MK Nissan Slomiansky Visits Orot Israel College

By Rabbanit Nomi Shachor – Tanach Department, Orot Israel College

On 25 Iyar 5773 (May 5, 2013), Nissan Slomiansky, a Member of Knesset for the Bayit HaYehudi party and chairman of the Knesset Finance Committee, visited Orot Israel College’s Elkana campus. Invited by Tanach Studies Department Head Rabbanit Nomi Shachor, who teaches a course on historical and spiritual outlooks on the State of Israel, MK Slomiansky delivered a fascinating lecture entitled, “Gush Emunim and the Settlement Movement in Yehudah and Shomron.” Rav Professor Neria Guttel, President of Orot Israel College, introduced MK Slomiansky and thanked him for his considerable support for Orot throughout the years.

MK Slomiansky opened with a description of his studies at Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavne and Bar Ilan University. During this period, he developed a close friendship with Rav Hanan Porat z”l, who introduced him to the founders of the Gush Emunim movement. Eventually, he chose to forego the rest of his academic studies in order to focus on public service – a decision that proved to be “a watershed moment” for him. As Gush Emunim’s first secretary-general, he worked to bring the movement’s dreams to life – particularly in the wake of the Yom Kippur War when Gush Emunim was transformed from a political protest movement into an activist movement working to realize Jewish settlement rights throughout the Land of Israel.

During the course of his gripping talk, MK Slomiansky touched upon various issues connected to Gush Emunim – such as the movement’s special relationship with Rav Tzvi Yehudah HaKohein Kook zt”l; how non-observant Israelis joined the movement; and the creation of a new settlement model: the communal settlement. He also discussed the movement’s spiritual impact and Am Yisrael’s bond with Eretz Yisrael in accordance with Torat Yisrael. Although much has been achieved, he feels that there is still much to be done, as evidenced by the disengagement from Gush Katif several years ago. He believes that the settlement movement requires political activism, both within and outside the government, and he credits the movement’s success to the spiritual strength, dedication, and sacrifices of the many families who heeded the movement’s clarion call and built wonderful communities throughout Yehudah and Shomron.

In conclusion, MK Slomiansky called upon the Orot students to join the settlement enterprise – whether in Yehudah, Shomron, the Galil, the Negev, or any other part of Eretz Yisrael.

Deputy Education Minister Visits Orot Israel College’s Rechovot Campus

On 17 Sivan 5773 (May 26, 2013), MK Avi Wortzman, Israel’s deputy education minister, visited Orot Israel College’s Rechovot campus. He and his staff had a chance to learn about Orot and meet with assorted faculty members.

Rav Professor Neria Guttel, President of Orot Israel College, and Rav Chaim Fogel, a member of Orot’s board of trustees, spoke to the deputy minister about Orot’s considerable achievements and accomplishments and noted that Orot is the country’s largest and most comprehensive religious educational college. They also pointed a number of creative solutions Orot has found to various national priorities – including increasing the number of preschool teachers, training civics teachers, preparing teachers for the Education Ministry’s new “Ofek Chadash” program, and much more. In addition, they discussed the different advanced degrees currently offered by Orot as well as those still pending final approval by the Council for Higher Education.

Mr. Ofir Abicsis described the social, welfare, and educational contributions of the garin Torani (core group) in Rechovot’s Oshiyot neighborhood, and Rav Ami Danino, Rosh Yeshivat Orot Yaakov, focused on the yeshiva’s unique ability to transform boys from lower socioeconomic neighborhoods into outstanding hesdernikim.

At the conclusion of his visit, the deputy minister expressed his deep appreciation and admiration for Orot Israel College and promised to continue his support for what he called "an illustrious institution".

5773 Convocation Ceremony at Orot Israel College’s Rechovot Campus

Some 270 Orot Israel College graduates were awarded B.Ed. degrees at a gala convocation ceremony at our Rechovot campus. The ceremony was held at the campus amphitheater, which was packed with the graduates, their families, and Orot faculty and staff members.

