קול Kol מבשרת Mevaseret A Compilation of Insights and Analyses of Torah Topics by the students of MICHLELET MEVASERET YERUSHALAYIM Jerusalem, 5781 Editors in Chief: Racheli Schachter ● Batsheva Shekhter ● Meira Steiner Editorial Staff: Hannah Aaron ● Hallie Gordon ● Amira Isenberg Aliza Kass ● Yehudis Tova Samuels ● Atara Shtern Emma Spirgel ● Nechama Stein ● Yonina Weinberg Faculty Advisor: Rabbi Eliezer Lerner © 2021 / 5781 – All rights reserved Printed in Israel מכללת מבשרת ירושלים Michlelet Mevaseret Yerushalayim Rabbi David Katz, Director Mrs. Sharon Isaacson, Asst. Director Mrs. Sarah Dena Katz, Asst. Director Derech Chevron 60 Jerusalem 93513 Tel: (02) 652-7257 / US Tel: (212) 372-7226 Fax: (02) 652-7162 / US Fax: (917)-793-1047 [email protected] U.S. Mailing Address 500 W. Burr Blvd Suite #47 Teaneck, NJ 07666 www.mevaseret.org/mmy HaDaF Typesetting [email protected] CONTENTS Letter from the Editors............................................... 7 Introduction Rabbi David Katz ................................................... 9 תנ"ך חתן דמים Leah Baron .......................................................... 15 Ben Sorer U’moreh: באשר הוא שם or נידון על שם סופו Michal Eckman .................................................... 19 Yehuda and Yosef: What it Truly Means to Be a Leader Kayla Goldstein ................................................... 23 Pesach: More Than Just the Holiday of Redemption Hallie Gordon....................................................... 33 A Guide to Becoming a Better Oveid Hashem Chana Rus Grossman .......................................... 39 Disability Through the Lens of the Torah Amira Isenberg..................................................... 43 The Shared Nevuah of Yeshaya and Yechezkel Shayna Kahane ................................................... 49 Spaces that Mean Something Aliza Kass ........................................................... 55 ?Why Only Twice – אסון Tiferet Mondrow................................................... 63 Sibling Relationships Hannah Pearlman ................................................ 67 Who Are You? Anonymous Characters in the Torah Batsheva Shekhter ...................................................77 The Indecisiveness of the Shalshelet Kayla Zlotnick ...................................................... 81 הלכה Vaccines and Halacha Elisheva Glatt ...................................................... 89 פסיק רישא דלא ניחא ליה Ora Hochberg and Racheli Schachter..................... 95 תוכחה Linoy Plashteav.................................................. 101 יום ההולדת Tehila Sciunnache .............................................. 105 מחשבה Do I have a Choice? Yehudis Naomi Bookatz...................................... 111 True Art and Science – The Center of Religiosity Ateret Ellituv ...................................................... 115 The Laws of Korban Pesach: A Blueprint for Spiritual Transformation Kayla Goldstein ................................................. 121 Takkanot of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai Racheli Gottesman ............................................. 129 Hashem is Truly Everywhere Ilana Knoll ......................................................... 135 Looking Beyond Joy to Find Simcha Rivka Marcus..................................................... 141 The Purpose of Humanity Dena Sheer ........................................................ 147 Family Atara Shtern ...................................................... 153 Protecting our Jewish Neshama Emma Sprigel..................................................... 161 Don’t Forget About Me Meira Steiner ..................................................... 165 The Significance of Jewish Names Aliza Warburg.................................................... 175 Shema Yisrael Yonina Weinberg ................................................ 179 Faculty What Hides Inside the Jewish Soul? Rav Kook’s “Torah Lishmah” Rabbi Adam Friedman........................................ 185 LETTER FROM THE EDITORS בן זומא אומר מצינו פסוק כולל יותר והוא שמע ישראל וגו'. בן ננס אומר מצינו פסוק כולל יותר והוא ואהבת לרעך כמוך. שמעון בן פזי אומר מצינו פסוק כולל יותר והוא את הכבש האחד תעשה בבוקר וגו'. עמד ר' פלוני על רגליו ואמר הלכה כבן פזי (הקדמה לעין יעקב) It’s surprising that this technical pasuk describing the korban tamid is considered the pasuk that is most encapsulating. It is noteworthy that this pasuk perfectly captures the experience of MMY 5781. We knew stepping onto the plane that we were not en route to a typical seminary year. And we were not wrong. However, whether we were in two capsules, five capsules, and finally no capsules, our Torah learning remained constant. While we never knew what tomorrow would bring, one