the College.

At this time we also say goodbye to the following teachers who are leaving Yavneh at the end of 2015. We wish them every success and happiness for the future, wherever their journey takes them: Nava Miller Nava Miller has been Head of our Early Learning Centre for five years. After having served as Head of the early Learning centre at Mt Scopus Memorial College for many years, Nava has trained and taught many of the Kinder teachers in our Day Schools in Melbourne. She is a warm, caring and nurturing professional and is much loved by her teachers, the parents and of course all our Kinder children – all of whom she knows by name. Nava led our centre through two full accreditations and earned the highest possible accolades for our centre. We thank her for her five years of leadership and wish her well in her retirement. Esther Kogan We thank Esther Kogan on behalf of the many generations of children she has taught at Yavneh. At 80 years of age and after 33 years of devoted service to our Kinder children, Morah Esther deserves a long earned retirement with her family and friends. Her passion for the Hebrew language and for Jewish education have given hundreds of Yavneh children a strong foundation for the rest of their lives. We wish her continued good health and happiness in her retirement.

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Belinda Fisher Morah Belinda Fisher has taught in our Kinder program as well as in our Prep and Year 1 programs. Her caring, wonderfully attentive and loving dedication to her students and her commitment to their Yiddishkeit has influenced the lives of many generations of students, for 16 years. A proud Yavneh parent too, she has been dedicated to Yavneh, both as a teacher and as a parent, and has served our College with distinction. We thank her for her teaching and wish her everything of the best for her retirement. Shula Lazar Shula started at Yavneh 16 years ago as a Prep teacher. Since then she has taught Mathematics, Economics and of course, Jewish Studies, especially Chumash. She has also been a Year Convenor, and has never missed an opportunity to imbue her tasks with Yahadut and Jewish values. Shula has been Head of Jewish Studies for five years and during that time has re-written much of the Jewish Studies Curriculum. She is an outstanding teacher, and makes Jewish Studies lessons come alive…even when it is the last period on a Friday! We wish her and her family well for their move to Perth, where we know she will bring to Carmel College a love and passion for Judaism and Jewish Education, and we thank her for all she has done at Yavneh. Linda Yardeni Morah Linda has been teaching at Yavneh for 20 years. Anyone who knows her will know that she is not someone one can forget in a hurry. She makes a big impact wherever she goes! She loves the Hebrew language, and is passionate about getting her students to love the language too. She teaches with fun, excitement and passion….and always with dramatic flair! I know that many students look back on their early years of Hebrew learning with Morah Linda and recognise the important foundation they received from her. We wish her well for all her future endeavours. We also thank the following staff who leave us this year: Secondary School: Pam Denton, Shmuel Hilel, Ruth Same Primary School: Taylor Bloom Kinders: Abigail Katz Creche: Danielle Cohen Maternity leave: we wish Tamara Allen, Lisa Ezekiel and Rochel Tilson beshaa) בשעה טובהtova) and look forward to their return to Yavneh before too long.

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We will be sending out our Term In Focus in the new year which will highlight important events, projects and programs for Term 1 of 2016. I take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy, health and relaxing summer break. I trust all parents and students will have a relaxing and energising summer break and we look forward to seeing you all in 2016.

Roy Steinman College Principal

בס"ד

EMUNAH RELIGIOUS WOMENS’ ZIONIST ORGANISATION

RINA PUSHETT SHABBAT SHIURIM 5776 RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF RINA PUSHETT ל"ז

BET YEHUDA - WEISS MIZRACHI CENTRE 81 Balaclava Road, Caulfield North

Rina Pushett (nee Kozak) born in Tel-Aviv, migrated to Melbourne in 1954 and easily settled into the community. She married Yankel Pushett in 1958 and had three 3 children, Tamara, Benjy & Leora. Rina established and taught at the Yavneh kindergarten that gradually evolved into Yavneh College. Rina furthered her own education, graduating from Melbourne University with a B.A. majoring in Linguistics,

Spanish and Middle Eastern studies, eventually lecturing in Middle Eastern studies. Rina joined Emunah in 1959 and became an active and committed member. She undertook the position of Education officer, establishing the Annual Emunah Education day. These were held as daylong workshops, focussing on global and local issues pertaining to Jewish activities and problems. In addition Rina introduced the Emunah Summer Shabbat Shiurim, inviting speakers from the whole Jewish community. The concept of these shiurm as well as the Annual Education day were recognized by World Emunah and replicated by most other Emunah member nations as well as other organisations.

