JWC Atlanta creates and builds a spiritual community that connects women through friendship, learning and Jewish values, and transforms and impacts them, their families and the Atlanta Jewish community.

	HerVoice The JWC Atlanta HerVoice Leadership Program will provide tools to empower Jewish women to strengthen their organizational and community-wide leadership skills with a unique enlightenment of Jewish spiritual wisdom. HerVoice includes seven in-person sessions and an immersive, educational journey to Israel.  (more-->)
	HerVoice Leadership Program Goals By the end of the program, participants will gain a deep knowledge into their own power as Jewish women and how they can leave an impact on the Atlanta Jewish community and beyond.  (more-->)
	HerVoice Curriculum based on the Seven Principles of Jewish Leadership by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Learn more about the HerVoice curriculum! The program highlight will be a week-long trip to Israel, helping to illustrate and widen the Jewish wisdom gained from the program, as well as solidifying the connection between our Atlanta community and our homeland of Israel. (more-->)
	HerVoice Includes Seven in-person workshops and a one-week journey to Israel in February 2024 to enhance our connection with Israel, each other and our Jewish roots. HerVoice participants will be expected to attend all sessions, as well as travel with the group to Israel as part of the program. All dates are outlined below.  Please complete the application only if you can attend all sessions and the Israel trip.  (more-->)
	Program Details and Dates Registration Now Open! Registration Closes: August 1  Interviews: August 1 - August 15 Sessions Dates:  October 15, 2023 October 29, 2023 December 3, 2023 December 10, 2023 January 7, 2024  January 21, 2024 Israel Trip: Feb 26, 2024 till March 3, 2024 Post Trip Meeting: March 17, 2024 Contribution: $2,500* - Fee includes all workshop sessions and the trip to Israel with lodging and most meals. Trip does not include airfare expenses.
	HerVoice Application Please note that limited space is available for the HerVoice program. Participants will be chosen through the application process, with all applicants needing to complete each part in order to be considered. Key application dates listed below: Through August 1: HerVoice applications (form submissions) open Rolling through August 6: Interview scheduling emails sent to applicants August 1 - August 15: Interviews (Zoom or In Person) September 11: Decisions made and applicants notified  (more-->)
	Frequently Asked Questions Still have questions about the HerVoice Leadership Program? Browse answers to the most frequently asked questions here. (more-->)

*For those of you who are concerned about the cost of the program, it may be possible for you to get an interest free loan through the Jewish Interest Free Loan of Atlanta (“JIFLA”). For further information about this, see http://jifla.org/ or email them directly at [email protected].

Do you admit to having read Harry Potter?

I will. 

I am quite the fan. 

I enjoyed each book and was often amazed not only by the imaginative scope but also by references to Judaic sources. 

Do you remember the sorting hat? 

When a new student would arrive at Hogwarts, the first order of business was to assign the student to one of the four Houses in the school. 

This was accomplished by briefly donning a talking hat, known as the sorting hat. 

The student would put on the hat and within moments the hat would announce the House to which the student would belong to forever more. 

The decision of the hat was absolute, it brooked no argument and once rendered the verdict was complete. 

This week’s Torah portion is called Pinchos and one of the topics covered is the upcoming division of the Land of Israel. 

The nation, divided into the Tribes, is going to be awarded specific portions of land. 

The Torah portion tells us how it was done - via lottery. 

The name of each Tribe was inscribed on a piece of parchment and placed in a pile and the various portions of the land were written on other pieces of parchment and placed in a separate pile. 

How was it actually done?

By lottery. 

Joshua would take one from each pile and read out the results. 

Seems very straightforward. 

Rashi, the super commentator on the Torah, gives us a deeper insight. 

The words in the verse that explain the process are in Hebrew “Al pi hagoral” which literally means, done via lottery. 

But Rashi notes the Hebrew word “PI”  which means “the mouth of”. That would indicate that the selection was done through “the mouth” of the lottery. 

Rashi teaches us that something miraculous happened in this process. 

There were actually 3 steps. 

First, as written above, a standard lottery. 

Our Sages explain the deeper level of the lottery actually speaking. 

The second step was that the High Priest stood next to Joshua and through the medium of the breastplate he wore, there would be another communication confirming the results of the lottery. 

The breastplate had 12 stones each representing one of the Tribes and had engraved the letters which encompassed all the letters of the alphabet. As Joshua was about to choose the pieces of parchment, the letters on the breastplate would light up High Priest was able to see with prophecy what names and places would be picked. He would announce it just before Joshua picked the pieces, and they correlated every time. 

And further, from the mouth of the lottery, the lottery itself spoke aloud the names of the Tribes and the corresponding portions they would receive. 