thing was for sure – class would start in the Beit Midrash at 8:30. This level of stability was only afforded to us thanks to the unbelievable dedication of our amazing faculty, whose warmth and enthusiasm permeated the many layers of plastic. We cannot fully express our gratitude to our rebbeim and mechanchot for fostering a love of Torah and encouraging us to pursue it for ourselves. We express hakarat hatov to Rabbi Lerner for the many hours he has spent ensuring that this publication properly represents our Torah learning this year. Additionally, we thank the student editors for working tire- lessly – sourcing, editing, revising, and perfecting all of the articles, always with a smile; this publication could not have been done without them. Thank you, of course, to our contributors, as well. To MMY 5781, thank you for fostering an atmosphere ringing with positivity and enthusiasm, and sharing your Torah with us. This past year has taught us that .הקב"ה Lastly, we thank nothing can be taken for granted. Hashem has blessed us with a year of consistent and “normal” learning and gifted us the Torah .בין הערביים and בבוקר Hakedoshah as a guiding light in our lives, both Sincerely, The Kol Mevaseret Editors 5781 INTRODUCTION What a challenging year it has been. Although 5780 in MMY ended abruptly for many of us, who knew that 5781 would be, in many ways, even more challenging. We promised to do our best to give you a full experience even if it would be “different”, and it would seem that b’ezrat Hashem, that is in fact how it played out. It was a year full of kabbalat Hatorah and yearning for an Eretz Yisrael experience; a year with lots of twists and turns, multiple lockdowns where our bein adam lachaveiro was tested, as we remained confined indoors for long periods of time and were careful to not negatively impact on the personal space of our friends; a year where human weaknesses would be evident, but also one where our personal strengths would shine and our innate emunah pshuta would carry us through. Sounds familiar? In Parshat Masei we are reminded, in detailed fashion, of all of the twists and turns, ups and downs, of .למה נכתבו המסעות הללו .our forty year journey through the desert Why does the Torah enumerate each and every stop along the way? The midrash quotes multiple reasons for this long, seemingly unnecessary listing. I would like to focus on four of them. 1. It serves as hakarat hatov to the various host encampments על שקבלו את – for protecting Bnei Yisrael during the sojourn there .ישראל ועתיד הקדוש ברוך הוא ליתן שכרן 2. Rashi initially quotes R’ Moshe HaDarshan that it is a praise to Hashem for making us change locations only twenty times in a Although the long .להודיע חסדיו של מקום .thirty-eight year time span travels served as a punishment for the chet hameraglim, Hashem’s hashgacha provided a tremendous silver lining in the ‘clouds’. 3. As his second approach, Rashi quotes R’ Tanchuma who provides a Mashal: משל למלך שהיה בנו חולה והוליכו למקום רחוק לרפאותו. כיון שהיו חוזרין התחיל אביו מונה כל המסעות. אמר לו כאן ישננו כאן הוקרנו כאן חששת את ראשך. There was a king who had an ill child. They needed to travel a great distance to cure the child. Once the exhausting emotional and physical journey was over, there was time to reflect and tell over all of the stories of where they found solace despite the challenges. It is a hakarat hatov to Hashem not only for the hashgacha of the relative short span of the difficulties (as in Rashi’s first approach), but rather for the individual hashgachot which took place each and every step along the long and winding road to recovery. 4. The Rambam in Moreh Nevuchim (quoted by the Ramban), points out that it is human nature to forget all of the details as time goes on. We will remember the overall experience, but the detailed hashgacha will get lost with time. כי הנסים והאותות הנעשות היו אמיתיות לכל רואיהם, אך בעתיד יהיו דברים בשמועה ויכזיבם השומע ... על כן ... כדי שיראו אותם הדורות הבאים וידעו האותות הגדולות איך עמדו בני אדם במקומות ההם ארבעים שנה. Revisionist history will say that we must have survived the desert with the help of neighboring cities and food delivery services, and of course Zoom. So the Torah reminds us that the details of the reality are important and we should entrench them in our awareness while they are fresh in our consciousness so that they aren’t deleted from the historical record. MMY 5781 was a long forty week saga. Our talmidot benefited from tremendous personal attention from the MMY administration and teachers. The efforts to get our students here before the year began, the ongoing love and care – in sickness and in health – was indescribable. They had an intense kabbalat haTorah and Eretz Yisrael experience because they also had a matan Torah