One of the most satisfying feelings in life is to know that you have accomplished a dream. For me that dream was to attend Neve Yerushalayim. I have heard of this seminary every day since high school, but never thought it would be possible for me to end up there one day. But as we know, life takes us all in different directions and sometimes the most unexpected ones. Neve was that direction for me. In one month of Summer 2003, my life has taken a 360-degree turn and I ended up leaving my family, friends, and graduate school behind, on my way to Eretz Yisroel.
There will not be enough space in this article to describe all the wonderful, memorable and uplifting experiences I have had in Neve. But I will share with you some of what Neve has given me in the most general way possible. Neve has fist and foremost given me a clear understanding of what Torah and mitzvoth are all about. There is no other place where it is more inspiring to learn about your heritage than in the land of Israel. One can have the same thing taught in America (or somewhere else in the world) but it will not have the same effect. This is something one has to feel with her heart.
Another lesson that I have learned there was that we, the Jewish people, can be dispersed all over the world, yet have so many things in common and hold up the “flag” of Hashem everywhere we are. In Neve one can find people from literally all over the globe, including: South Africa, Australia, Spain, Brazil, Portugal, England and France. We might all have a different language, country, experiences, lifestyles, ambitions, however, there was one thing that we all had in common and that was our desire to come close to our Creator and learn Torah. To me this was the most incredible phenomenon. But that is exactly what I loved the most about Neve, its diversity and open-mindness. The superb Rabbis and teachers of outstanding scholarship, who taught these timeless lessons, were always so kind to lend their advice and answer any questions one may have about absolutely anything. If you walk in those doors with questions I can almost guarantee you that to all of them you will get satisfying and sophisticated answers.
The most inspiring and the most important lesson, I believe, one can learn from being in Neve and experiencing the atmosphere, is how to be a true human being. The people that study in Neve are of an incredible madrega (level). They might all have come from different backgrounds but when one sees who they have become and how far they have come one understands what true life is all about.
In conclusion, I would like to pass on to you a story that has taught me something incredible in life:
Once a math teacher was giving a test to his students and gave out the test to all students in the class on paper, however, one of the questions he put on the board. The test was assigned until the end of the period. One of the students came late to the class, however, finished earlier than all other students. He was about to give in the test, and then he sees that there is another problem on the board. He began to solve the problem on the board, he solved and solved but the period finished and he had to give in the test. He came up to the teacher and said, “Can I please take the problem on the board home and I will bring it in tomorrow?” The teacher gladly agreed. So he went back home and sat for hours and hours solving the problem. Finally, after a long, long time he solved it and brought it to the teacher with an answer and his reasoning the next day. The teacher looked through the pages of his work and with the most amused expression said: “How did you do it, in the beginning of class I said that I will put a problem on the board, which was impossible to solve and even Einstein could not come up with a solution. I gave it to you just to think about. How is it that you were able to solve it?!” The student looked at the teacher with amazement and said, “Well, I came late and did not know it was impossible.”
Just like this story I want to wish you all lots of hazlaha (success) and may you all accomplish your dreams no matter what they are, because with Hashem’s help nothing is impossible. |
