09 Jun MTC Highlights: Parshat Behaalotecha
Shira Melamed - Director
Parshat Behaalotecha
In this week’s parsha the tribe of Levi is initiated into the service in the sanctuary. Their service was all about heart and soul, serving Hashem from a place of song and music.
Once may ask, how necessary is this? How necessary is it for an entire tribe to be in charge of dance, music, and song? With so much to get done, so many chores to be looked after in the mishkan and then in the Beit Hamikdash, how can we justify appointing an entire group who will mainly be devoted to song?
I believe the answer is that by appointing an entire tribe, the Leviim, to serve Hashem through song and music , Hashem is teaching us that we cannot be complete Jews, we cannot do the mitzvoth if we do not do it with our hearts. Hashem can have a house, a place of dwelling, a mishkan, but that house is not a home if He doesn’t have our hearts.
Our students have worked all year with children who are the outcome of what happens when a home is built without heart. It begins to crumble with time. Its residence becomes self-focused, sometimes self-obsessed and it simply cannot hold. A home without a heart is a dangerous establishment to build. The walls, windows and doors will stand strong and erect, but eventually those inside will suffer from lack of love and care, and they will have no choice but to leave. Children from those types of homes are brought here, and while Bet Elazraki may not be their physical house, they have all the heart they can ever need.
We see the concept of requiring heart in what we do in all of the mitzvoth.
Hashem says to us over and over again, do the mitzvot with your heart, show me your heart.
In Mishlei we read “Tna Bni Libcha Li” My child, give me your heart. Put your heart in bikur cholim, shabbat, tzdaka, everything you do. The Gemara in Mesaechet Sanhedrin tells us “Rachmana Liba Baei” Hashem desires our hearts.
The Ramchal in his sefer Messilat Yesharim explains just how crucial it is for us to do Hashem’s mitzvot with our hearts.
“והנה הלב הוא המלך לכל חלקי הגוף ונוהג בם. ואם הוא אינו מביא עצמו אל עבדתו יתברך, אין עבודת שאר האברים כלום”
The heart is king to all other parts of the body. If it is not involved in the mitzvot that the body is participating in, then the mitzvah in essence is worth nothing at all.
MTC came to an end this week, but our students will forever take the experience of learning with them because the learning they did was more than just knowledge, it became a way of life, they learned with their heads and their hearts.
May we always be zochech to put our hearts in everything we do, and may we learn from the Leviim this invaluable lesson; that our hearts have endless potential that must be utilized in order to serve Hashem and make this world a better place.
Student Reflection
Sophie Handelman - Shalhevet, CA - Valley Village, CA
Despite our hardest efforts to prolong it as long as possible, we are in our last few days here at MTC. Our amazing bnot sherut planned such meaningful goodbye parties. Our rooms have been taken over by piles of suitcases. But most of all our connections with each other and with our kids are as strong as ever.
Writing my goodbye letters to my group has been the hardest yet most special part of this whole experience. It has given me the opportunity to reflect on every relationship I’ve made and see the growth each amazing child has gone through this year. It’s crazy how well we have gotten to know each other. Sitting down to write my letters to them has given me the opportunity to reflect on all of the beautiful things that make them them.
Even though I chose MTC to try and make a difference to others, I ended up being the one that was changed for life. I have learned so much about myself and discovered parts of me I never knew existed thanks to the amazing experiences everyone has played a huge role in. Although it’s the most bittersweet goodbye I’ve ever experienced, I’m grateful to feel sad to leave because it just shows how amazing my time was.