This process was laden with miracles. 

Gd prefers to work through nature, why were there so many miracles afoot in this process?

Any parent knows the answer, and you don’t need to have read Harry Potter. 

So there would be no arguments. 

After such a level of open miracles, nobody would have the temerity to question the outcome. 

No one would say “my portion should be larger, greener, safer” etc!

It had clearly been ordained by Gd and it removed all arguments between the people of Israel. 

My Waze is speaking to me…in Hebrew!

Since I returned from a recent trip to Israel, I have been receiving my driving directions in Hebrew. I haven’t changed it back yet. It is comforting to me to be told how to take the next steps in my journey in the language of my People. 

This week, some of my Israeli family took a journey of their own. They organized a “roots” trip to Holland to follow the trek their parents took which put them at the mercy of the Nazis during WWII. 

It all began with my grandfather. He and his family lived in Munich, Germany.

In 1933 Dachau, was opened. Jews who had been interrogated and murdered were sent back to the Jewish community in Munich in sealed coffins. My grandfather who participated in the ritual Jewish burial society, opened the coffins to prepare the bodies and was horrified by the signs of torture he saw. He journeyed to Vienna to take counsel from a Hasidic Rabbi with whom he was acquainted. The Rabbi told my grandfather that terrible things would be happening in Germany and said he should travel immediately to Palestine, as Israel was then known, and send for the family from there. My grandfather heeded this advice and so my Father and his siblings moved to Palestine. 

Shortly after their arrival, my aunt Mali, married a rabbi and the two of them were sent in 1935 to  Holland to run an educational center which prepared young people to make Aliya, to move to Palestine. They lived in a village called Enschede. The first three of their nine children were born there and they successfully taught and supported the young people in their care. 

Then the Nazis invaded. 

In 1940, my Uncle was arrested. Because he had British papers, he was taken to a POW camp. My Aunt did the unthinkable and tried to get her husband released by the Nazis. She related that the Nazi governor did not think she was Jewish because she went to the “lions den”. She would always say it was the chutzpah that she brought with her from the Land of Israel that gave her strength. For the next two years she was responsible for the students and her children. 

Due to her quick wits and impeccable German, she managed to disperse the students safely. She encountered Nazi patrols and was able to talk her way out of many precarious situations. 

She was called to the Gestapo headquarters twice, a place from which Jews did not escape, yet she managed to get away both times. 

Finally the Nazis caught up with her and she and her three young boys, all under the age of 5, were taken to Westerbork. This camp

was a staging ground for the deportation of Jews to other concentration camps for extermination. The vast majority were sent to Auschwitz. 

Almost all of the 95,000 people sent to the extermination camps were killed upon arrival. 

It was a one way journey. It was a trek with a diabolical destination. 

But, a great miracle occurred. 

Due to the fact that my brave and feisty Aunt held a passport from Palestine, and therefore she had British papers. 

These documents proved to be lifesaving. 

The German Templer Society was a Christian group whose philosophy included the imminent arrival of their Savior in Jerusalem. The Society established a number of German Templar colonies in Palestine. The members of this groups were interned by the British and in an exchange deal brokered by the governments of Germany and Great Britain, Templars were traded for British citizens who were incarcerated by the Nazi regime. 

Similar to the Schindler list, there is a typed list of exchanged prisoners released in 1942 during the height of the Nazi killing machine. 

Numbers 8,9,10 and 11 are the names of my Aunt Mali and her three boys. 

The miracles are too numerous to count. 

What’s a matchmaker?

If you watched Fiddler on the Roof, Yenta the matchmaker was the meddling woman who knows all the town gossip and introduces people to prospective mates. 

Nowadays, the role has had an extreme makeover. 

Aleeza Ben Shalom helps people find their matches and in the process shares great relationship advice and Jewish wisdom. 

If this piques your interest, make sure to mark your calendar for December 3, 2023, when JWCATLANTA will host Aleeza in a fabulous evening. 

Details about the evening to follow. 

Finding the perfect match was on my mind this week. 

Maybe it was due to the fact that I participated in a planning meeting for the aforementioned event with a dynamic committee who is organizing an amazing event. 

Or perhaps it was because I attended a wedding this week of two young people who grew up on my block, on the same street. 

They did not know one another, until they were introduced by a matchmaker who extolled the virtues of one to the other and it ended with a perfect match. 

Sometimes the match made in heaven is right under your very nose. 

So I had matches on my mind. 

Matches can bring people together in joyful matrimony, but matches can also cause s conflagration which can bring about destruction. 

What is our role in our match?

How does one define the “match made in heaven”?

