Lamed=Koach - 30 Years On: Tales of Strength and Limud

by Rachel (Horowitz) Teitelbaum, BZ 5747

On the 20th of Sivan, June 26th Bogrot of the 5747 Bat Zion Program had their 30 year reunion.  The reunion was held in the evening in Baka, Jerusalem, and many of the Bogrot who are is Israel were in attendance, including our indomitable Eim Bayit, Judy Ford, and Madricha Ruchanit, Rabbanit Idit Itzkovich.  More than half of our Bogrot have made their homes in Israel, and the occasion was also marked by the participation of Bogrot in the greater New York and Washington DC areas in the US, via weblink on what was their early afternoon.

Referring to the previous week's Parsha, Rabbanit Idit reminded us of the fact that we are able to do a tikkun for the Meraglim (spies)  and how wonderful it was to see so many Bogrot choosing to take on a new language, culture, and to build a Bayit Neeman in Israel.  She also encouraged those of us still far away that there is always time to come and people waiting in warm welcome.

Reminiscing over the Lachmaniyot and Charif food we once shared in Orot while enjoying a pot lunch dinner prepared by all, we shared pictures, and Rabbanit Idit even kept letters many of us had written to her oh so long ago, and brought samples to our reunion.

Fond memories of Rena Shvat Zuriel, Chagit Even Chen Samuels and Debbie Brown Baron, zichronam livracha, were shared, and pictures, and hopes that the next reunion will happen that much faster.

In Masechet Avot it says בן 30 לכח, a person of 30 attains strength, and the letter "lamed" has the numeric equivalent of 30, and it was a nice circle to associate a year we dedicated to limud, at our 30th reunion, with our Bogrot and madrichot, still going strong....

Before...

And Today!

Fastforward 23 years....Orot Bat Zion 5753 Reunites in Modi'in

Judy (Beigel) Silkoff – BZ 5753/1992-3

A google search of the word ‘reunion’ brings up three official definitions; the first two refer to a gathering of old school friends, and the third to unification of a country. But it is that third definition, “the action of being brought together again as a unified whole”, that seemed to most aptly describe the Orot reunion my Bat Zion programme organised in Modi'in in January.
The idea for the reunion came about as a direct result of the get-together organized by Nomi Spanglet in Elkana last year. Green with envy that I couldn't make the trip from London to join everyone in what we used to fondly refer to as the ‘yellow michlala’, my dear friend and Orot roomie Jacqueline promised me that she would sort one out for me next time I was in Israel. And she didn't disappoint!
Thanks to the help of Nomi and of course, Facebook, it wasn't too difficult to track down everyone in our year (1992-3/5753). Turns out that out of a group of 51 girls, close to 30 are now living in Israel! And 18 of them (plus Nomi, myself, and Amy who was visiting from Toronto) gathered in Jacqueline's beautiful home on January 6th to catch up, reconnect, share photos and rekindle memories of some of the best times of our lives. The years seemed to melt away and there was so much noise, laughter, happy tears and emotion in the room. 23 years ago we came to Orot as a group of strangers but over the ensuing months we bonded in only the way Orot girls could! We may all be living very different lives now, but the strong beliefs and feelings that connected us then still hold us together – and although we didn't quite get to breaking out into song, I could definitely hear the faint strains of all those chug Shira sessions echoing in the background!

Bat Zion-MTA Reunion - May 2014

Over 120 alumnae and staff attended Orot's second Bat Zion- MTA reunion in Elkana. This special event was organized and planned by Nomi Spanglet, the former assistant director of the Bat Zion program. The event was a tribute to the many Bogrot of these 2 programs who have come on Aliyah, and who live the ideals that Orot so strongly believes in: Am Yisrael, Torat Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael. It was Orot's way of saying "we are proud of you and we are still here for you!". The evening started off with a buffet dinner, leaving time for the Bogrot to catch up with many old friends. Following dinner, words of welcome given by Nomi as well as short divrei torah given by Rav Yehuda Felix, the founder of Orot and Rabbis Moshe Rachimi and Rav Avram Weiss, both former directors of the BZ program.


The highlight of the evening was an educational panel with Rav Yona Goodman ( senior staff member at Orot) and Rav Gideon Weitzman (formerly a BZ staff member & presently a lecturer at several Midrashot, as well as serving as a Rav in Modiin). The panel was lead by Rav Reuven Spolter (head of recruitment for the College). The topic of the panel was "how to rekindle the flame". The panel was very inspiring and without any doubt gave food for thought to all those that attended.
I believe that the words of some of our Bogort best sum up this special event:

Thanks for organizing such an amazing reunion last night. It was so nice to see fellow bogrot, rabbanim, staff and madrichot. It just shows what an amazing program Bat Zion was and what an impact it had on all of our lives. It was so nice to be back on the Orot campus, and to see how the michlala is growing, it brought back so many wonderful memories. It is really touching to see that although the Bat Zion program no longer exists the michlala and you personally continues to maintain contact with the bogrot and are interested in what we are doing and where we are at in our lives.

hi nomi. i wanted to thank u so much for organising the amazing reunion. it was so good to see everyone again, you and all the teachers, (and the girls of course although we BH meet up often :) ) and it was so nice to be on the campus again. It really made me realise how much i miss it, and how Orot is such an amazing and special place and I'm so lucky to have been a part of that! Looking forward to the next reunion :)

Enclosed you will also find a slide show presentation of pictures taken at the reunion as well as a slide show of BZ that was prepared by Michal Katz Reinitz and shown at the reunion.



Enjoy the pictures and the memories!!