Newsletter #3 Fall/Winter 1998 -1999 Recent Highlights:     We are happy to announce that the general meeting at Yishuv Bat Ayin, the tenth of Elul (August 30th 1998) decided to give official recognition to B'erot Bat Ayin. We have been requested to present an architectural plan and sources of funding in order to begin building at our permanent site. Thank you to all of those who prayed on our behalf.     B'erot Bat Ayin has survived its first year. The seeds have been planted and we are growing. Every month of the year, the sweet sound of women learning has come forth from the B'erot Bat Ayin Beit Midrash and l.ibrary. Thanks to the generous donation of Avraham Dov Glasser, the library which has been dedicated in memory of Emanuel ben Moshe Sussman now comprises more than 300 new books, including the 48 volume commentary of Meam Loez on the Tanach, various English Bible and Halachic resource books and several copies of most of Rav Aryeh Kaplan's writings.     The campus at B'erot Bat Ayin is starting to take shape with its lush green grass on which we often sit and learn, sing or dance. We have planted more than 30 trees and our trailers are now connected with a gravel pathway and surrounded by flowers, herbs and vegetables which provide ample supplements to our communal lunches. Great appreciation goes to Dr. David ben Miriam whose donation enabled this improvement of our surroundings.     Israel's Ministry of Religion now recognizes B'erot Bat Ayin and grants a monthly stipend, which enable us to provide nominal salaries for all our teachers. In the coming year we plan to apply for funding from other government offices and private organizations so as to be able to increase the salaries of our staff as well as provide scholarships for selected students.    The Rosh Chodesh Elul lecture by Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller, on 25 August, marked the beginning of B'eroBat Ayin's second season as well as the first of our monthly lecture series, which is open to the women of Gush Etzion. As only she can, Mrs. Heller, with jokes and stories, was thoroughly practical yet, makemistake, entirely serious, in helping the audience understand the steps towards Tshuvah: "Can we get someplace better than where we've been?" Our Students Speak:    B'erot Bat Ayin's archives are overflowing with the writings from our enthusiastic students. Below are some selected pieces: On the Sacred Land by Ory Harel    I want to share with you a picture. I have experienced so much since I've come to the magic mountains of Yehudah - here in the warm community of women, breathing the feminine beautiful energy of the sisters together with the morning prayer, the yoga and the magic sound of the violin or guitar or whatever.    I remember sitting on a stone one very hot summer day, before anything was here, before women, voices, songs and prayers. I was sitting watching the magnificent view of the Holy Land. Just a couple of months after coming back to Israel- back home, actually to learning. What exactly is it about the Holy Land - for the first time...amazed by the silence, by the big bird that hovered quietly in the sky, and giving my own prayer - in my own words - to be able to study Torah with lovely sisters at this place where Hashem puts my feet upon at this moment. So I came to B'erot Bat Ayin, swimming with the stream that pushed me, struggling with the difficulties of being a Jew and learning how to be, again, a proud woman.     Wondering what holiness is all about on Yom Kippur evening when the skies were incredibly colorful. Three of us went to sit by the spring, watching the sky, digging- each one back to his depths- and slowly slowly made our own ceremony. First there were words, then tears. Eventually all the cards were open in front of Hashem, in front of the others, and Yom Kippur's magic picked our secrets, our painful hearts. We all came from that reality and now we are looking for a better one. Being a secular woman who discovers the world of the Torah, doing Tshuvah and understanding that when you reveal the holiness of spirituality you don't have other choices than committing to it all your life. There are a few steps before "getting married and settling down," before becoming a mother. There is the step of raising your inner child. How long were you going to ignore her sighs?     B'erot Bat Ayin was there for me, at the right moment in order to put it all together: the protection of the feminine family like a womb, the sacred words of Hashem and the holy ancestors who prepared the tools to understanding the holy. I wish that other sensitive souls that have lost themselves coming home from abroad, and wonderful holy sisters that have roots in Israel will all fulfill the blessing of the sacred Land of Israel. The world needs you/us/one, faithful, trusting and going back in tshuva to our depths. No matter in what language, just listening thirstily to the inner voice-Kol Ha Elokim. Succot Ingathering By Alona Jasik    I remember waiting for bus 161 at 8:30 on a Sunday morning outside the Central Bus Station. As, the dusty bus comes in, I am wondering where are my friends, who said they were coming.     