What does one look for in a prospective mate?

A soulmate is someone who completes the other, and helps bring out the best in their partner in life. 

This week’s Torah portion gives us a peek into the power of having the right mate, and the repercussions that result from the positive, or conversely the negative attitudes of a spouse. 

“Chefetz Chashud “

That is how one says 

“Suspicious Object”

In Hebrew. 

Everyone in Israel is very aware of suspicious objects, because the lack of awareness can lead to horrific consequences. 

Many moons ago I studied in Israel. 

My roommate in the dormitory was an American girl who had been injured in a terrorist attack a few years prior. 

She was on a bus, and no one noticed the “Chefetz Chashud” that had been left under her seat. When the bomb exploded, the hard plastic seat protected her and the subsequent burns she suffered, healed with time. 

But you can imagine how she reacted whenever she heard the words “Chefetz Chashud”. 

In case you might think these words may have fallen into disuse, let me disabuse you of that notion. 

Just yesterday, I left my Mother’s Jerusalem apartment to do an errand for her. As I left the building I noticed an unusually heavy police presence. As I tried to get to my destination ahead, I was stopped by the police and told to turn back. 

I called the shopkeeper I was headed to as the police van was  parked right outside his door. He said, it’s “just” a Chefetz Chashud. He calmly told me the police will take care of it and I should be able to come back in a few minutes to complete my transaction. To quote him,

“We have to be careful, but life must go on. “

Today I went to the Kotel, the Wailing Wall. It is the last remnant of the Temple that stood thousands of years ago in Jerusalem, until it’s destruction on the 9th of Av. 

In the Kotel plaza I witnessed a very moving ceremony. 

Hundreds of young men and women were being inducted into army service. I was so deeply touched to witness these young people preparing themselves to serve our people. 

This is a country of people who will do whatever it takes to live and thrive in the Land of Israel. 

When I was newly married I had the honor of living next door to a truly elevated couple. I loved listening to them speak to one another, it was a lesson in love, respect and understanding to hear them converse.

One time I was in their home and they had a “fight”. 

It was Chanukah and the husband had lit his beautiful Menorah. After the Menorah lights extinguished, an itinerant person collecting funds appeared at their door. He was welcomed in with kindness and respect (definitely the mantra of that household) and given some charity and the offer of food. It became apparent that the gentleman had not yet had the opportunity to light the Menora, so the lady of the house took out a spare, small Menora for him to kindle. 

Later that evening her husband came home. When he saw the small Menora alit he questioned the circumstances and heard the whole story. When his wife finished the tale, he said in the kindest of tones that he was a bit disappointed. He wished she would have given the man collecting funds the use of his personal and beautiful Menora. He was concerned that the man would be embarrassed by the spare and obviously less expensive version. His distress at causing discomfort to a stranger was palpable, yet he managed to convey that distress in the gentlest and kindest way, leaving behind not hurt feelings but rather an elevated perspective. 

His distress stemmed from a missed opportunity to do more. 

This week we learn about the commandment that was given to Aaron the High Priest regarding the lighting of the Menora in the Tabernacle. 

This week’s Torah portion is titled Behaalotcha which means when you go up. 

The verse explains that Aaron was told when when you go up, when you elevate, light the Menora…

The Sages comment on the unusual word used to indicate the Menora should be kindled. 

When we talk about Shabbat candles or Chanukah candles we talk about lighting or kindling them, not elevating them, why is the word elevating used in this instance?

The Menorah is symbolic of Torah. Studying Torah is not just a scholastic endeavor like any other discipline. 

The study of Torah is meant to be transformative and elevating, when we light the “Menora” in our lives, when we study Torah, it is meant to point us to realize our purpose in life. 

That is why the Torah used the word elevating instead of kindling. 

As I may have mentioned, we recently attended our granddaughter’s Bat Mitzva. 

She was one of the last girls in her class to celebrate. I was wondering how they would mark the occasion. 

When one has a child in the Mitzva circuit it can be quite stressful, especially if your child is one of the last in the class. One has to grapple with how to do something different, how to make the event stand out. 

This conundrum may create a great deal of pressure on the celebrants. 

This week’s Torah portion is called Nasso, and it discusses the inauguration of the Tabernacle, the portable Sanctuary that was the place that the Jewish people did their service and connected to Gd. 

A part of the inaugural ceremony was the bringing of offerings to Gd by the Princes of each of the Twelve Tribes. 

The offering was extensive and it took 6 verses to describe what each Prince was bringing. 

In our studies, we have hammered home the point that every word in the Torah is critical and mindfully placed. When we peruse a verse, if we notice a superfluous word or letter, a misplaced tense or gender, we immediately stand at attention. 