Shabbat Yitro 30 January 6:00pm Rabbi Chaim Cowen Shabbat Mishpatim 6 February 6:00pm Joint Seudah Shlishit with

the Midrasha Shabbat Terumah 13 February 6:00pm Rabbi Ryan Levin Shabbat Tetzaveh 20 February 6:00pm Sonia Slonim Shabbat Ki Tissa 27 February 5:30pm Althea Mirvis

Shabbat Vayalkhel 5 March 5:30pm Joint Seudah Shlishit with the Midrasha

Shabbat Pekudei 12 March 5:15pm Doodie Bankier Shabbat Vayikra 19 March 5:15pm Ruth Rosenberg

Shabbat Tzav 26 March 5:00pm R’ Chezy Deren

ALL WELCOME

Please join us for the annual

Seder Tu B'Shvat

in memory of Malcolm Slonim z"l

Monday 25 January 2016 Mincha at 6:55pm

Seder at 7:20pm

Goldberger Hall, Eugene Weiss Mizrachi Centre

81 Balaclava Road, Caulfield North

Sponsored by Sonia Slonim and Family

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Rae Bower

From: תורה מציון <shabbatmitzion=torahmitzion.org@mail24.suw15.mcsv.net> on behalf of תורהמציון <shabbatmitzion@torahmitzion.org>

Sent: Wednesday, 16 December 2015 11:44 PMTo: Mizrachi OfficeSubject: Shabbat Mitzion - Vayigash 5776

View this email in your browser

Vayigash | 7 Tevet 5776 | December 19th, 2015 | Issue 630

Mazal Tov to Shalom and Liat Ashkenazi (Former Bnei Akiva West Coast Regional Shaliach)

on the Bar Mitzvah of their son, Eliav

Rav Avi Goldberg

Former Rosh Kollel in Memphis (2008-2011) Currently teacher at "Himelfarb" high school in Jerusalem

Jacob - Revelations in the Night

Jacob receives the amazing news –" ויגדו לו לאמר, עוד יוסף חי" - Joseph is still

alive, and his spirit was revived –" ותחי, רוח יעקב אביהם". Jacob decides to go

down to Egypt and live alongside his son. On his way to Egypt he gives

sacrifices to G-d and G-d reveals himself to him during the night –

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ויאמר אלהים לישראל במראת הלילה, ויאמר יעקב יעקב; ויאמר, הנני. ויזבח זבחים, לאלהי אביו יצחק."

ארד עמך מצרימה, לגוי גדול אשימך שם. אנכי-כי תירא מרדה מצרימה ויאמר, אנכי האל אלהי אביך; אל

ב')-(בראשית מ"ו, א'" עלה-ואנכי, אעלך גם

It appears that Jacob was afraid to go to Egypt, and therefore prayed to G-

d. The commentators point out that Jacob brought sacrifice to the G-d of his

father, Isaac, but not of the father of Abraham. They offer different

explanations; Some (Radak and Rashi, for instance) remind us that Isaac

never left the land of Israel, and that even during the time of famine that

occurred during his days he was commanded by G-d not to leave the

country. Remembering the example of his father, Jacob was not sure he

should be leaving Israel, even during such a severe famine.

What is the danger in leaving Israel? The Medrash Pirkei De'Rabi Eliezer

brings the following:

איך אעזוב ארץ אבותי וארץ מולדתי ואת ארץ "שמע יעקב על יוסף שהוא חי והיה מהרהר בלבו ואומר:

ששכינתו של הקדוש ברוך הוא בקרבה ואלך אל ארץ טמאה לתוך העבדים, בני חם, בארץ שאין יראת

שמים ביניהם?