Following a festive reception for the graduates, Rav Professor Neria Guttel, President of Orot Israel College; Rav Chaim Saban, Orot’s vice president; and Rav Chaim Fogel, chairman of the board of trustees greeted the graduates and shared some divrei Torah. Next, Mr. Dedi Elchai spoke in the name of the graduates.

The keynote speaker was MK Rav Shai Piron, Israel’s Education Minister, who discussed the roles of teachers and educators. Mr. Rachamim Malul, Rechovot’s mayor, praised Orot and noted its significance to the city of Rechovot.

The degrees were awarded in the presence of Rav Noach Greenfeld, director of the Education Ministry’s Teacher’s Training Division and former head of Moreshet Yaakov College, and Mr. David Buskilah of the Teacher’s Training Division.

Singer Eldar Yechiel, an Orot alumnus, entertained the audience with his beautiful music, and Mr. Natan Fried, dean of students at the Rechovot campus, served as master of ceremonies.

Forcing Our Children to Accept the Torah?

As parents, we ofter struggle whether and when to coerce our children to behave appropriately. And, when we address this issue in the context of religiosity, the question becomes all the more pressing. Sure, we can force our children to live as religious Jews during their formative years. But is that really what we want? Don't we want them to want to follow the mitzvot on their own?

On Shavuot we specifically celebrate Ma'amad Har Sinai, and the beautiful, awesome power that the Torah describes as the Jewish people received the Torah. Chazal describe the Revelation as a kind of wedding between God and the Jewish people, establishing an eternal bond between us that can never be severed.
Yet, a famous Gemara (Shabbat 88a) relates that, at least according to one opinion, getting us to the Chuppah required some serious arm-twisting.

 ויתיצבו בתחתית ההר: א"ר אבדימי בר חמא בר חסא מלמד שכפה הקב"ה עליהם את ההר כגיגית ואמר להם אם אתם מקבלים התורה מוטב ואם לאו שם תהא קבורתכם

"And they sat at the bottom of the mountain" (Shemot 19) Said Rav Avdimi bar Chama bar Chasa: This teaches us that the Holy One held the mountain over them like a barrel and said to them, 'If you accept the Torah, good! And if not, there will be your grave.'

According to the Gemara, despite the wonderful declaration of נעשה ונשמע, the Jewish people weren't altogether ready to fully accept the requirements of the Torah. So God made them an offer they couldn’t refuse. Literally. "Take My Torah," He told us, "Or that will be the last decision you ever make."
According to Rashi's interpretation of the Gemara, this troubling statement leads the Gemara to raise a critical question.

א"ר אחא בר יעקב מכאן מודעא רבה לאורייתא

Said Rav Ada bar Yaakov: from this verse we see a great criticism against the Torah.

What is the criticism against the Torah? Rashi explains that should God bring a claim against the Jewish for failing to follow the Torah [and ask them], "Why did you not fulfill the Torah that you accepted upon yourselves?" they could reply that they only accepted the Torah out of coercion. It's a powerful question. How can we be held responsible for not keeping a Torah that we never willingly accepted? And, because God coerced us with the threat of death to accept the Torah, why should we endure terrible punishment for failure to keep an agreement that we never really wanted?
The Gemara never offers a satisfying answer to this question. Yet, Rava seems to respond to the question by implying that in the end we did accept the Torah willingly.

אמר רבא אעפ"כ הדור קבלוה בימי אחשורוש דכתיב (אסתר ט) קימו וקבלו היהודים קיימו מה שקיבלו כבר

Said Rava: Nonetheless, they still [willingly] accepted [the Torah] in the times of Achashverosh, as it is written, "They fulfilled and accepted" – [meaning that] they fulfilled that which they had already accepted.

Yet, this enigmatic, troubling section raises more questions than it answers. If we never really willingly accepted the Torah until the era of the Purim story, why were the Jewish people punished and expelled from the Land of Israel during the First Temple Period? After all, they had not yet willingly accepted upon themselves the covenant with God. How then could God fairly hold them accountable for failing to adhere to an agreement they never really wanted?

