Midreshet Moriah
Shabbatot in Neve Daniel and Efrat
This past Shabbat was our annual “Shabbat Yishuvim,” which took place in both Neve Daniel and Efrat. In both places, we stayed with Midreshet alumnae and others and heard from them how being in Midreshet for the year inspired them. Friday night in Neve Daniel, with Fagie and Aryeh, Michal and Sam, Rav Ron and Rabbi Lerner, we ate together and heard Rav Ron’s and Rabbi Lerner's aliyah stories. (Rav Ron: "The easiest way to make Aliyah… is to come to Israel.") Later, we had a tisch at Fagie's house, where we were each given an object and had to connect it to an experience we had in Israel (what do you do with an onion???). Shabbat day, we ate lunch with our respective hosts and peppered them with questions about their aliyah, why they chose to live in Gush Etzion, etc. Se’udah Shlishit at Fagie’s later on featured lots of spirited singing, eating, and hearing from Sam Zibman and Yarden Frankl, a native of Neve Daniel known for his hilarious anecdotes, who had us laughing at his stories of his adventures as a new oleh.
In Efrat, during our seudah, joined by Malka, Rav Wexler, and the Gershinskys, we heard inspiring words of Torah and aliyah from Shlomo Hubscher and then had a friendly (but pretty heated!) discussion at our tisch about whether aliyah is a Mitzvah, in which we were also joined by Leora Bednarsh. Lunch was with our hosts and Seuda Shlishit’s at Bracha's house, featuring a great speaker and lots of yummy food.