Tu B'Shevat 5766

Pearls from the Wellspring is a monthly email contribution of the students, staff and supporters of Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin. We encourage you to send your comments and questions to Rebbetzin Chana Bracha at berot@netvision.net.il

In this month's issue:

Tu B'Shevat - A Time for Hidden Beginnings
Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum, B'erot Director

Featured Poetry
B'erot Students

Student Profile
Yiskah Sarah Petit, B'erot Student

Torah and the Trees
Alphabrew, B'erot Student

Re-Connecting To Nature
Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz, Canfei Nesharim

Alumnae Corner
Sarah Rachel Bowser

Spring Break "Spiritual Awakenings" Seminar & Other Upcoming Events

Job Opportunities & Other Announcements

Supporting B'erot

Torah Thursdays at the Hineni Center in Jerusalem: Innovative Torah Study for Busy Women

TU B'SHVAT - A TIME FOR HIDDEN BEGINNINGS
Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum, B'erot Director

As the holiday of TubShvat -the new-year of the trees is approaching we would have expected to see the trees in their full green glory crowned with ripe radiant fruit. Wouldn't it at least be fitting to celebrate the New-Year of the trees around Pessach time when the buds are just opening to express the beginning of their new life?

Artwork from B'erot Student

Yet, The New Year of the trees is celebrated at the time when all the fruits and leaves have fallen and the tree stands bare and naked. When the cold and dark envelops Nature with its muddy cover. The secret of TuB'Shvat gently whispers; "when everything looks dead, dark and murky, -life, light and glory is hiding just below the surface." When nothing seems to be happening on the outside; that is the beginning of the richest inner life. Yehuda Halevi points out that the seed actually decomposes completely before it is transformed into a tender plant. Likewise the Jewish people became completely decomposed and scattered before the ingathering of the exiles and the rebuilding of the Temple. May the decomposing seeds of the present darkness take root in new and richer soil, and may we enjoy the fruits of the renewed perfected world.

With Blessings of Torah and the Land,
Chana Bracha

SHADOW
Sakura, B'erot Student

Nullify yourself
Become like the moon so small
Full Half Sliver Gone

UNTITLED POEM
Hazel Straver, B'erot Student

As I walk out of my Caravan
Every single morning
I am overwhelmed by its beauty
The early morning sun
Shines tenderly but confident over the Judean Hills

As I walk out of my Caravan
Every single morning
I feel so blessed I am here
In this very special place in Eretz Yisrael
This hilltop of the Judean Hills

As I walk out of my Caravan
Every single morning
I do teshuva as I walk to the Beth Midrash
I enjoy those sacred moments
While I enter my special Beth Midrash on the Judean Hills

B'erot students enjoying the light of the full moon

STUDENT PROFILE: YISKAH SARAH PETIT

Name: Yiskah Sarah Petit
Age: 27
Hebrew Birthday: 19 Elul 5739
Last place of residence: Durham, North Carolina USA
Enrolled at B'erot since: 6 Mar-Cheshvan 5766

Artwork by Yiskah Sarah Petit

TORAH AND THE TREES
Alphabrew, B'erot Student

Trees are a constant theme throughout Torah. The following are but a few references:

· According to a midrash, Noach planted cedar trees for 120 so that he may cut them down to build the ark; and R' Yochanan said: The world was not worthy to make use of the cedars, for they were not created except for the needs of the beyt hamiqdash/Temple. Genesis Rabbah 15:1

Rebbetzin Chana Bracha and Nienke helping to re-plant trees from Gush Katif

· Also, in parashat Noach, a dove returned to the ark at evening with an olive leaf from Gan Eden. With this act, the dove expresses her desire to cling to HaShem in freedom, rather than depend on him for her sustenance: "Better is bitterness from this and not sweetness from be

neath your hand." Genesis Rabbah, 33:6

· Four tanaim-Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Aher and Rabbi Akiva-entered the orchard of PaRDeS (Paradise). Ben Azzai looked and died, Ben Zoma looked and lost his mind, and Aher was said to have "cut off the saplings" which is understood to mean that he lost his belief in HaShem. It was only Rabbi Akiva who entered in peace and came out in peace. Talmud Chagigah 14b

· The 4 letters of the word pardes-PRDS-stand for the 4 ways of interpreting Torah. These are P'shat-literal interpretation, Remez-allusion and parable, D'rash- exegesis, and Sod-mystical interpretation. If we remove Sod, we are left with PRD, the root of nifrad, which means separate or detached. Torah without Sod, its mystical dimension, is like a fruit separated from the Tree. from www.spiral.org.za

Finally…

R' Abba taught: There is no greater revealing of redemption than that verse which states: "And you, mountains of Israel, you shall give forth your branches and you shall bear your fruit for my people Israel, for they shall soon come." [Ez. 36:8] Talmud Sanhedrin 98a.

