Israel’s ‘Hilltops’ and the World

The Rosh Hashana Torah reading teaches us a lesson on the relationship between Israel and the world contrary to the predominant worldview today, wherein strengthening and expanding Jewish communities in Israel is viewed as an impediment to world peace. In the media Jewish settlements are called ‘Israeli colonization,’ or ‘illegal land grab,’ while their residents are called ‘militant settlers’ and ‘obstacles to peace in the Middle East.’ From biblical times we have been regarded in opposition to the rest of the world. Avraham is called ‘Hebrew’ (Ivri), which means ‘the other side” as, “The entire world was on the one side, and he was on the other” (Bereishit Rabbah 42:2).

When Sarah our mother was blessed with a son the entire world was blessed with her. At her miraculous birth, she joyfully exclaimed: “G-d has made laughter for me so that all that hear will be happy for me” (Bereishit 21:6). Yet, by translating our verse: “G-d has made me a person to be laughed at, all that hear it will laugh at me” the Silberman Chumash emphasizes the alienation between the Jewish people and the rest of the world. This mocking hostile laughter of the world experienced by Sarah as disbelief in the miraculous birth of her son Yitzchak is reflected throughout Jewish history as disbelief in his descendants’ ability to conquer, settle, and build up the Land of Israel. When describing Sarah’s emotional state of complete happiness and bliss: “…all that hear will laugh with me” the Jerusalem Bible portrays the world as being happy not only for Sarah but together with her. This happiness reflects the deeper aspect of the relationship between the world and Yitzchak’s descendants, where Israel’s happiness is spilling over to make other people happy as well. “Many barren women were remembered together with her, many sick were healed in that day, many prayers were answered with her and there was a great rejoicing in the world” (Rashi based on Bereishit Rabbah 53). Thus, the prosperity of the entire world is dependent on the welfare of Israel.

The healing and joy emanating into the world, at the birth of Yitzchak, carrier of the Jewish seed, alludes to the universal nature of the Jewish people. “The relationship between Israel and the nations is compared to the relationship of the heart to the rest of the body” (Yehuda Halevi, The Kuzari 2:36). Just as the health of the heart affects the wellbeing of the entire body, so does the welfare of Israel affect the entire world. Therefore, when Sarah became the Matriarch of the Jewish people, the whole world partook in her blessings. Yitzchak’s birth marked the beginning of the Jewish people and set the model for our future relationship with the nations.

There will come a time when the nations will be happy with us and celebrate our successes and victories. They will understand that the flourishing communities of Israel continuously pump fresh blood into the rest of the nations, bringing prosperity and healing to the entire world. Then “It shall be at the end of the days, that the mountain of Hashem’s house shall be firmly established at the top of the mountains, and it shall be raised above the hills; and peoples shall stream to it. Many nations shall go and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of Hashem, and to the house of the G-d of Ya’acov; and Let Him teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths,” for out of Tzion shall the Torah come forth, and the word of Hashem from Jerusalem (Michah 4:1-2). At that time there will no longer be two views of the land.

Mazal Tov to Netanel Shalom & Amalya Chenya (Molly) Siegelbaum
in Honor of Their Wedding Gimmel Elul 5783 – August 20, 2023

I’m praying to continue to be so filled with gratitude to Hashem for His overflowing goodness to us, and that I will always feel His Divine providence personally in my life. The Divine indwelling Presence is always felt strongly at weddings when two incomplete souls unite to become whole. All the more so did I experience Hashem’s individual providence when bringing our own son, for whom I had prayed for so many years, his predestined soulmate. From his birth, Netanel Shalom was a miracle baby and so was his intended Amalya Chenya (Molly). I thank Hashem for being the Shaliach (messenger) who found her profile on the religious dating site (Yes Hashem has many ways of bringing soulmates together!) Our families are so similar, like my husband, our new daughter-in-law’s parents made Aliyah from New Jersey. They have a similar Torah health-conscious outlook.  

The enthralling wedding was out of this world. Every moment of it was pregnant with divinity. You can get a glimpse through the photo album I made from the snapshots and short videos people took. 

We have a segulah (spiritual remedy) that whoever eats a fisheye at our Rosh Hashana table gets married that year. Last Rosh Hashana I ate fisheye with a prayer for our Netanel Shalom. This tradition seems to never fail. I invite you to try it!

In place of wedding gifts please donate generously to our bomb shelter fund.  It is of utmost importance to keep our students safe. We hope we will never need to use it as a bomb shelter, but rather as an art and crafts workshop space.  

I bless you to experience Hashem’s Individual Providence, the way I have experienced it!  

May you see revealed miracles in your life!  

For many years, I felt a thirst to understand my purpose in this world and the reasons behind events that seemed to be happening beyond our comprehension. Hashem, the Ruler of the World, decided that it was time to reveal to me the Jewish spark of my soul on a solo trip to Israel four years ago when I made my way to the Kotel, coincidentally on a Friday Night. Looking back, that was certainly by Divine providence! There I found the final missing puzzle piece. Suddenly everything made sense. The reasons for my desire to become Jewish were far beyond any logical explanations, I simply felt that this is who I am. I had no choice but to connect myself to what I know I am at the core of my existence. After my love and connection to Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael had been ignited on that trip, I knew deep down in my heart that Israel is my home. Therefore I couldn’t imagine any other place to embark on my journey to Judaism. And I have found exactly what I thought would only exist in my dreams – a holistic midrasha in the breathtaking nature of the Judean Hills and part of a colorful, spiritual community strongly rooted in Torah! The Corona period has brought blessings and challenges. Closed borders meant that I couldn’t enter Israel to pursue my conversion here, but B’erot started to offer their classes online, which was an enormous blessing. Alongside learning basic Jewish concepts through my conversion program in Zurich, I spent endless hours learning with B’erot Bat Ayin which quickly became my primary learning source. At first, I didn’t understand a word but slowly, slowly I realized that I have been blessed to jump right into the deepest Torah taught by wonderful and knowledgeable teachers. B’erot opened the door to the miraculous and everexpanding world of Chassidut for me. Chassidic teachings have since brought so much direction, depth, joy and purpose to my Torah learning, my avodat Hashem and my personal growth. Throughout the process, not a single day passed where my soul wasn’t yearning to get back to Israel in order to immerse myself in additional learning and a true Torah lifestyle as part of a like-minded community. I was at a point where I rationally understood that Hashem is always fully in charge of what happens in my life. But I was yearning to really feel it deeply in my soul, I wanted to fully surrender to Hashem’s guidance and let Him lead my path. One month after I emerged from the transforming waters of the mikvah, I got on a plane to Israel with a one-way ticket in my hand. My heart was overflowing with gratitude to HaKadosh Baruch Hu in boundless excitement and happiness! Arriving at B’erot, being welcomed into the community, and finally meeting Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum, from whom I received tremendous meaningful guidance, was the most healing experience. I knew I have come home. The following months at the midrasha have had a vast and wholesome impact on the development of my Jewish identity. It happened when we were dancing with our holy Torah on Simchat Torah outside on the hilltop of Bat Ayin, that I saw my soulmate from afar. A few months later, on the holy day of Lag B’Omer, our souls reunited surrounded by the warm, loving and most supportive community of Bat Ayin. It truly felt like an explosion of light under the wings of the Shechinah. Until today, B’erot is a part of my life. While I was still a student, I started teaching the Meditative Movement class, and so I am today. It is the most comforting feeling to know that the doors of my first home in Israel will always be open for me, right there around the corner from where I live now.