Jerusalem Follow-up
The Jerusalem Fellowships
Hi Fellowshippers,
Sorry about missing last week's issue, but Rabbi Dubin was in Israel for some high level Fellowships meetings, and you all know how busy it gets around here when its Fellowships season. JFIL..., Fellowships..., Return and Learn..., Student Leaders...everyone is having the time of their lives, but all of these programs are certainly keeping us on our toes!
We're happy to announce the dates of our summer programs:
June 6 - July 4, 1999
The Jerusalem Fellowships Internship for Leaders
This program is open to college freshman, sophomores, juniors with leadership potential. The program adds elements of leadership fieldwork to our classic curriculum of Jewish Study, Israel Politics, and Touring
July 12 - August 8, 1999
The Jerusalem
Fellowships Summer Break ProgramThis program is for graduating college seniors, grads, and young professional, as well as non-leadership oriented undergrads. Our classic curriculum.
Some of our best participants have been referred by you, our Fellowships alumni. Please remember to tell your friends and relatives about this summers' programs.
...and don't forget the
Return and Learn
and
Student Leadership
(SL)If you can spend at least 3 weeks participating as an SL or on R&L, we can sent you back to Israel for just $500 including airfare from NY.
Programs run simultaneously with the Fellowships programs, but if you'd like to particpate on Aish HaTorah's Essentials or Jewel programs during a different time-frame, scholarships may be available as well. Call 1-800 FELLOWS for details.Planning on spending a year in Israel?
The Alisa Flatow Memorial Scholarship Fund awards grants of up to $2500 to candidates wishing to spend a year studying Judaism in Israel. The application deadline is February 15, 1999. Find out more at www.alisafund.org.
Mazel Tovs
To Jane Rudolph (Madricha on several Fellowships) on her recent engagement!
To Rabbi & Mrs. Tzvi Hochstadt (Men's program head - Summer '97) on the birth of a boy!
From: Jan Zalcman
Subject: Re: The Jerusalem Fellowships Database Update
I got married, actually to a guy I met on the Fellowships, so my name
changed to Jan Kavan. My address is 3907 Blackburn Lane, Burtonsville, Maryland 20866 (301) 476 -9743. My e-mail is jzalcm1@tiger.towson.edu Thanks for keeping me updated! I go to Towson University and graduate in a year and a half.------------------------------
Stephanie Mazis
(July '98) will be working for Aish HaTorah in Washington, DC as the program Coordinator this year. Her current email address is Stephanie_Mazis@yahoo.com .------------------------------
Robert Book
(June '89) is married to Mandy and they have one daughter, born in 1997 (Yocheved Yael)Joke of the
"Weak"One day, their rabbi retired and a new one was hired. Not only could the new rabbi see right through the brothers' deceptions, but he also spoke well and true about it. Due to the rabbi's honesty and integrity, the shul's membership grew in numbers. Eventually, a fundraising campaign was started to build a much bigger shul.
All of a sudden, one of the brothers died. The remaining brother sought out the new rabbi the day before the funeral and handed him a check for the amount needed to complete the new building. He held the check for the rabbi to see.
"I have only one condition," he said. "At the funeral, you must say my brother was a mensch. You must say those exact words."
After some thought, the rabbi gave his word and took the check. He cashed it immediately. At the funeral the next day, however, the rabbi did not hold back. "He was an evil man," he said about the dead
brother. "He cheated on his wife and abused his family. Never once did he commit an unselfish act." He railed on and on about the deceased. After nearly a half hour of the evil truth, the rabbi paused and shrugged his shoulders.Finally, he said, "But compared to his
brother, he was a mensch."Inspiration
I knew the Aish Web-site (
www.aish.edu) was good, but the positive feedback we've been receiving has been downright inspirational. Here's a sample:To:
rabbi.webmaster@aish.eduDate: Wed, 16 Dec 1998
Recently, I thought of an old friend who has really moved away from his Jewish roots. I forwarded one of your daily lifts to him, and encouraged him to check out the "cool" site of thelive imageof the wall. I know for a fact that he was really moved by some of the items in your site and will visit again.
Who knows what will come of it, but I feel good that alerting him to your site seemed to re-ignite an old spark of Jewishness in him.
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To:
webmaster@aish.eduDate: Fri, Dec 1998
Thank you for a most clear, easy to read and comprehensive answer. Due to its depth I would like to study it before replying.
I wish that this answer had been given to me when I asked the same question 30 years ago. I want to thank you again for all the thought and time you gave to this distant request.
