Chadashot Mitzion

Chadashot Mitzion
Torah MiTzion | Newsletter | Spring 5775
Greetings from Zeev Schwartz
Shalom Chaverim!
Recently we had elections to the Israeli parliament (Knesset),
which were preceded by primaries to the Bayit Hayehudi party
in which I was privileged to participate as a candidate.
During this period I was extremely touched to renew contact
with former Shlichim. Wherever I went I encountered yet
another Shaliach or Oleh– a true countrywide dispersion of
Torah MiTzion. Indeed there is evidence of Torah MiTzion’s
impact throughout the country.
Over the past two decades we have been privileged to witness
an ever growing number of chavrutot and participants in our
shiurim and events worldwide. We are grateful to Hashem
for the opportunity to spread Torah learning, to encourage
Aliyah and to enrich our beloved State of Israel.
In this bulletin, we would like to share just a small sample of
Torah MiTzion’s ongoing activity and influence.
With much appreciation,
Zeev Schwartz,
Executive Director
Our Shaliach in Montevideo,
Rabbi Eliyahu Galil, voting
News
“Without Shlichim there is no Shlichut”: Shlichim training
is now underway! During the week before Pesach (March
22nd - 25th) we held a training session next year’s bachurim
in the JNF education center in Nes Harim. This was the first
stage of the training which concentrated on team formation,
briefings on Diaspora communities, as well as discussion on a
variety of relevant issues and essential skills.
In the summer we will host an additional week of training for
both bachurim and families. The summer seminar will focus
on teaching practical tools for shlichut.
Europe is on the Map: For the first time in our twenty years of
activity, we held a Kenes Shlichim in Moscow, for all our centers
in Europe - Warsaw, Munich and Moscow. The Shabbaton took
place on Shabbat Hagadol (March 26th-29th) and coincided
with a Shabbaton for 65 students from Moscow.
“Lilmod” arrives in France: After much preparation, we are
happy to announce that our interactive online Beit-midrash
– Lilmod.org - will start offering Torah courses in French. We
have recruited some of the most eloquent French speaking
Rabbis, Rebbetzins and educators among the Religious Zionist
sector. These include Rav Shlomo Aviner, Rav Shaul Botschko,
Prof. Noah Dana-Picard, Silvia Marouani and many others.
Learning program in memory of fallen: Torah MiTzion
headquarters in Jerusalem initiated a joint “limmud” of all
our communities around the world. Thousands will learn in
memory of the soldiers who fell in the wars of Israel. To join
our initiative: www.Torahmitzion.org/zikaron
Cape Town reunion: On Isru Hag Succot, in the Bnei Akiva
Yeshiva high school in Givat Shmuel, we held a reunion
marking twenty years of the Yeshiva of Cape Town. Over 300
people attended, including Olim, visitors from Cape Town
and many former Shlichim and their families.
Learning in memory of Haim Zohar z”l: During the months
of Tevet and Shevat, Kollelim around the world devoted part
of the learning to the theme of “mutual responsibility” – “Kol
Yisrael Arevim Zeh Le Zeh” (all Israel are responsible for one
another). The learning was dedicated in the memory of Haim
Zohar, a founder of Torah MiTzion, who held many diverse
public positions, particularly in the field of Jewish education
in the Diaspora.
Cape Town
Reunion
World Movement | Newsletter | Spring 5775
1
Shabbaton North America: Our annual North American
shlichim convention took place this past December and was
hosted by the community in St. Louis. Our Scholar in residence
was Rabbi Yoel Manovich, Rosh Yeshivat Ha’hesder in Hispin.
Learning in memory of Larry Roth z”l: On 9th Adar we
noted the ‘Jewish Day of Constructive Conflict’, dedicated
in the memory of Larry Roth, former president of Torah
MiTzion. On the 9th of Adar the dispute between Bet Hillel
and Bet Shamai deteriorated to a violent struggle, and today
our Shlichim commemorate the date by studying the topic.
In addition, the “Beit Midrash Boker” program in Jerusalem
dedicated its learning in Larry’s memory.