Rav A.Y. HaKohen Kook zt"l, in his Ein Ayah commentary, offers a different interpretation of this passage in the Gemara, based upon his understanding of the crucial nature of coercion in Torah education. He writes,

Free will is a specific form of content through which a person improves his ethical stamina. For this reason, he has specific control over its parameters and scope. But free will itself is part of the essential character of a human being – about which it is not relevant to describe as a freedom. We are not free to want or not to want. Free will is the essence of life itself, and life is given to us without our choice. We control the bending of our will to one of two directions, to the right or left. There we find the hand of choice.
If the Torah was simply the expression of the ethical content of humanity, it would have been worthwhile to have been given with complete free choice. But in truth, the Torah is the expression of the unique individuality of man, as he is. Violation of the Torah is an estrangement of a person – an estrangement from himself…for this reason, it was appropriate that the Torah should be revealed in this matter an essential, fundamental revelation…

Rav Kook's language can sometimes be confusing, so I'll explain.
God gives us freedom to make choices in order to allow us to improve upon ourselves. Yet, some aspects of our existence were never given to free will. God never asked us whether we want to breathe or not. We do – without choosing to, without free will. God never asked us whether we want free choice. It's essential to being a human being. Once we have free choice, then we must use that freedom to choose wisely and appropriately.
The same rule applies to the acceptance of the Torah.
According to Rav Kook's philosophy, the Torah isn't a force or power external to us that we must internalize, study and accept. Rather, the Torah represents the essential, inner spiritual nature of the Jewish people. We are the Torah, and it is us. For this reason, it wouldn't make any sense for us to have the freedom to choose whether to accept the Torah or not, because that would be akin to choosing whether or not we wished to exist or not.
That, explains Rav Kook, is exactly what the Gemara teaches us.
According to his understanding, Rav Acha bar Yaakov isn't asking a question, but making a critical assertion:

א"ר אחא בר יעקב מכאן מודעא רבה לאורייתא!

Said Rav Acha bar Yaakov, from here we see a great proof to the Torah!

At Sinai, when God figuratively held the mountain over our heads and forced us to accept the Torah, He was telling us that the Torah was essential to our very being. Without the Torah we would cease to exist! The greatest proof of this fact is that God didn't ask us whether we want it. Rather, He forced us to accept it without free will, because you cannot accept something that's already essential to your very existence.

To me, Rav Kook's powerful passage carries another important message as well. Coercion isn't wrong or inappropriate. Rather, it's an essential element of the transmission of Torah.
Look at it this way: Do we ask our children whether they want to go to school, or recite Shema at night or go to shul? We don't, nor should we. We coerce our children in order to internalize certain critical behaviors in their lives. We want the Torah to be an essential part of them.
Hopefully, at some point in their lives, these behaviors will become so essential to their identities that they'll continue to adhere to them after we no longer force to do so. But it starts with coercion –as well it should.
Should I force my children to follow the truth of God's Torah, and make it an essential part of them? To this question, my answer is an unequivocal "Yes."
After all, that's how we got the Torah in the first place.

Orot Israel College Students Visit Zomet Institute

By Rav Avraham Weiss  
Head of Toshb”a Department, Elkana campus

Not long ago, students from Orot Israel College’s Toshb”a (Oral Law) Department visited the Zomet Institute in Gush Etzion. As its website explains, the Zomet Institute is “dedicated to seamlessly merging halachic Judaism with modern life.” Founded in 5737 (1977), Zomet is known for its halachic-technological solutions, including milking machines that can be used on Shabbat, Shabbat elevators, electric scooters for Shabbat, and much more. Zomet now boasts a new visitor’s center, where the general public can learn about these technologies and the underlying halachic principles involved.