RE-CONNECTING TO NATURE
Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz

One of the striking phenomena of modern Orthodox life is how distant we are from nature. In the ancient world, both among Jews and among the other nations of the world, people were very connected and sensitive to the cycles of the sun, moon, and the stars and the planets. Today, even navigation is no longer done by the stars, but by machine.

View from Bat Ayin: the Judean Hills

I remember when I was in Eretz Yisrael and looked up at the sky: thousands and thousands of stars! This is what our forefathers saw every evening when they looked up at the night sky. It is easy to forget our natural connection to the world, and how much we rely on the natural cycles and natural resources Hashem has given to us. All of our holidays and the cycles of Judaism are based on the natural cycles of the world.

Of course, Pesach is about yetzias mitzraim, the exodus from Egypt, and Shavuos celebrates matan torah, the giving of the Torah. Sukkos and Shemini Atzeres commemorate our wandering in the desert. But, it is also true that Pesach is the beginning of the spring when the barley was harvested. Shavuous was also the time of the harvesting of the wheat, and Sukkos is the ingathering of the produce and the fruit.

Last year, we had two months of Adar in the Jewish year. Why do we have Jewish leap years in which we add an additional month of Adar? Because the Torah says that Pesach must occur during the spring. So, when Pesach gets a little too early in the solar calendar, we have to put in an extra month to push Pesach back into its proper alignment.

Why is it so important that Pesach be in the spring? The gemara says there's an intimate bridge between the physical structure of the universe and the spiritual universe. What happens on this earth models the "spiritual vibe" that God is putting into the earth at that time. For example, take freedom. That will be manifested by the fact that the earth itself becomes liberated after a long cold winter, after it was dormant, to begin with productivity and growth. Pesach occurs in spring because that's the time of freedom.

We judge the nature of the physical and spiritual "vibe" by the season in the land of Israel. When it is spring there, Hashem puts freedom into the world, and it spreads from there to places like Australia or South Africa, where it is not spring at that season. In Eretz Yisrael, however, it must be springtime during Pesach, because what happens in nature is a mirror reflection of some deeper spiritual truth.

Shavuous, the time of harvest, is also the time of the matan torah, giving of the Torah, when we can harvest the knowledge that Hashem has made available to us. Sukkos is the time of ingathering; so, too, after Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we are able to internalize that knowledge into our emotions and behavior, ingathering into ourselves.

This is also true in our prayers. If you look at our tefillos, you will notice that the zman (time) of our tefillos are based on various transition points in the day. When the night turns into the morning, when the sun rises, is when you are supposed to say the Shema. Although the Mishna says you can say the Shema as late as three hours into the day, because kings used to get up late, the best way of praying is when you are moved by the grandeur of the universe as it switches from night into morning. Mincha is to be prayed as the sun is setting, and maariv when the stars come out. These transitions are supposed to inspire us. When we pray in the morning, it is as the sun rises and inspires us; as the sun sets we have the fear and trepidation in which we ask God to protect us in time of danger. When we pray in total darkness, we are affirming our faith in God even at times of despair and this gives us the courage to persevere even through the night.

Today, we come into our shul with the lights on. Shacharis is the same, mincha is the same, maariv is the same. But if one is truly connected to the earth, one understands that even the emotional meaning of shacharis is different from that of mincha, and different from that of maariv. That's why chazal teach us to pray three times of day, because each tefillah is supposed to elicit a different view.

The assumption of the Torah is not that you're going to be a lawyer or a doctor or a CPA. The assumption of the Torah would be that you would have your farm, your vineyard and your fig tree, and you would bring bikkurim, first fruits to the Kohen. That is the picture that the Torah paints. Yet how far we are from this!

Tu B'Shevat, the new year of the trees, is a holiday that helps us focus on the natural world. In Israel, it is the recognized time when the sap begins running in the trees, the first early mark of the coming of spring. We can use this physical change as a spiritual time to focus on the earth and the importance of protecting it.