These inconsistencies are flags to us that their are messages to be found and we must begin to investigate. 

So an extra letter would catch our attention, right?

Going back to our Bnai Mitzva, if anyone has this week’s Torah portion, you must be empathetic. 

Because this is the longest Torah portion of them all, clocking in at 176 verses. 

What is really curious is that 72 of the verses say exactly the same thing. 

There is 6 verse section describing the offering of the Prince, and it is repeated verbatim 12 times with only the name of the Prince changing. 

If one word would attract our attention, this is a veritable waving of a red flag begging a question!

Don’t worry. 

You didn’t lose a day. It’s not Thursday night yet. 

I am reaching out a day early as Thursday evening we will begin celebrating the holiday of Shavuot, the commemoration of receiving the Torah on Mt Sinai. 

There are no specific mitzvot connected to the upcoming holiday (although there are many customs including eating delicious dairy foods and adorning our synagogues and homes with flowers and greenery to remind us that Mt Sinai bloomed with vegetation prior to the giving of the Torah and since we did not understand the dietary laws that had just been established, we ate dairy). There are no Mitzvot because we want to focus on the Torah itself. Therefore there is a custom to stay up all night studying Torah and of course you can combine that with eating delicious cheese cake…

On the second day of the holiday we read the Book of Ruth. 

It too has no specific laws and rules. Instead it is a treatise of loving kindness. 

Ruth was a princess. She was the daughter of the King of Moab, and she married into a Jewish family who had run away from their home and responsibilities in the Land of Israel and moved to Moab. 

Ten years later, after a series of calamities, the Jewish family was decimated. Only the matriarch, Naomi, and her two daughters in law were left. One daughter in law was named Ruth. The other daughter in law was Ruth’s sister Orpah. Naomi realized there was no future for her in the land of Moab and she decided to return to her home in the Land of Israel. 

Her two daughters in law were desperate to accompany Naomi on her arduous journey home. 

This is a testimony to the deeply loving and caring relationship Naomi had created with her daughters in law. 

(Or in the words of a beloved friend and mentor, daughters in love!)

Despite the fact that they were royalty, these young women were willing to give up their fame and fortune to follow the destitute Naomi. 

Naomi fought them long and hard. 

Finally, Orpah capitulated. She decided to turn her back on Naomi and go back to her previous life. 

Ruth did not relent. 

She clung fiercely to Naomi and insisted on continuing the journey with her. 

Our Sages teach us that each of these women made a specific choice which had a significant impact on their future. 

Orpah chose not to accept the invitation to meet her higher self and returned home to a life of degradation and dissolution. She ultimately gave birth to a child of great physical stature, the famous Goliath who fought and cursed the Jewish people. 

This week we begin the fourth of the five books of the Torah. 

Isn’t it amazing how fast the days go by?

The Jewish people are now embarking on the the next stage of their journey. In this book is chronicled the 40 year journey, in the desert, which will end with the entrance to the Land of Israel. 

The journey takes place in a desert, a barren place, a tabula rasa. It is in the desert that the Torah was given because it is a blank slate, there are no preconceptions, it’s a place available to all, where the sky is the limit. 

If you were to tell the epic story of your family dynasty to your children, what would you emphasize?

Surely most of the content would focus on the triumphs and the glory, certainly not on the mistakes and the failures. 

Yet the Torah tells it like it was, not sparing any details about the complaints the Jewish people continually lodged against Gd. 

We have nothing to drink. 

We don’t like the food. 

Life was better in Egypt. 

(Honestly?!? Egypt was a torture chamber)!

The Torah lays it all out for us. Because “studying Torah is not education. It’s transformation. 

It’s an invitation to meet your higher self”. 

This idea about seeing ourselves as we truly are and using that as a springboard for personal growth was shared by our granddaughter at her Bat Mitzva this past week. 

She shared a powerful message about making the most of each day to achieve the next level of greatness in ourselves. 

When the Torah begins to describe the arrival of the Jewish people at Mount Sinai, it says they came on “this day”. 

Rashi, the super commentary on the Torah notices that really we should say they arrived on “that day” as the day being remarked upon has already passed.

Rashi explains that the message to us is every day should be “this day”, we should approach our study of Torah as if it was just given to us. 

But there is something curious. 

The “day” we are referencing is not the day the Torah was given in the desert, it’s actually the day they arrived. 

They probably got there, unpacked, had a bite to eat and then went to sleep. 

This is the day we are supposed to keep on reliving with newness and freshness?

Yes!

This is the opportunity to take whatever we have learned to help us transform a regular day into a day that counts.

It’s not an easy thing to do. 