For the Orot students, the tour was a chance to see real-life, modern applications of “dry,” theoretical Halachah - including equipment for hospitals, security systems, and home use. Furthermore, translating halachic principles into a practical language helps clarify those principles. Thus, for example, the students learned about the differences between the halachic concepts of grama and ko’ach kocho; the necessary preconditions for grama; the source for the prohibition against using electricity on Shabbat (boneh, makeh b’patish, mavir, or molid?); and the practical ramifications of these questions.

The students were particularly intrigued by the issue of shinui otzmat zerem hechashmal (varying of electric current), which is the principle behind the use of hearing aids, electric scooters, electric wheelchairs, metal detectors, automatic gates, LED lights, and other instruments on Shabbat. Halachic authorities insist that shinui otzmat zerem hechashmal does not involve molid (loosely, “creating” something new), but shinui otzmat zerem hechashmal is usually restricted to cases of tzorech gadol (literally, “a great need”), due to concerns of marit ayin (outward appearance) or that such use is “unbefitting Shabbat.” However, it is possible that in the distant future, these concerns will no longer apply. After all, the so-called Shabbat clock (i.e. an automatic timer) is now widely used, but initially, some opinions held that it should only be used to turn on lights on Shabbat (due to similar concerns).

Rav Reuven Spolter, who teaches a course on the Shabbat laws at Orot Israel College, accompanied the students on their fascinating and enlightening tour of the Zomet 

Orot Israel College Hosts Gala Book Launch in Honor of Dr. Yitzchak Sapir

On Tuesday, 23 Adar 5773 (March 5, 2013), Orot Israel College’s Elkana campus hosted an event marking the release of “Minchat Sapir” – a collection of articles published in Dr. Yitzchak Sapir’s honor. Dr. Ayal Davidson, head of Orot’s Land of Israel Studies Department, served as the master of ceremonies for the gala event, which was held in the presence of Rav Professor Neria Guttel, President of Orot Israel College; Dr. Yehuda Felix, Orot’s founder and first Rosh Michlalah; Dr. Yossi Spanier, the book’s editor and the former head of Orot’s Land of Israel Studies Department; Orot’s faculty, alumni, family, and many friends. In addition, Aviv Gozlan, one of Dr. Sapir’s students, played the piano, and Dr. Aryeh Morgenstern delivered a fascinating lecture entitled “Building the Churvah: The Onset of the Redemption and the Vilna Gaon’s Students.”

“This evening is very emotional and special,” noted Rav Professor Guttel. “What makes this evening so special is that it sprang from below. Orot supported and assisted, of course, in the book’s publication. But the initiative and the publishing were arranged by Yitzchak’s colleagues, friends, and loved ones, and I consider that to be a fitting expression of this evening, this book, and this man. The book conveys love, affection, and friendship. During the Exodus from Egypt, we left 80% of the nation behind. However, when we received the Torah, we once again became one nation: ‘as one man, with one heart.’ So, too, this book and evening, which brought together those who deal with different opinions, purviews, and departments, constitutes a pathway to unity and cooperation.”

Dr. Spanier recalled, “About four years ago, Professor Yisrael Rosenson and I decided to put together a commemorative book for our friend Dr. Yitzchak Sapir, in honor of his retirement. During the intervening years, we collected, sorted, and organized the articles. While editing the book, we focused on Yitzchak’s interests and activities over the years, including the Tanach, synagogues, prayer, the history of the Land of Israel, Israeli botany, and archeology. Although it took us somewhat longer than anticipated, we believe that the final product will not disappoint and that the book reflects the man of the book: Yitzchak.

“As it says on the book’s cover: ‘The main thread connecting the articles is the authors’ admiration and appreciation for the man whom they honored with their writing: Yitzchak Sapir. This is the thread that connects the writers and their compositions to the readers. Sapir connects worlds and people. On an academic level, his multidisciplinary approach is evident at every turn… Sapir’s personality and critiques lead to a multifaceted integration – of religion and science, Torah and derech eretz, man and the One Above. This collection was written as a gift of love for a family man, a researcher, an explorer, a scholar, an educator, and most of all, a dear friend. His name is Yitzchak Sapir.’”