This year on Tu B'Shevat, let's take a few moments to appreciate our connections to the physical world, to appreciate Hashem's marvelous creation, and to protect the natural resources Hashem has granted us.

This article is printed as part of the Tu b'Shevat Learning Campaign, sponsored by Canfei Nesharim, an organization that is educating the Orthodox community about the importance of protecting the environment. For more information, visit www.canfeinesharim.org.

Rabbi Breitowitz is rabbi of the Woodside Synagogue in Silver Spring, MD. He received his Rabbinical Ordination and a Doctorate in Talmudic Law from the Ner Israel Rabbinical College. He is also a Professor of Law at the University of Maryland.

ALUMNAE CORNER
A little space for B'erot alumnae to keep in touch with us and with each other.

From Sarah Rachel Bowser, Denver, Colorado: I thought that I would write a quick note and let you know that everything is going good here. I really want to get back to Israel at least for a visit so I don't lose my connection to the Land, but finances are always a problem. G-d willing, I will be able to do it soon.

Hadassah, Sarah Rachel and Sara Leah at our 3rd Annual Rosh Chodesh Sivan Wheat Festival

UPCOMING EVENTS

Spring Break "Spiritual Awakenings" Seminar
Mar. 19-30 / 19 Adar - 1 Nissan
Spend your Spring Break in Israel! Special two-week program featuring halacha, history, creativity and excursions to Israel's sites! One-week only option available.

Pre-Pesach Seminar: Freedom & Cleansing
Apr. 2-8 / 4-10 Nissan
Experience spiritual renewal as we prepare in mind, body and soul for the coming of Pesach! Torah, Chassidut and Hilchot Pesach, plus Motzei Shabbat concert!

Summer Session: Reconnecting with Jewish Femininity
Jun. 25-Jul. 21 / 29 Sivan-25 Tammuz
Connect with your Jewish essence in mind, body and soul! Tanach, meditation, dance, Chassidut, drama, prayer, art, music, Halachah, agriculture, herbology, Jewish thought & mysticism, hikes in the Land of Israel and more!

ANNOUNCEMENTS
From our students, staff, alumnae and supporters.

From the Siegelbaums: Everyone is invited to view the pictures from our son Meir's engagement party!

From B'erot Staff: All of the staff and students of Midreshet B'erot send a blessing of Refuah Sheleima to our friend Carole Israel (Chaya Tova Bat Chana).

The Siegelbaum and Magzimof Families

From Yitzchok and Julie Rabinowitz: Looking for Frum Au Pair in Baltimore, Maryland. If you are interested in immersing yourself in the Baltimore Torah community, we can provide room, board, and a weekly stipend. In return we are looking for a bat torah to help with our two wonderful young children. We will provide references as to the kashrut and quality of our home. Please provide us with a reference as well. Baltimore has a wonderful, large, and friendly torah community. Feel free to contact us with any questions or for more details about ourselves. Contact us at Julievet@yahoo.com or 410-358-6066

SUPPORTING B'EROT
Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin appreciates your continued support. Please contact us to learn about sponsorship opportunities to honor the memory of loved ones or to celebrate a family simcha.

Donations of $100 or more are tax-deductible in the United States and Canada

Please note! The address for American Friends of Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin (MBBA) has
changed! Please send you tax-deductible donations to:
American Friends of MBBA
c/o Leah Gelber
622 Sweetgum Lane
Charlotte, NC 28211
Please make checks payable to: American Friends of MBBA
Tax id: EIN 20-1923745

For a tax deductible donation in Canada, please make checks payable to: Tzaddik Foundation, and mail your contribution to:
Tzaddik Foundation
c/o Miriam Kreisman
6592 C. Kildare
Montreal Quebec H4W 2Z4
Canada

For those who don't need a tax-deductible receipt, please make checks payable to Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin, and mail your contribution to:
Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin
Yishuv Bat Ayin
Gush Etzion 90913
Israel

Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin
Village of Bat Ayin
Gush Etzion, 90913
ISRAEL

Phone: (02) 993-4945
Fax: (02) 993-1215
Email: berot2@yahoo.com

Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin is an innovative women's seminary designed as a micro-community of women who engage in intense Torah learning as part of an integrated, participatory approach to Torah living.