At each stop in town, girls get on for Bat Ayin. I also made new friends, as the bus headed towards the Judean Hills. We got off and walked to a succah, where we put down our packs, sang a song, and shook the lulav and etrog. Walking past the caravans, towards the midrasha, I noticed a Pomegranate tree ripe with fruit. We walked up the road and gathered in the succah, girls, and women, playing music-violin and drumming, singing, and learning about the attributes of the lulav and etrog. At the end of the day, or perhaps when I had just arrived, a friend, asked me, "Don't you want to live here!?" I told her that I would consider coming for the Spring. I arrived at Bat Ayin during Tu'Bshvat. I have survived rain, fog, wind, snow. Unfavorable conditions for a California girl. I can say that the sun will be much appreciated when it returns. With all of the challenges, there has been much sweetness as the trees blossomed and the hills came alive with a rainbow of flowers and mysterious herbs.     What makes B'erot Bat Ayin so special is that there are so many opportunities to connect and integrate Torah into my life. Through song, movement, preparing carrots for a meal, sharing emotions, a feast with candlelight. I am grateful for living simply, because the details become exquisite.     The stars shine bright at night; the grass blows in the wind. There are opportunities to sit on a rock amongst the singing wildflowers. I hear the song of myself connecting to the song of the community, the Nation and the Universe. A shared song of healing to create connection. I stand alone in the fog at night, waiting for a ride to Jerusalem. I stand before Hashem, vulnerable to the elements, exposed, not knowing when two lights will appear in the darkness. I stand alone in the darkness, so far away from the flowers, blossoms on the trees, reminders of life, creation, that connects me. We are so fragile, like flower petals, and our will is so strong. I am so connected to this Land-the rocks, olive trees. In my aloneness, I face the truth. Fruit, Nuts and Light By Toby Morrison     The weeklong women's Tu'Bshvat seminar at B'erot Bat Ayin was in a word, fruitful. It began with the ingathering of women; teachers and students- Israeli, European and American. The weather that week was intense, from lightning and thunderstorms at night to clear warm sunny days. The personalities we focused on were Adam, Chava, HaShem and ourselves. The setting was the Garden of Eden and the nature surrounding Bat Ayin. We had a large seder with all the appropriate fruits, nuts, grains and wine from Israel and other fertile lands. We said a blessing over each species and a few words about their uses in the Torah, medicinal properties and spiritual benefits of each edible creation. Then we ate them.     One sunny day we went on a hike and gathered edible herbs. Our knowledgeable guide, Michal Ben Ron, took us past a cave used by shepherds, the ruins of an ancient Jewish community and anold wine press, the kind where they would squish the grapes with their feet. And finally to a spring where we made a salad with pita and sage tea with our collected herbs. We feasted in the sun and gave our praises.     On another day we had a class on the different types of fruit and nuts: soft fruits with a hard pit and fruits that need to be peeled to get inside, nuts with a hard shell, and fruits that can be eaten whole. We meditated on which type of fruit we, as individuals, were at that moment. I decided I was a banana, I won't go into details. We had a movement class with Tova and a movement class with Chana Sarah Zeller where the themes revolved around being a seed and growing into a tree. One day we spent planting trees in the midrasha: fig, apple, pomegranate and olive. As I write this now, in the month of Sivan, the trees have grown a lot. One way to see the human body is as an upside down tree with roots extending from our head, bringing nutrients from HaShem down to the earth as we perform mitzvot with our hands, the fruit.    Why did Chava and Adam eat from THAT TREE when they where told not to? Because they did not use their intuition, or they were curious, or they wanted to fill a void, or they took the serpents' advice that it would, "make them more like G-d." Or, and I like this the best, Chava wanted to heal the evil world of the serpent and sacrificed her pure soul and our souls also, to help HaShem bring light to all the worlds. Here, humanity is today, because of this first decision to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. We can separate and distinguish between what is good and what is bad. We are given free will to choose to create evil and push the already scattered light further away, or, and I highly recommend this path, we can create good through acts of loving kindness, performing mitzvot, and prayer, and gather in the light of HaShem. I believe this is our challenge andpurpose in this life on earth. "Betayavon", Love, Peace and Light. B'erot Bat Ayin Purim Celebration By Helane Mullhall     We celebrated Purim together. We are such an amiable and bonded group, that it's no wondtwe all had one of the best Purims imaginable. Ory stole the show as she imitated Chana Bracha. Not only was she funny in her imitations, she also had a very well-researched or invented (who cares) version of gematria. Inspired by the midrash, that teaches how Vashti grew a tail, she gave instructions for starting a society for Feminists with tails. Ory was constantly heckled by not so sober classmates, as we all imitated ourselves as we really were in class. Leslie put each persons' particular characteristic in a song, beautiful and clever. We also acted out our personal Megilla. Each person that was telling their story stood on a chair and told her life-story soap-opera style -mainly about how we got to Israel and specifically to B'erot Bat Ayin, while the rest of us circled around her and dramatized the events of her story. Did I mention how delicious our feast was? We are all incredible cooks and also quite health conscious. What a day, what a group!