North American
Shlichim Convention
Torah learning around the world
Kuzari, “Adam V’Isha”, Likutei Moharan, Tractate Avoda Zara,
Responsa, Tractate Ta’anit, Shoftim (Judges), Chumash with
Rashi, Hoshen Mishpat, Orot Ha Milchama, Tzorva MeRabanan,
“Shlom Yerushlayim” from Rabbi Haim Israel
of Kotsk on Zionism, Guide to the Perplexed,
Rabbi Hirsch on the Parasha, Tractate
Shabbat in depth (“Iyun”), Yad Hazaka
(Mishne Torah of the Rambam), Stories from
Rabbi Nachman, Lonely Man of Faith, Women
in the Bible, Books of Kings, Tractate Megila,
Netivot Shalom, Tractate Rosh HaShana, Book
of Genesis in depth (Iyun), Tractate Baba
Kama, Ein Ya’akov, Businss Ethics, Gemara
Yerushalmi, political science in the eyes of the
A chavruta in Munich,
Germany
Torah, laws of Shabbat, Shemita.
We asked Shlichim in different Kollelim for a list of topics
covered in Hevrutot. Here are their replies:
Tanach, Siddur, Hebrew, Tefilla, Kohelet,
Talmud (Gemara), Pirkei Avot, Parashat
HaShavua, Trei Asar, Yalkut Shimoni, Passover,
Chuppa and Kiddushin (marital law), Hovat
HaTalmidim, Pninei Halacha, Mishna, Mesilat
Yesharim, the five Megillot, Rambam, Ritva
on Baba Kama, Job, Even HaEzer, Zohar with
the “Sulam”, “On Vegetarianism” essay by Rav
Kook, Laws of Niddah (Tur and Beit Yosef),
Preface for Siddur Rinat Yisrael, Olam Haba
(“The world to come”), Hidushei Maharam,
Relationships, Orot HaTeshuva, Practical Judaism,
Our Influence
As part of our strategic plan, Torah MiTzion documents its
impact our communities around the world. We are proud to
present data for our worldwide activities covering the period
of August 2014 - February 2015 (Elul 5774-Adar 5775):
Torah Learning
Hours of Chavruta
Number of Shiurim (lessons)
Participants in Shiurim (lessons)
Number of events
Participants in events
Total
6,123
1,106
19,098
310
9,225
Pre-Pesach Shiur in Melbourne, Australia
• Our weekly bulletin, “Shabbat MiTzion”, to 8,723 e-mail
addresses.
• “Lilmod” – interactive virtual Beit Midrash with lessons in
Hebrew, German and Russian: 386 lessons took place with
896 individual learners.
Shiur by Nechama Porat
(Washington), as part of the
Midreshet Tzion project
Once on Shlichut – Always on shlichut!
Benny Pflanzer (Chicago 1997-2001)
Our Shlichut started quite by
chance. My brother in law was
supposed to go to Chicago as a
bachur and told us that they were
also looking for a couple. During
that time, I was working as a project
manager in a building company, but
2
I always dreamt of being involved, in one way or another, in
informal education, so I agreed to go on a one year break.
The one year became four years, which were among the best in
my life. They also drove me to change my occupation to Education.
When we arrived at Chicago, we among the founders of the
Kollel, During the first months we were alone at the Beit
Midrash, despite promises from the people in Shul that they
would come to learn with us. When we left 4 years later, we
World Movement | Newsletter | Spring 5775
reached about 200 weekly chavrutot and 10 weekly shiurim
with an average of 20-30 people in each.
For me there is no doubt that the community received
something they never had before - a model of a national
religious Israelis, that on the one hand learns seriously, and
on the other hand are very committed to the land of Israel
and its values.
One of the great influences the Kollel had on the community
was a significant increase of high school graduates who
come for a year to Israel - from 60% to 85%.
community, with Jews in the Diaspora. The results are evident
also by rising Aliyah numbers and stronger local communities
with increased Torah study.
During the Shlichut we made many friendships that endure
till this day. Out of ten families that were closest to us in the
community, as of today, five have come on Aliyah and the
other five are in the process.
I will end with a story: at the beginning of the fourth year of
our Shlichut, we decided to give o a lesson on the Kuzari on
Sunday evenings. We expected between five to ten people to
participate, and the idea was to have the lesson in an intimate
and warm environment. The first lesson at our house was called
for 8:30 pm, and already at 8:20 I knocked on our neighbor’s
door to ask for more chairs. At first he thought I was joking, but
the first lesson had 75 participants! Throughout the year the
class averaged 40 weekly attendees.
I came to understand that my place is in education, with a
special emphasis on teens from abroad. After his return to
Israel, Rabbi Yehuda Susman (who was head of the Kollel in
Chicago) and I decided to establish a Yeshiva for those who
come from abroad for a year in Israel after finishing high
school. “Yeshivat Eretz HaTsvi”
is headed till this day by Rabbi
During the first months we were
Susman, while I serve as CEO and
alone at the Beit Midrash... When
educational director.