It takes small steps to transform our days. 

“If your brother becomes poor and his hand falters, you shall support him”. 

This week we have one more double Torah portion, Behar and Bechukotai. 

The verse therein instructs us to strengthen and support a brother or sister in need. 

Rashi, French 11th century Torah commentary, elucidates on the words 

“you shall support him” 

by giving us instructions on how to provide such aforementioned support. 

Rashi tells us, do not allow the person to fall down and collapse altogether before you extend a helping hand. Rather reach out when his hand is starting to falter and become unsteady. Because you can save him from degradation with much less effort. Rashi gives an example of a laden donkey whose load is beginning to slip. If one puts out a supporting hand, single-handedly it is possible to avert disaster. But once the load and donkey have fallen over, it will take many people and a lot of attention to right the animal. 

Imagine an unsteady person walking in a muddy field. If given a cane he could come through unsullied. But if he falls in the muck not only will it take a few people to rescue him, he will be much more embarrassed by the attention paid to his inadequacies. 

Therefore Maimonides in his hierarchy of charity states that the highest level of charity is actually providing work for a person, furnishing the proverbial fishing rod, so they can fish for themselves, as this will allow a person to retain their dignity and self worth while ameliorating their financial needs. 

The word “hand” appears many times in the portion. Hand in Hebrew is the word “yad”. The numerical value of the word “yad” is 14. If one extends a hand (14) and another grabs another hand (14), those teo hands together equal 28. 

A word whose numerical value is 28 is the Hebrew word “koach” which means strength. When two hands come together they can strengthen one another. 

This can also be seen in the way we read the commandment 

“You shall support him”

We could actually read the words with a slightly different interpretation, 

“you shall RECEIVE strength from them”. 

Today is May 4, 2023. 

On May 4, 1945, Dr. Edith Eger was liberated from a concentration camp in Austria where she had been incarcerated. 

On the anniversary of this momentous occasion, Dr. Eger, psychologist and author of The Choice, posted on Facebook. She shared that while she had been liberated on May 4, there was a long road to survival she had to traverse. 

With survival came great challenge. 

On the physical plane, Dr. Eger has to relearn the skills necessary to rejoin society. 

She no longer knew how to wield a fork and knife. 

But there were also deep emotional wounds that needed healing. 

Dr. Eger hoped against hope that some of her loved ones had survived. When it became clear that there was no one left, Dr. Eger grappled with the meaning of life. There seemed to be no purpose in continuing. 

She questions what indeed kept her alive?

She feels that ultimately it was her sense of curiosity that reawakened her desire to live. 

She wondered what would happen, what might come next. With those thoughts, Dr. Eger felt a responsibility to come to terms with what had happened to her. 

She chose life. 

This week’s Torah portion is called Emor, which means speak or tell. In the first verse of the Parsha Gd instructs Moses

“Say to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and tell them not to contaminate themselves to a dead person…”

On a practical level, this commandment refers to the unique injunction that the Priestly class should not come in contact with a dead person. 

If one visits a cemetery, one will notice that the Kohanim, priests, or often buried in the first row, closest to the road. This will enable relatives, who are also priests, to come to the funeral without actually entering the cemetery. 

Rabbinit Yemima Mizrachi, Torah teacher in Jerusalem shared a different interpretation. 

She explains the message we are to glean from this verse is that we, each one of us, should not become contaminated by death. 

How do? 

This past week saw the two extremes we the Jewish people exemplify. We commemorated Israel’s Remembrance Day which was immediately followed by Israel’s Independence Day. The first day honors all who fell in service of our country. It is a sad and tragic day. One of my cousins by marriage shared the loss of of so many family members. His family has paid a steep price. That day segues into a joyous celebration of mammoth proportions. The same cousin spends his time selling properties in the land of Israel. He is passionate about the connection to the country of Israel and helping people find a happy home in the land his family sacrificed for. 

How is it possible to hold space for such extreme emotions?

We have sacrificed deeply for our values and for our country and while the pain is raw, we need to focus on life and the joy and hope it brings. 

Otherwise we would be lost. 

We would never emerge from the Crusades or the Holocaust. And we would not be able to build a future. 

This week we again have two Torah portions, Achrei Mot (After the death) and Kedoshim (the holy ones). 

The first portion refers to the death of two sons of Aaron the High Priest. After their tragic passing Moses is instructed by Gd to speak to Aaron and help him return to life by stepping into his role. 

It is a parallel to this past week’s events as Aaron must make the transition from mourning to becoming the spiritual leader who will bring his people to atonement and life. 

The second portion refers to that life, a life lived properly, a life of holiness. 

