קול Kol מבשרת Mevaseret A Compilation of Insights and Analyses of Torah Topics by the students of MICHLELET MEVASERET YERUSHALAYIM Jerusalem, 5778 Editors in Chief: Rochel Gertsberg ● Naama Schwartz ● Micki Wulwick Editorial Staff: Tzivia Appleman ● Rhiannon Chajmovicz ● Shoshana Cohen Ora Damelin ● Zahava Fertig ● Lana Rosenthal ● Shira Sassoon Avigail Sciunnach ● Sarah Spira ● Nechama Tannenbaum Robin Tassler ● Sara Verschleisser ● Rachel Zemble Faculty Advisor: Rabbi Eliezer Lerner © 2018 / 5778 – 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 A Tale of Two Sets of Spies Rhiannon Chajmovicz ...............................................15 A Calf and a Covenant … or Two Shoshana Cohen, Rachel Zemble .............................25 Migdal Bavel and the Advancement of Society Rochel Gertsberg.......................................................33 The Nachash: The Crux of all Slander Michal Kaufman................................................... 41 חכמת שלמה: ואזן וחקר תקן משלים הרבה Rachel Kellner...................................................... 47 Savior or Enslaver Sarah Spira ......................................................... 49 Chessed U’Mishpat Ashira Shira Strauss....................................................... 55 Words that Shaped a Nation: The Brachot of Yaakov Avinu and of Moshe Rabbeinu Sara Verschleisser ............................................... 59 שמע בני מוסר אביך ועל תטש תורת אמך The Importance of Parental Advice Shoshana Weintraub ............................................ 77 הלכה The Mitzvah of Settling the Land :מצות ישוב הארץ Shira Cohen......................................................... 85 Kitniyot: Do the Ends Justify the Beans? Ora Damelin ........................................................ 89 Is My Chulent Meat From a Lab? Cultured Meat and Halacha Dania Mann-Wineberg .......................................... 95 Minhag: Lay Authority in Halacha Lana Rosenthal.................................................. 101 Reading Above and Below the Lines: The Significance of Trop in Torah Reading Naama Schwartz................................................ 111 מחשבה The Lonely Men of Faith: Mitnagdim and Hasidim Tzivia Appleman ................................................ 123 Imprisonment According to Torah Tehila Azar ........................................................ 131 Hishtadlut vs. Bitachon Rivka Barnett..................................................... 135 Mishnaic Music Shoshana Cohen................................................ 141 Sorry is Not Enough Shira Kurland .................................................... 151 Mashiach: From the Dead or the Living Temmi Lattin...................................................... 155 Orphans, Widows, and Strangers: Our Obligation to Defend the Defenseless Sarit Perl ........................................................... 159 The Eternal Struggle Between Amalek and Emunah Shira Sassoon.................................................... 163 Finding Your Identity Eliana Schlesinger.............................................. 173 Shalom Aleichem The Song that Brings the Shabbat Table Together Haviva Tirschwell............................................... 179 Faculty “The Life of Souls; the Air of Your Land” A Rav Kook-Influenced Perspective on the Relationship Between the Land of Israel and Olam Haba Rabbi Yosef Bronstein ........................................ 185 Birkat HaTorah Rabbi Jesse Horn............................................... 203 LETTER FROM THE EDITORS ואמר רבי יצחק אם יאמר לך אדם ... לא יגעתי ,The Gemara (Megillah 6b) writes R’ Yitzchak said, If someone says ... ‘I“ .ומצאתי אל תאמן יגעתי ומצאתי תאמן have not worked hard and I have found success,’ do not believe him. If someone says: ‘I have worked hard and I have found success,’ believe him.” The Gemara illustrates a vital concept in Talmud Torah – progress does not come easily or quickly and one cannot expect to exert little effort and find success. Rather, success can only be reached through commitment and perseverance, and if one devotes his efforts to Torah study, he will most definitely find success. Guided by the encouragement of the MMY faculty, students have devoted themselves to Talmud Torah for the past ten months. With the study of Tanach, Halacha, and Hashkafa, the students explored diverse sources and the complexities that accompany them. They not only succeeded in their efforts of Talmud Torah, but have chosen