Representing the family, Dr. Sapir’s son Uri remarked, “It is now several days after Purim, and one of the familiar themes of the Megilah is ‘v’nahafochu’ (‘and it shall be reversed.’) There is no need to tell those who know Abba how important this matter is to him. The root ‘hey-pey-chaf’ appears in Tehilim 114, where the miracle of the Exodus from Egypt is described in comparison to unnatural phenomena. The miracle is cited in reference to the contrast between an immovable stone as opposed to flowing water. Even Chazal likened the Torah to both stone and water. Similarly, firmness versus elasticity are just one of the many inherent contrasts which characterize Abba. His way of life, which contains contradictions and contrasts, yields great depths – like signposts with crests, valleys, and mountains.

“An adherence to truth is manifested in Abba’s life as a life of action, and as the Rambam said: ‘Practices the truth, because it is truth.’ Often, this trait creates antagonism, detachment, and distance from others. But this is not the case with Abba. His teachers, his friends, his students, and his partners along the way know a man who walks with his truth and, at the same time, loves and supports unconditionally. Truth and peace are two values that – like stone and water – clearly contrast with each other, but as the navi said: ‘Love truth and peace.’ Love makes room for both of them, and indeed, for Abba, these values stand next to each other, fully and completely.”

Next, Orot alumnus Naama Ariel said, “Dr. Sapir recommended that we read the international bestseller – the Tanach – and to extract its pearls. In every chapter and verse, he sees the word of Hashem that must be studied, and we were always amazed by his knowledge and devotion to every book and verse. In addition to the intellectual learning, there is a great deal of emotion in his approach to the Land of Israel, and one part of the air he breathes is the Land. He is not a teacher in the ordinary sense of the word, but first and foremost, a loving and concerned educator.”

Dr. Sapir himself was the final speaker. He said, “One of the most awkward moments of my life was when Yisrael and Yossi told me that they were thinking about publishing the book, and they asked for my permission. I considered it and finally agreed to their proposal. And when I saw how my teachers and my friends willingly and gladly responded and shared their teachings, and even more so, when I see the book, which is like a new vessel filled with aged wine, I am happy and thankful.

“During a rare cynicism-free moment, I wrote in the introduction to my research paper: ‘This work is the fruit of loves – a love of the Torah, a love of the Land, a love of the Hebrew language, and a love of Israel and its history.’ At my request, the book’s editors divided it into four sections, corresponding to these four loves…

“I see you before me – my teachers and my friends, who have been with me throughout my life: friends in Torah learning, friends in a love and knowledge of the Land, friends in the act of settling it, and friends in fighting for it. I love you all, and thank you for gathering together and coming.”

Students in the English Department assist Learning Disabled students in Elkana’s elementary school

By Dr. Vitela Arzi, 

Head of the English Department, Elkana campus

Students in the English Department taking the course "Teaching English to Students with Learning Disabilities (L.D.)" have an excellent opportunity to implement their theoretical knowledge by teaching students in the neighborhood elementary school on a one to one basis.

The goal of the program is to allow our future English teachers to have hands-on experience to practice what they have been taught. The first semester of the course was dedicated not only to the teaching of the remedial program for teaching reading to L.D. students, but also to the acquisition of concepts and topics related to L.D. learners, such as attention deficit disorder and visual and audio perception problems.

The participants in the program are students who were selected by the elementary school advisor after consulting with teachers. All have some form of a learning disability and have had difficulties learning English.

Orot students come equipped with the necessary material for assessment and teaching while the class instructor, Mrs. Tzila Rabinovitz, an experienced professional in the field of Teaching English to Learning Disabled students, makes the rounds and supervises the activity. After the lesson, the students and instructor discuss and summarize their work.

Both students and pupils benefit from the program. The students gain practical experience in teaching the remedial method they have learned and the pupils benefit from being taught in a way that accommodates their learning styles.