If asked to define holiness, we might think it is exemplified by intense prayer, self denial, ascetism, maybe even self flagellation. 

But our portion, gives a totally different explanation of how one becomes holy. 

In fact there are no less than 51 commandments or mitzvot contained there in and the focus is completely on kindness to another. 

We are enjoined to honor our parents, not to steal, not to lie, not to speak ill of others. We are instructed to pay workers in a timely fashion and not to take revenge. It is a cornucopia of mitzvot that teach us how to treat people properly. 

This is how we can become holy. 

Another mitzva  listed is to judge another person favorably. This sounds like a very easy one to accomplish. 

But maybe not so. 

Our 9 year old grandson called today. 

He was very proud of participating in what he called a wax museum production. 

It took me a bit to understand what he meant, but apparently his very creative teacher had the students research an individual and write a few paragraphs based on their findings. 

The students then dressed up as the person they studied and posed as a group, each one standing stock still. 

This was the “wax museum”. 

When it was the student’s turn to present, a “button” would be pressed to “bring them to life”and they would share the story of their character. 

It was as if a puppet was brought to life and given the ability to speak. 

Our grandson chose to restore Jackie Robinson to life. 

This week’s Torah portions, Tazria and Metzora, there are two, focus, with great detail, on the deleterious effects of speaking ill of others. 

If one speaks maliciously of another, the Torah describes an illness which is the punishment that will result. 

This malady is called tzora’at, which is translated as a spiritual form of leprosy. 

The individual who is inflicted is called a metzora. 

Our Sages teach us that if we break up the word metzora we find the words “motzi ra” which means finding the bad. 

A person who has tzara’at is one who seeks out the negative in the other. 

Apparently it’s a choice. 

When we look at someone else what do we decide to focus on?

We are not preprogrammed puppets or wax figures, going through mechanical motions.  

We can see a person before us and seek to see the good rather than emphasizing the bad.

Your HerVoice application has been completed.  If you have any questions, please reach out to Caryn Young at [email protected].  

You will be contacted in the next few weeks to schedule your interview.  Thank you!

Chag Sameach, Happy Passover from Jerusalem. 

These past days have been tragic as another beautiful family has been brutally torn asunder in a mindless terrorist attack. 

The Dee family was on the way to a family outing which ended in the murder of their mother and two daughters. 

I did not have the honor of knowing these people, but from social media I see that many of my friends knew them well. 

It feels as though we have lost members of our family. 

During the Passover holiday we hold this searing pain of losing these precious sisters as we celebrate our freedom. 

The undeniable and everlasting dichotomy of the Jewish people. 

I am here in a hotel in Jerusalem, spending the holiday with my mother. 

There are hundreds of people here, mostly strangers, although I have found some old friends. 

There was one woman I noticed in the crowd. 

She is beautiful. 

Her dress elegant and her comportment regal. 

Her apparent age made me think she might be a holocaust survivor and I was really drawn to her. 

At one point we were sitting near one another and I began a conversation. 

I introduced my mother, Mrs. Landau, to this lady. 

She responded in shock that her maiden name was also Landau and she was from Krakow originally. 

I shared that my grandfather was also Landau from Krakow. 

Now if your surname is Landau and you meet another person with the same name, the next question is inevitable. 

We ask each other if we are descendants of the Noda B’Yehuda, Rabbi Yechezkel Landau, Chief Rabbi of Prague in the late 1700s, whose seminal Torah writings are still studied extensively today. It is an honor and responsibility to be his descendant. 

We both answered in the affirmative. 

We grasped hands and looked at one another in wonder. 

In this crowd of 1000 people we had discovered family. 

One of our daughter’s has a penchant for asking questions. 

Many questions. 

From a young age she was the epitome of inquisitiveness. 

Every situation was preceded by a barrage of questions. 

It was quite charming. 

But sometimes it was not. 

Early mornings were a blur, but she was on point, needing to know. 

Transitional moments, when one needed to have one’s wits about them, were full of distracting comments peppered with - questions. 

We always thought she would make an excellent attorney or perhaps an FBI agent. 

But the truth is, we encourage inquiry. 

The Talmud, the Jewish treasure trove of wisdom, is a compilation of questions and more questions, combined with answers that spark even more debate. 

And that is what the Passover Seder is all about. 

Asking questions. 

Passover is Pesach in Hebrew which is the combination of two words 

Peh and Sach

Which means a mouth engaged in conversation. 

Questions are powerful because they compel us to reexamine and reevaluate what is before us. 

We have the tendency to take a situation for granted. 

But when someone interrogates us, we take the opportunity to look deeper and this will allow us to probe and understand the facts in a more profound way. 