אל תירא מרדה מצרימה אנכי ארד עמך..."אמר לו הקדוש ב"ה יעקב

(ח"פרקי דרבי אליעזר פרק ל)

Jacob heard the Josef was alive and he thought to himself: How can I leave

the land of my fathers, my homeland, the land where Hashem's divine

presence resides, and go to an unclean land, full of slaves, the descendants of

Ham, to a land without the fear of G-d?

Jacob understands that leaving the land of Israel also means leaving

sanctity, leaving the presence of G-d. Rabbi Hirsh points out that the fact

that G-d revealed himself at night (במראות הלילה) indicates that this revelation

is on a lower level than previous ones.

This week we ended the festival of lights, and in the coming week we will be

noting the 3 days of darkness – the 8th 9th and 10th of Tevet; In the Selichot

for the 10th of Tevet we mention that on the 8th of Tevet the Torah was

translated into Greek and darkness had come to the world for three days.

What is the meaning of darkness and how do we find light?

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The life we lead in this world could seem at times like a random sequence of

events, or a futile struggle to survive and even have some pleasure in life.

But is that the purpose of life? Is that the reason we were brought into this

world?

Back in those days, and so too during ours, we are witnessing a clash of

cultures, an ideological battle between those who strive to lighten life with

true light, and those who yearn to darken life and the world. Light is the

ability to see above and over the daily, mundane events, and to find holiness

that raises and elevates life to higher existence. On the other hand, darkness

is the perception that the world has no holiness, and that events in this

world will never rise beyond human understanding.

The Midrash points out the following –

שנאמר: (ישעיה ס) "והלכו גוים לאורך" ומי הוא אורה של ירושלים? הקדוש ברוך "ירושלים אורו של עולם.

"."והיה לך ה' לאור עולם -הוא דכתיב

(בראשית רבה פרשת חיי שרה פרשה נ"ט)

Jerusalem is the light of the world, and G-d is the light of Jeruדalem. When

we are looking for ways to improve the world, to elevate reality, we must

remember to connect our actions to Jerusalem, and connect our thoughts

and deeds to G-d. We may not neglect or ignore this world, but rather act in

and through it. We go to Egypt if famine forces us to, but we do it with fear

and concern – since we are endangering our connection to spirituality and

holiness.

The Meshech Chochma points out the Jacob is unique in the fact that twice

we find G-d revealing himself to him at night, and both are at the times he is

about to leave the land of Israel (the first is when he escapes from Esau and

dreams the famous dream of the ladder). The Meshech Chochma cites this as

the reason the Rabbis associated Jacob with the prayer of the evening –

Ma'ariv. Jacob symbolizes living in the darkness, the life of one who is

forced to flee his homeland and is exiled, first to Charan, and later to Egypt.

He is afraid of the shadows, but has the promise of G-d that he will go down

to Egypt with him, and ultimately will also bring him back.

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May we walk in the footsteps of our forefather Jacob and make sure we are

connected to the light of life, to Jerusalem and to G-d. May we make sure

that we don't sink into a mundane perception that doesn't allow spirit and

sanctity in it, but rather be like the Maccabees who knew to fight for their

freedom on one hand, but also to keep their tradition and stay connected to

G-d.

Zeev Schwartz visits Kollel Warsaw

Jews in Warsaw: ~2,000

General Population: 1.7 million

Year founded: 2007

Roshei Kollel: 3

Zeev Schwartz (Executive Director, Torah MiTzion) visited Warsaw this

week and was very impressed by the influence of the Torah MiTzion Kollel.

During his trip he made a moving siyum of Massechet Sotah.

The Kollel Tzioni in Warsaw is

run with great dedication, with an emphasis on personal relationships and

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individual work, especially learning in one-on-one Chavrutot. Our Shlichim,

Rosh Kollel Rav Moshe and Chava Bloom and their four children are

fully engaged with the community. Rav Moshe is a graduate of Yeshivat

Yerucham and the "Straus-Amiel" Shaliach training program.