to share their achievements and allow others to gain as well. This compilation of articles is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of the MMY students, each one conveying the interests and passions unique to its author. The success of this journal was a lengthy process, involving countless people. The devoted Rabbeim and teachers at MMY have helped each student and encouraged her to thrive and grow in her Torah learning. In particular, we would like to thank Rabbi Lerner; without his constant guidance and efforts, this publication would not have come to fruition. Additionally, we would like to thank all the editors who spent many hours perfecting and reviewing the content; they have been an indispensable part of Kol Mevaseret. Moreover, we are also immensely grateful to all the writers, whose enthusiasm and hard work contributed to the production of Kol Mevaseret 5778. Sincerely, The Kol Mevaseret Editors 5778 INTRODUCTION As this new edition of Kol Mevaseret is going to print, we are reading Sefer Bamidbar, discussing the desert experience. Our students, are For a .אוכלי מן completing their own ‘desert experience,’ similar to the full academic year, Torah learning has been handed to them on a silver platter. Now they are preparing to enter back into a world where they have to “plow for themselves”. It is our prayer that our students, upon their return, become the Torah leaders in their com- munities, campuses and families, and utilize their ‘desert experi- ence’ to build themselves up internally before going out to the wider Jewish world. In the desert, Bnei Yisrael encamp around the Mishkan with a set of three tribes on each of the four sides. In each set, one of the tribes is selected as the flag-bearer and the other two tribes encamp along with them. The language of the Torah in Parshat Bamidbar is quite explicit. The first encampment is “degel machane Yehuda” in the east, and then “v’hachonim alav” are Yissachar and Zevulun. This pat- tern repeats itself in the south where the encampment is called “degel machene Reuven” and “v’hachonim alav” are Shimon and Gad as well as in the north with “degel machane Dan” and “v’hachonim alav” are Asher and Naftali. However, in the west, where we have “degel machane Ephraim,” the Torah describes the tribe of Menashe as merely “v’alav” and not the usual “v’hachonim alav”. This may be what is bothering Rashi when he comments that “alav” is understood by the Targum in the same manner that he translated “alav” in the other three places. The Meshech Chochma notes that the reason for the change is to hint what will happen during the next forty years. Right now, in the count of Parshat Bamidbar, Ephraim is greater in number than Menashe. (Ephraim’s count is 40,500 and Menashe’s is 32,200.) However, later, in Parshat Pinchas, Ephraim’s count is only 32,500 whereas Menashe’s is 52,700! The pasuk’s change to “alav” hints at Menashe's ultimate numerical supremacy. The Netziv picks up on the same textual anomaly. He com- ments that there are two types of leadership – “ruach” (a more spiritual one), and “halichot olam” (a more practical and worldly one). Ephraim was the greater leader in terms of spirituality, whereas Menashe was the greater leader in terms of the practical world. During their miraculous desert experience, Ephraim’s leadership is paramount and he is the flag-bearer. However in Parshat Pinchas, as Bnei Yisrael prepare to enter Eretz Yisrael where they would have to “plow for themselves”, Menashe’s pragmatic leadership will become the more needed trait. Menashe’s role will then become the primary one. He will be “alav”. The Netziv adds that this was already alluded to in the brachot in Parshat Vayechi when Yaakov Avinu “sikel et yadav”. Why didn’t Yaakov simply ask Ephraim and Menashe to switch sides? Why did Yaakov have to go through the trouble of repositioning his hands? The Netziv explains that he wanted Menashe to stay by his right leg, representing the one who would be most “grounded” in terms of halichot olam, while his right hand, representing the ruach, needed to be switched to the head of Ephraim. Our students have spent a year in the “Ephraim Bubble”, the world of ruach, of the Beit Midrash. They have been given their Torah similar to the way Bnei Yisrael received the mahn. What a wonderful experience to have! הבן יקיר לי אפרים אם ילד שעשועים כי מדי דברי בו זכור אזכרנו עוד: (ירמיהו לא:יט) The Ephraim experience will be cherished and remembered fondly. However,