Morah Michal Bessler Elementary School Principal Just last month, I had the privilege of joining a mission,  Chizuk V’Chibur , led by Rav Cutler from Yeshivat Hakotel. Together with students and other parents, we went to see the aftermath of the atrocities of October 7. After  davening   neitz  at the  Kotel , we left on a trip down to the Gaza border, visiting Netiv Ha’asara, S’derot, Sa’ad, and Nirim.  In Netiv Ha’asara we heard from a resident, Benny, who acted as our tour guide and told us the story of what occurred on the  yishuv  on October 7. Following the attacks the  yishuv  was deserted,  sukkot  were flipped over, windows were broken, and homes were completely burned to the ground. Many of the people in the  yishuv  are focused on peace, including an older couple who previously drove sick Palestinian children from the border to Israeli hospitals to get medical care and then back to Gaza. Their house was blo...

Rabbi Noah Cheses (’03) Rabbi, Young Israel of Sharon Partners in Restoring Creation in a Tumultuous Time Imagine living in a world in which violating morality leads to immediate consequences in the world of nature. This world seems so distant, especially at this moment in history when so many people, institutions, and nations are acting unfairly, hatefully, and immorally against the Jewish state without any consequence. From this vantage point, the story of the plagues, which is one of the most dramatic examples of direct divine intervention to punish wicked behavior, reads, at least right now, like an attractive revenge fantasy.  From the first chapter of  Sefer Shemot , Pharaoh is firmly entrenched on the side of death. The Jewish people are fruitful and multiply (1:7), which is the purpose of creation itself, and Pharaoh seeks to thwart this population growth by mercilessly drowning all male infants in the Nile (1:16). The Egyptian ruler is bent on destruction and undoing ...

Rabbi Dr. Yaakov Jaffe  Dean of Judaic Studies This week cobras and cats, fire and hurricane united together to serve  Hakadosh Baruch Hu .   I don't just mean that these forces united in the plagues of  arov  and  barad  in  Parshat Va'era ; the Kushner Kobras, Kohelet Kings, Maimonides M-Cats, Farber Fire, and HANC Hurricanes spent the beginning of this week and the end of last week joining together in Boston, on our Saval Campus, to study  Torah  together,  daven  together, and learn together — while also playing a few basketball games. The Maimonides School Invitational Basketball Tournament, this year dedicated in memory of Gary Singer  z”l , is a celebration of Jewish education and  Torah  study and a window into the future of the Jewish people. Athletes from five schools – helmed mostly by Maimonides alumni – gathered to spend a weekend together, along with many Maimonides School students, volunteers, and...

Mr. Shmuel Silberman  Learning Center Specialist What does it mean to grow up? We get a penetrating answer in this week’s  parsha . וַיִּגְדַּל הַיֶּלֶד וַתְּבִאֵהוּ לְבַת־פַּרְעֹה ... וַיְהִי בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם וַיִּגְדַּל מֹשֶׁה וַיֵּצֵא אֶל־אֶחָיו וַיַּרְא בְּסִבְלֹתָם The child grew up, and she [Yocheved] brought him [Moshe] to Pharaoh’s daughter... It was in those days that Moshe grew up and went out to his brothers and looked at their burdens.  ( Shemot  2:10–11) Twice the  parsha  says that Moshe “grew up.” Did Moshe grow up two times? If so, what is the difference between them?   The first refers to physical growth. Moshe no longer needed to nurse, and was ready to stay under the care of Pharaoh’s daughter. The meaning of the second growth is indicated by the words that immediately follow: Moshe paid attention to the suffering of his people.  That  is spiritual growth. Spirituality is about overcoming self-centeredness and be...