At the Seder we do actions just so the children will ask us why we did that particular thing. For example, we dip a vegetable in salt water. 

Hopefully someone will pipe up and ask “why on earth do we do that?”

The unusual actions provoke questions which are a vehicle for opening up conversations. 

Questions are vital to children. 

They must be given the space to know that it’s “ok” to ask. 

That provides a sense of security because no question is silly, and no topic taboo.

It is our job to elicit the questions and provide the framework for their delivery. 

Last week we concluded the Book of Exodus. 

This week we start the Book of Leviticus and the first portion is called VaYikra, and he called. 

This refers to the fact that at the end of Exodus the work of building the Tabernacle has been completed. It becomes filled with a Cloud of Glory, an expression of Gd’s acceptance of the work done. 

But Moses cannot access the Tabernacle as it is filled, so to speak, with Gd’s presence. 

Now the work of the service is about to begin, and Gd summons Moses. 

The word Vayikra ends with the Hebrew letter Alef. If you would look on a Torah scroll, you would notice that the Alef is smaller than the other letters. 

The commentaries teach us a lesson in Moses humility from this little Alef, this little detail. 

Moses, who was transcribing Gd’s words, did not want to write the word VaYikra, he wanted to write the word VaYikar. 

It sounds very similar. 

Is there really much difference?

Moses wanted to write the word VaYikar because that is the word used when Gd reaches out to other prophets. It’s a word that stems from the word Mikreh, which means happenstance. 

It denotes a lower level of relationship. 

By using VaYikar the message would be that Moses, like any prophet, was in the right place at the right time and so he was summoned. 

Any other prophet would have been so summoned. 

But Gd wants Moses to write VaYikra which is a type of calling which is very close and connected. 

Gd wants to make it crystal clear that Moses had a unique relationship with Gd and was specifically called at that moment. 

Our Sages teach us Moses was humble and did not want to call attention to the special relationship he had which is why he petitioned for VaYikar. 

At the end of the day Gd prevailed, as Gd does, but Moses wrote the word with a tiny Alef, in the hope that a casual reader might not notice the Alef at all. 

This is a meaningful lesson in humility. 

But, what game was Moses playing at here?

We all know that Moses was the greatest prophet that ever lived. 

Even then, the Jewish people saw with their own eyes Moses saving them from Egypt and going up to Mt Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. 

Is making a regular size Alef into a little Alef really going to make us think differently about Moses?

One of the commentaries suggests that Moses knew his greatness. 

He knew himself. 

He wasn’t playing at false modesty. 

But instead of focusing on his accomplishments and achievements, Moses chose a small Alef to signify there is always more to learn about oneself and there is always more growing to be done. 

There is a little Alef in us all that can continue to grow to its full potential. 

Even if you are Moses. 

The Lubavitcher Rebbe continues this thought by teaching us how we should understand the beginning of the verse 

“And he called to Moses”

This is a message for each one of us a “calling”, so to speak for one and all. 

We are being summoned to work on ourselves at all times to improve  our character.  

If a person is on a high level like Moses then they should constantly strive to go higher. Or perhaps, sometimes a person may be in a very dark ot low place - then too, there is a calling to remind them not to despair. 

“Despite your present situation you have the power to rise up and go from darkness to light”

That’s a powerful message to learn from a small detail. 

If you live in New York City it’s almost inevitable. 

You might get mugged. 

Years ago, my sister was walking to school one day and it happened to her. 

They actually called it a “chain snatching”. 

The perpetrator saw the gold necklace around her throat, lunged, and ripped it off her. 

As you can imagine, my sister was traumatized. 

She was attacked - which was very frightening. 

She lost a gold necklace that our Father obm had given her. 

She was sad to lose a piece of precious gold jewelry. 

But to add insult to injury, it was the loss of something meaningful and sentimental to her,  because it was a gift from our Dad. 

Sometimes the value of a piece of jewelry is multiplied due to the emotional relationship it evokes. 

This week’s Torah portion is a double one, Vayakhel and Pekudei. In these two portions the word “woman” appears more than in any other Torah portions. 

For example, when describing how the people were asked to donate their jewelry and precious metals to build the Tabernacle and its accouterments, the verse says 

“The men came with the women”

The Hebrew word “al” is not exactly translated as “with”, it really means “on”. 

So Rashi, the commentary, explains that the men came with their precious goods, leaning on the women. They were spurred to action by the women’s example of open hearted, generous giving which was done with alacrity. 

The men made their contributions as they were inspired by their womenfolk. Another commentary, the Ohr HaChaim, explains the words “on the women” literally. 

