Aiding Agunot

Maaynot alum Layla Blenden sends along this important message:

Stern College has an Aguna Advocacy club that was started because of Tamar Epstein, a Stern graduate, who has been trying to get a get from her husband for a while.
Tamar's husband, Aharon Friedman, has the support of his mother, and there have been many attempts to convince her to insist that Aharon give Tamar a get, but so far, to no avail. There have been numerous rallies outside of Yaffa Friedman's house in attempts to break her down (I attended one a few weeks ago).
There was an article published recently, called "An Agunah Day Message To A Jewish Grandmother," which describes a the effects of the traumas of an aguna on her child(ren), which also affects the child's relationship with her grandmother (the mother of the me'agen). This article describes the exact situation of Tamar Epstein.
In further attempt to convince Yaffa not to support her son in making Tamar an aguna, it ORA (organization for the resolution of agunot) is trying to get as many people as possible to send this article to Yaffa, in hopes that the influx of letters coming in her mail will convince her. (See links below)
Tizku l'mitzvot!
-Layla Blenden
You can join the event on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/events/157079137781530/
Event description:
Want to make your fast more meaningful? Ta’anit Esther is International Agunah Day. YOU can help free Tamar Epstein, whose ex-husband Aharon Friedman refuses to give her a get. How? By letting Yafa Friedman, Aharon’s mother, know that her full support of his abusive get refusal is NOT OK.
What you can do:
1) PRINT Dr. Levmore's article* http://tinyurl.com/YafaFriedmanArticle
2) WRITE a respectful letter of your own (optional)
3) SEND it to Yafa Friedman, 1812 E. 12th Street, Brooklyn NY 11229
*The Jewish Press recently published a moving article by Dr. Rachel Levmore entitled "An Agunah Day Message to a Jewish Grandmother." The article artfully addresses an anonymous mother of a recalcitrant husband, beseeching her to realize her responsibility to put her foot down and insist her son give his ex-wife a get lest she lose a true, loving relationship with her granddaughter down the road. But let's be real: this article is not speaking to some anonymous grandmother; it is clearly addressing Yafa Friedman. JOIN US in sending a loud and clear message to Yafa that her continued support of Aharon Friedman is unacceptable and that she holds a unique power to end this tragic saga.
YOU can help make a difference!

Torahton Schedule

An all-star lineup, hot off the presses! RSVP here.  See you there.

TORAHTON 2013

At Congregation Bnai Yeshurun - 641 West Englewood Avenue

Friday Night:

6:55-7:55: Mincha, Kabbalat Shabbat                            

8:00-9:15: Dinner, Zemirot, Divrei Torah  

9:15-10:00: Shiur by Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Weinberg

          Hachodesh Hazeh Lachem: The “Chiddush” of the Jewish People

10:00–11:30: Tish, Singing, Divrei Torah

Shabbat Afternoon:

3:30-4:25: Shiur by Rabbi Ari Zahtz

          Chrain or Romaine: Exploring the Bitter Possibilities

4:25-4:35: Snack / Break

4:35-5:25: Shiur by Mrs. Shira Schiowitz

Ancient Romance Novels? Is Shir Hashirim a Love Story?

5:30: Mincha

6:00-: Shiur by Yaffa Stone & Sara Kinstlinger

          Hilchot Superheroes: Real Halacha for Fictional Characters

6:40: Seudat Shlishit , Zemirot, Divrei Torah  

7:45: Maariv, Havdala

Torahton Memories

Here.  Let's make some new ones this weekend.

Torahton 2013 & Massive Mishmar!!!

Ma'ayanot's fourth annual Torahton will take place on Shabbat, March 15th – 16th, Shabbat Parshat Vayikra, in Teaneck, NJ. The students are invited to join us for this special opportunity to spend a Shabbat together that is filled with learning, friendship and fun. 

The Shabbaton begins on Friday night at Bnei Yeshurun with Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv. The program continues with dinner, which will be followed by a shiur and an oneg. The Shabbaton will reconvene at Bnei Yeshurun on Shabbat afternoon with more shiurim and programming through seudah shlishit and havdalah.  All students are encouraged to attend the entire program, or any part that they wish. A detailed schedule will be available tomorrow.

In past years, one of the best parts of the program was the number of non-Teaneck residents who arranged to spend Shabbat at friends and participated in all of the programming.  If there is anyone who needs help finding a host, please let Rabbi Besser know. 

There is no charge for either of the meals or the rest of the program.  If you have any questions, please contact Rabbi Besser at (201) 833-4307 ext. 216 or besserd@maayanot.org.

If you plan to attend, please fill out the Google Doc here

 

We are especially excited this year to kick off the Torahton weekend with an exciting and interactive mishmar program on Thursday March, 14th right after school. A representative from the Kof-K will be coming in to address our students about contemporary kashrut issues. The program begins at 5:20 and will conclude by 6:15. Parents & alumni are welcome to attend! Light refreshments will be served.

Some of the topics include:

 

- Going into Starbucks or other non-exclusively kosher restaurants

- Can you buy ice cream or frozen yogurt from a chain store that has a hechsher but no mashgiach?

- Can you ever rely on the ingredients on a label to determine if something is kosher?

- Non-kosher gum and toothpastes

- Issues related to stadiums and street vendors (pretzels, chestnuts, etc.)

                                 And many more topics...

Poetry You Won't find in English Class

In that same issue of Jewish Action was an article about a Chassidic poet, Yehoshua November, whose work has received the highest acclaim in the broader poetry community.  Here's a sample:

The Purpose of this World

When some Jews cannot explain the sorrow of their lives
they take a vow of atheism.
Then everywhere they go,
they curse the God they don’t believe exists.
But why, why don’t they grab Him by the lapels,
pull His formless body down into this lowly world,
and make Him explain.
After all, this is the purpose of creation–
to make this coarse realm a dwelling place
for His presence.

From God’s Optimism

Ma'ayanoter Does Good

From the current issue of Jewish Action (the OU's magazine), some good reading:

Hannah AshSixteen-year-old NCSYer from Teaneck, New Jersey and student at Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for GirlsThe hurricane was something so powerful, so awe-inspiring and so tragic, I knew I had to do something to help.I cleaned out someone’s basement in Seagate. I was pawing through someone’s stuff that was now trash, covered in disgusting grime and muck. Everything was off the shelves, piled on the floor, covered in sewerage and water. A man told me he had to throw out his grandfather’s Shas from Europe. It’s so unfortunate; so many memories, pictures, videos—ruined. I tried to treat all of the destroyed possessions with care.
All these people were standing outside talking about their homes and stores; people were trying to accept the damage and move on. [They’d say], “All this pain had to be for a reason; it came from Hashem. We need to clean up and move on.” They were trying to sound brave, but you could sense that if someone said the wrong thing, they would break down.
There’s something about the connection between one Jew and another. People in the community said, “I can’t believe so many came to help me. Go to this person, he needs help, she needs help.” It was really one house after the other. I felt exhausted, but also very fulfilled.

I really can relate to the emotion.  When I accompanied the 12th grade to help Nechama (a national disaster relief organization) clean up a Shul in Manhattan Beach I found myself separating water-saturated siddurim and chumashim from the non-sheimot debris.  I had to take a stack of the Rabbi's sermons, some nearly forty years old, and put them in a garbage bag; a life's work washed away in days.  Still, mixed in with the heart break of the work was a sense of purpose that I probably would not have gotten at the mall.  Great job Hannah - keep making us proud.