I see the Torah MiTzion model as
crucial for building and deepening
the connection of Jews in Israel,
especially the national religious
we left 4 years later, we reached
about 200 weekly chavrutot and
10 weekly shiurim
In my opinion, that is an example
that illustrates best the change
that happened in Chicago. We
started with sitting in an empty Beit
Midrash waiting for people to come
and learn, and ended with not
enough chairs for the learners…
Natan Malessa Kabeda (Cape Town 1996-9)
made waves, especially in schools and Shabbat evenings.
“In 1996, after I finished my army
service through the Hesder program in
Yeshivat Har Etzion I finished a B.Ed. in
Herzog College, and started to teach in
an elementary school in Ashkelon. One
day I got a phone call from the recruiter
of Torah MiTzion: “What do you think
about a Shlichut in South Africa? Do you want to contribute
to the community in Cape Town, teach Torah and Zionism?”
Despite the years since my shlichut, I see it as a great
enterprise that is really “Pikua’ch Nefesh”. One cannot
imagine how many Jews have been saved from assimilation,
how many came back to Judaism, came on Aliyah and had
families because of Torah MiTzion. An insight I took from the
Shlichut to the rest of my life was that ‘if there is will, the sky
is the limit’. One should not be afraid of fear.
The effect of the Shlichut was evident in the friends who
made Aliyah and the thank you letters I received after
returning to Israel.
The offer took me back to the deserts of Sudan, to the
journey to the Land of Israel. In
Today my Shlichut is to uphold
1981, I made Aliyah via Sudan with
what is said ‘charity begins at
If there are Jews who need my
my father and some of my brothers.
home’ (“Aniyey Ircha kodmim”):
help, who am I to refuse the
After the journey from Ethiopia
since 2007 I am a member in Gar’in
offer? I answered ‘yes’ and went Torani in Kiryat Gat in the “Hineni”
to Sudan, and after waiting a year
and a half we finally were taken to
on a Shlichut to the unknown
association for the integration
the shores of the Red Sea. Soldiers
and empowerment of the Ethiopian community in Israeli
waited for us with weapons and rubber boats. That was the
society. As a lawyer, I served as voluntarily chairman of the
first time I saw white Jews. As a boy, I thought that all Jews in
association for eight years. As of today, the program has
the world were like us – brown. It was a defining moment in
expanded to nine cities.
my life. The fact the young soldiers, my brothers, went out to
enemy territory, endangering themselves, just to help us –
always made me feel I needed to repay my people somehow.
While Torah MiTzion was not the same as the soldiers who
arrived in Sudan, I told myself: If there are Jews who need my
help, who am I to refuse the offer? I answered ‘yes’ and went
on a Shlichut to the unknown.
“I suppose only the members of the community could tell what
I contributed to them, but what is certain is that the Shlichut
contributed to me. I learnt from the reactions I got during just
a few months that I was something different from what they
knew and thought about dark-skinned Jews. This was during
the final days of the Apartheid regime and those who heard
the story of my life often shed tears. The story of our Aliyah
Natan with the ‘King David
School’ students
World Movement | Newsletter | Spring 5775
3
Aliyah Stories
“The fact that there was a Torah MiTzion Kollel in
Memphis was one of the reasons I made Aliya…”
Ezra Kaplan (24), freshly married
to Moriah, made Aliyah through the
“Garin Tzabar” program. He served in
the elite ‘Maglan’ unit and lives in Givat
Shmuel. He tells about the influence
of the Kollel life on him as a teenager
in Memphis, USA: “The experience
of a new group of
shlichim from Israel
We enjoyed the warmth
was one of the
and the deep, genuine
highlights of the
love of Eretz Yisrael they year. We enjoyed
learning with them
brought with them
in chavruta, playing
basketball together and inviting them to meals at our homes.
We enjoyed the warmth and the genuine and deep love of
Eretz Yisrael they brought with them. When we come to Israel,
they want to repay us, and everywhere we go we have friends
to visit… it is a wonderful and strengthening feeling.”
Rikki and Moshi Broner
– from an adoptive
family of Shlichim in
Melbourne, straight to
the experience of life
in Israel. Brother and
sister, both on the eve of recruitment to the IDF.
