20 Jan MTC Highlights: Parashat Yitro
Lauren Friedman - Eim Bayit
Parshat Yitro
Do you ever wonder what makes a person Jewish?
If I do a mitzvah does that make me Jewish?
If I refrain from eating non-kosher foods, does that make me Jewish?
Is it all that simple or is there something deeper than that?
Well…. This week’s parasha has all the answers to life’s questions, and I mean that literally.
In this week’s portion we are presented with the single greatest gift we have ever received or will receive. This week’s portion we become transformed from a Jewish peoples’ into a Jewish nation. But how? What is this gift that was the catalyst for the paradigm shift from which we experience till today and will continue to tomorrow?
Drum roll please… MATAN TORAH!!!
The giving of the Torah by Hashem to the Jewish people transformed us overnight into a nation. With Matan Torah, we were given a set of laws and a code to which we can live our life style according to, together as a nation.
We all now have A common denominator, the ten commandments. Via Matan Torah we now have a platform to serve Hashem.Whether that be through kosher, kiddush, shabbat, brit milah, bat mitzvah, tiffilin, chuppah… the list goes on.
In addition it guides us on how to conduct ourselves in our daily lives towards our spouses and our fellows. Keeping kosher or putting on tifilin or keeping shabbat are aspects of the laws of the Torah in which we live our lives according to.
So to answer the question that was asked at the beginning of this Dvar Torah, “What makes a person Jewish?”
Simply put, the following of the Torah in all its laws, lessons, dos and don’ts. The Torah determines who is Jewish, what a mitzvah is, who is wise and who is evil. The Torah is the instruction manual on how to live our lives as Jewish people amongst a Jewish nation.
So now that we’ve established all that, we need to recognize this great gift we were given and make sure we spend our whole lives devoting ourselves to it. At the end of the day we are nothing without it and everything with it.
Shabbat shalom.
Student Reflection
Yael Rovt -Shulamith HS, NY - Brooklyn, NY
Coming into this year I had expectations of how everything would turn out. The classes, kids, and living in Netanya were all things I thought out constantly throughout last year and I believed it would turn out exactly the way I imagined it to be. Upon arriving here my fantasies were absent and replaced with the reality MTC provided. At first it was hard for me to readjust my expectations with everything, especially with the kids, but very soon I realized the reality was better than anything I could’ve imagined.
A few weeks ago I had my birthday. My friends and teachers here made it so special that coming to my kids I didn’t expect more than just a Mazel tov and a hug. All my kids kept running in and out of the room, not letting me in, whispering, and being extra chatty. One of my girls even pretended to cry to prevent me from coming into the room. When they finally let me in I was greeted with them yelling surprise, hugs, and cake. They gave me beautiful meaningful brachot, a book of letters, and some even gave me presents. It made me realize how much of an impact all of us girls in MTC really have on them in their lives.
The learning mixed with the chessed really gives us the opportunity to practice what is preached. It’s one thing to learn the virtue of patience but it’s another thing living it by volunteering with the kids of Bet Elazraki. The growth and connections I’ve experienced here is something that I believe will impact me always.