The Kollel is housed in the Nozyk Synagogue, the only synagogue in

Poland that survived the Holocaust. The synagogue is visited yearly by

thousands of groups of Israelis touring Poland. The Chief Rabbi, Rabbi

Michael Schudrich or the Rosh Kollel often speak to the groups, which

are mostly comprised of secular Jews who are sometimes entering a

synagogue for on of the the first times in their lives.

In addition to leading the Torah MiTzion Kollel, the Rosh Kollel functions as

the assistant Rabbi of Warsaw in the framework of the program "Shavei

Israel", under the auspices of chief Rabbi Michael Shudrich. The Kollel itself

offers learning opportunities both for Jews and descendants of Jews ("Zera

Yisrael") who are interested in conversion. Besides leading group learning

and one-on-one chavrutot, the Rosh Kollel's wife offers Kallah classes, Bat

Mitzvah lessons, and conversion preparation to members of the community.

To date, the Warsaw Kollel has been led by three different Roshei Kollel –

Rav Efraim and Efrat Meisels (2007-2009), Rav Jonathan Daniel and

Shoshana Simons (2009-2012), and Rav Moshe and Chava Bloom (2014-

present).

Pictures from right: Yitzchak Krakowski from Warsaw and Michael Samet visiting from Gdansk

learning in the Beit Midrash of the Warsarw Kollel;

Zeev Schwartz (right), Rav Michael Shudrich, and Rav Moshe Bloom

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Around The World

Torah MiTzion Moscow

Channukah Shabbaton

The Shlichim in Cape Town at

the Bnei Akiva South Africa

summer camp

"Segway to Torah" shiur series at

the beit midrash in Melbourne

Celebrating the third night of

Channukah in Munich

ISRAtag

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Arik Speaker In cooperation with:

'Lilmod' Coordinator and Head of European Desk in Torah MiTzion

The "Keren Kayemet (JNF) House" is located near the Beit Dagan

junction, close to the city of Rishon Lezion. It was not named so because it

housed the JNF offices at any time. This three-story house, which stood in

the 1920's south of the Jaffa-Jerusalem road was almost completely isolated,

but in a extremely strategic location as it dominated the road connecting Tel

Aviv to Jerusalem and the southern settlements.

The history of the house starts in the early twenties, when the JNF

purchased the house, but later substituted it for a similar sized plot

elsewhere.

The house was bought in the 30s by a Jew named Sugarman, but he was

forced to sell it too. Several Jewish leaders, aware of the strategic

importance of the home, convinced the JNF to re-purchase. Since then it

became known as "The Keren Kayemet House".

During The War of Independence it became a key battleground in the

struggle to control the road to Jerusalem. The place was deserted by its

inhabitants when the unrest began, but because of its importance the

Haganah decided to hold it at any cost. Many attempts were made by Arab

gangs to overrun the house, including bombing the entire house. Despite

heavy casualties and weeks-long siege, the local forces did not give up and

found alternate positions.

Only with the conquest of the nearby Arab village Yazur during operation

"Chametz" (05/01/48) did the Jewish defence forces gain full control of the

area. A monument in honour of the fourteen soldiers killed in the battles for

the house and its surroundings was established in 1949. This monument was

generally neglected for many years, but in the last two years, following

8

pressure from the families of the deceased, a joint effort has been made by

the city of Rishon Lezion and the JNF to restore this important memorial.

Yasher Koach to Yael Cohen

for providing the correct answer

Where was this photo taken?

Please send answers to - arik@torahmitzion.org

The answer, further information about this location, as well as the first person to

recognize this site will be published in next week's edition.

Torah MiTzion was established in 1995 with the goal of

strengthening Jewish communities around the globe and infusing them with the love for Torah,

the Jewish People and the State of Israel. Over the past twenty years Torah MiTzion's shlichim have inspired

and enriched their host communities through a wide range of high impact formal and informal

educational programs.

In cooperation with :

9

Our friend Benjy Singer has a very useful website, www.israelk.org, which contains accurate and fresh information of

what's going on in the Religious Anglo Community in Israel.

This email was sent to office@mizrachi.com.au

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Torah MiTzion · King George · 54 · Jerusalem 71109 · Israel