He explains that the women came to Moses with their jewelry still on them, to show the value of their gifts. Their donation was doubly valuable as they contained the monetary value of the item,coupled with the emotional attachment they evoked. That’s why they came wearing the baubles. This was an action to show how meaningful each piece was, something of deep sentimental value, yet they were eagerly ready to part with that piece of jewelry in the service of Gd. 

The gift was all the more important because each piece of jewelry meant something very dear to that woman. 

The book of Exodus is coming to a close and as the Jewish people have experienced the journey of a family becoming a nation, a nation experiencing exile and arriving at redemption and culminating in the receipt of the Ten Commandments. Through it all, the influence of the women in the story is clear. 

It is Miriam, Shifra and Puah, and all the righteous women who led with their belief and tambourines in hand in the midst of unimaginable adversity. 

It is the women who sustained the Jewish people. 

This is indicated by the repetition of the word “woman” in the verses. 

In fact the Talmud states that it was in the merit of the righteous women that the Jewish people were redeemed from Egypt. 

That is a powerful statement!

But the Talmud is not finished. 

The Sages continue by stating that it will BE in the merit of the women that we will ultimately be redeemed. 

That’s a huge responsibility. 

A heavy chain or albatross to be borne. 

Yet, we are surrounded by amazing women who clearly have the capacity to help us transcend and make this statement a truth. 

How would you depict the character of a quintessential Jew?

For many, Tevye the Milkman from Fiddler on the Roof reflected the typical shtetl Jew, a man who held on to tradition as the world moved inexorably forward. Tevye was played masterfully by the actor,  Chaim Topol, who passed away in Israel today. 

This actor was famously known just by his last name - Topol, and he “breathed life into Tevye”, according to his director Norman Jewison. 

When I was a little girl, I actually had the opportunity to meet Topol during a visit to Israel. 

My Father, of blessed memory, recognized him at our hotel, and encouraged me to go over and say hello. We had just seen “Fiddler on the Roof” and I did approach Topol, after much prodding, and got his autograph. 

I remember looking at him and trying to see the character Tevye in the man who stood before me. 

This week’s Torah portion is called Ki Tisa and it chronicles one of the biggest Jewish tragedies, the Sin of the Golden Calf. 

The plot goes as follows:

The Jews receive the Ten Commandments after the Ten Plagues and The Exodus, all blockbuster movies in their own right. Then Moses is commanded to go up to Mount Sinai to receive the Tablets. He will be gone for 40 days and 40 nights. 

But the Jewish people make a terrible miscalculation and the plot goes terribly wrong. 

They are off by a day, and when Moses does not reappear on time, they quickly come to the dramatic conclusion that Moses is dead. Without taking even a pause for effect, they immediately commit the cardinal sin of idol worship by constructing and worshipping a golden image in the shape of a calf. 

Moses, received the Ten Commandments and descends from the mountain to come upon a horrific scene. 

What are the characteristics of our protagonist as he faces the downfall of his People?

“Who are you wearing?”

This is the most asked question on the famous Red Carpet walk preceding the Academy Awards. 

It is the way the media engages celebrities, the royalty of our culture, to share the names of the fashion designers whose wares they are sporting at the glitzy event. 

This obsession with the clothing of luminaries has spawned blogs such as one entitled 

“What Kate Wore”, which shares the details of the fashion  and style of Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales. 

I can relate.

After all, I too often stand before a closet full of clothes and bemoan that I have nothing to wear. 

Perhaps I could get some inspiration from Kate?

This week’s Torah portion seems to be so validating. 

The portion of Tetzaveh is all about clothes. 

It relates the intricacies of fashioning the clothing to be worn by the Priests and the High Priest during their service in the Tabernacle. This apparel was their “uniform” and donning those garments were a prerequisite for service in the Tabernacle. 

Why would there be such an emphasis on clothing, something that seems so superficial, in a space dedicated to spirituality?

Our Sages teach us that the role of the garments was to instill sanctity in both the wearer and the beholder. 

One of the garments the High Priest wore was a robe. It was adorned with bells placed along the hem. When the High Priest was approaching, his entrance was heralded by the tinkle of the bells. 

This serves to teach a number of lessons to both the wearer and the beholder. 

For those in the audience, the sound of the bells announced the approach of a holy person. This will afford the opportunity for those in the community to act appropriately in the presence of a holy individual. 

This “announcement” is also a subtle message to anyone of us who is about to make an entrance into a private place. It is proper not to enter unannounced, but to knock, give warning, allow those inside to compose themselves and be ready for the encounter. 

When a person enters their own home, the bells teach us the lesson not to barge into a room, but to announce themselves first, a lesson in privacy and boundaries. 

This is an elevated attitude.