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To:
rabbi.webmaster@aish.eduDate: Wed, 16 Dec 1998
For the first time in my life (and via the Aish commentaires and explanations) I've now come to understand the true meaning of Chanukah and what it really represents. All the emails on this have been wonderful. This explanation truly crystallized it for me. All I can say is THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.
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To:
rabbi.webmaster@aish.eduDate: Mon, 23 Nov 1998
I just finished readint eh On-line Learning: Weekly Torah Portion. I just want to compliment the authors. I found it enjoyable and educational. As a Jew, who has feeling for Yiddishkite, but doesn't go to shul weekly, I am happy to have this website to educate me and give me inspiration.
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To:
rabbi.webmaster@aish.eduDate: Tue, 15 Dec 1998
I wirte youthis mail to hank you fo rall the answeres given to my repeated questions, and to tell you that they ahve been very useful to start clarifying my sea of doubts, for I am a Jew living in Chile whose family tradition has been quite separate from our nation's identity.
Thanks again
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If you haven't visited,
www.aish.edu lately, check it out for yourself.That's it for now. We'd love to hear from you. If you receive a joke, or humorous or inspirational story in your email, forward it to us, and we may use it in an upcoming issue. Be well. Here's the Weekly....
AISH HATORAH'S
GOOD MORNING! A fellow was so inspired by the story two week’s back of the young boy’s honesty in paying his bus fare, that it helped him deal with a dilemma. He had deposited 35 cents for a newspaper; after the door slammed shut, he realized that he had grabbed two papers, not one. If he kept it, he would be taking something that he hadn’t paid for. If he placed it on top of the box, somebody else would take it and he would have caused a loss to the paper. So, he reached for another 35 cents to put the paper back in (yes, he could have kept the second paper, but he didn’t want it) figuring it was a cheap price to avoid transgressing the commandment not to steal.
Here is a beautiful piece that was recently sent to me. I don’t know who wrote it, but I would like to thank him!
"THE PRESENT"
Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them
work, family, health, friends and spirit and you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four ballsfamily, health, friends and spiritare made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same.Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift: that’s why we call it
This week’s portion tells a story often repeated through history:
The Jews become prominent and numerous. There arises a new king in Egypt "who did not know Joseph" (meaning he chose not to know Joseph or recognize any debt of gratitude). He proclaims slavery for the Jewish people "lest they may increase so much, that if there is war, they will join our enemies and fight against us, driving (us) from the land."
(Anti-Semitism can thrive on any excuse; it need not be logical or real
DVAR TORAH: based on Growth Through Torah by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin
The Torah states regarding Moses, "And the lad grew up. And she (Miriam) brought him to the daughter of Pharaoh and he was to her as a son. And she called his name Moshe ... because he was drawn from the water." (Exodus 2:10) Why was it necessary for Moses to grow up in Pharaoh’s court?
The Ibn Ezra notes that it is possible the Almighty had Moshe raised in the palace of the king in order for him to see royal behavior and get into the habit of acting in this manner. We see how this training helped Moshe develop into a decisive and compassionate individualhe killed an Egyptian who was beating a Jew; he rescued maidens in Midian.
One’s self image is a key factor in one’s behavior. Moshe’s self-image was of a prince growing up in the palace of an absolute monarch. This allowed him to take any action necessary to do what was right.
The most precious gift you can bestow upon any child is a positive self-image. Constant criticism and fault-finding knocks away at one’s self-esteem. A child growing up with inferiority feelings is handicapped. This will limit him in many ways. The key focus of anyone dealing with children must be, "How can I elevate this child’s self-image?"
INTERNATIONAL AISH MEETINGS this past week in the Old City of Jerusalem, directors from Aish HaTorah branches across the world congregated to review, evaluate and plan. Under the directorship of Rabbi Noah Weinberg, in 25 years Aish has grown from 5 students to 100,000 students learning each year in our international branches and at our World Center overlooking the Western Wall. From being a complete unknown on the world scene, Aish HaTorah has become one of the leaders in outreach to Jews who come from little or no background to give them the opportunity to know the beauty, meaning and relevance of our heritage to their lives!
CANDLE LIGHTING: Jerusalem 4:15 Miami 5:28 New York 4:27 LA 4:42 Hong Kong 5:39 Singapore 6:54 Guatemala 5:30 Honolulu 5:47 J’Burg 6:46 Melbourne 8:29 London 3:54 Moscow 3:58
"QUOTE OF THE WEEK":
To Laura and Sarah Blau
Happy Birthday!
Love Mom and Dad
Jerusalem Follow-up