Generations of Shlichim in Melbourne enjoyed the special
hospitality of the Brunner family. Be it the traditional breaking
of the Yom Kippur fast, after which the Shlichim would start
building the Succah, or the warm Sunday evening meals of fresh food
cooked especially for the
Shlichim, as they have no
To this day I have
leftovers from Shabbat…
contact with former
Moshi (24) made
Shlichim all over the
Aliyah two months
country…”
ago. Now at “Ulpan
Etzion”, he is an electrical engineer and a graduate of the
MTA program at the Har Etzion Yeshiva.
“We learned at Chabad School, and once a week I would go to
the Beit Midrash for a chavruta with the Shlichim. We learned
Tanach or Gemara. When we were older, we would go out on
trips with them on Sundays.
I remember every year on Purim, the bachurim, after drinking a bit,
would cry: “Have we done enough? Have we influenced enough?”
That, for me, was a living example of serious and devoted guys
who served also as Bnei Akiva counsellors in Melbourne.
I decided to make Aliyah not because I was familiar with The
State of Israel, but because I knew and loved people from
Israel. My experience in the Kollel in Melbourne introduced me
to the best young men and women Israel had to offer. To this
day I have contact with former Shlichim all over the country…”
Rikki (21) made Aliyah eight month ago. “Many of the
bachurim were like big brothers to me… I appreciated Torah
MiTzion even more when I reached the age of Bnei Akiva: a
place of Torah where you can learn and also a social venue in
a rare and inviting atmosphere for a religious person…
For example, I loved the “Chill & Cholent” project – every
Thursday we would get together to learn Torah and eat
cholent… a fun and memorable project.
What I really miss is a Torah MiTzion Kollel here in Israel… ”
From Around The Movement
Mazal Tov to…
•Ami Ohali (Occupational Psychologist in Torah MiTzion) –
On the Bar Mitzva of her son, Roi.
•Avi Klein (Cape Town 1999-2000) and his wife – on the
birth of their twins.
•Rabbi Benji and Renana Levi (Head of Moriah school,
Sydney) – on the birth of their son.
•Reuven Berkovits (Montreal 2012-13) – on his marriage
to Liav.
•Rabbi Noam and Rachel Himmelstein (Melbourne 201114) – on the marriage of their son, Yehuda.
•Vered and Yoav Cohen-Hadad (Memphis 2006-07, and
current Head of Shlichut Department in Torah MiTzion) –
on the birth of their daughter, Tahel.
•Ilana and Yonah Ben-David (Cape Town 1997-98, Hong
Kong 1998-99) – on the birth of their son, Akiva.
•Amir Cohen (Melbourne 2012-13) – on his marriage to
Elisheva Weiss.
•Reuven and Oshrat Kolton (Memphis 2006-09) – on the
birth of their daughter, Emunah.
•Moti Muskin (Chicago 1999-2000) – on his marriage to
Shulamit Miller.
•Shmuel Shtessman (Memphis 2011-12) – on his marriage
to Michelle.
•Rabbi Moshe and Chava Blum (our shlichim in Warsaw) –
on the birth of their daughter.
4
•Shuki and Natali Taylor (Former Midreshet Tzion
coordinator in Torah MiTzion) – on the birth of their
daughter.
•Ariel Suissa (Sydney 2011-12) – on his marriage to Rina.
•Matan Tur-Paz (Melbourne 2012-13) – on his marriage
to Talya, who made Aliyah from Melbourne.
•Avigail and Israel Cohen (Montreal 2002-03) - on the
birth of their son, Ari.
•Esti Eaton (Sydney 2013-14) – on her marriage to Amichai
Sacher.
•Daniel Platt (Chicago 2001-02) – on his marriage to Yaffa.
•Ariel Pariente (Munich 2013-14) – on his marriage to
Sonia, who made Aliyah from Munich.
•Yigal Schwartz (Memphis 2010-11) – on his marriage to
Malka.
•Rabbi Gedalya and Efrat Peterseil (Phoenix 2000-02) –
on the birth of their daughter, Ateret Miriam.
•Yosef and Moriah Berman (our Shlichim in Chicago) – on
the birth of their son, Shachar Shlomo.
•Rabbi Amnon and Gitit Herman (our Shlichim in Montreal)
– on the birth of their son, Asaf Yisrael.
Our condolences to...
•Michael Luria (Hong Kong 1998-99) on the passing of his
father, Norman z”l.
•Rabbi Nechemya Taylor (former Torani Advisor for Torah
MiTzion) on the passing of his father, Rabbi David z”l.
World Movement | Newsletter | Spring 5775