MDS Messenger Volume 13, Issue 4 | Page 12

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EC Lower School Junior High

Parshat Hashavua

by 8G; [email protected]

Back by popular demand are beautiful divrei Torah written by the students in Mrs. Strulowitz's 8G Chumash class! The students learned how to highlight and synthesize key points in the weekly

parsha, analyze passukim and larger issues in the Chumash, and apply the lessons of the Torah to their daily lives in meaningful and inspiring ways. They also applied various writing techniques

to strengthen and clarify their divrei Torah, sharpened their public speaking skills in presenting to the class, and designed engaging review games for their classmates. Each week, the students will share their meaningful and inspiring divrei Torah with the MDS community. Enjoy!

On Tuesday, October 15th, Manhattan Day School conducted six new safety drills. Although they took place during class time, they taught students the importance of safety. Starting a couple of days before the drill, safety officials checked every room in MDS. If a room was safe for an emergency, it was marked on the top of the door SR… short for Safe Room. All the drills were taken very seriously.

Some of the drills included:

Checking for missing students, checking for suspicious objects, evacuating to a safe room, and evacuating to the gym.

D'var Torah:

Chayei Sara

by Riva Cogan, 8G

A few years ago my grandmother passed away. My mother was promised that she would get all the jewelry. Then my mother said that someday the jewelry would be mine. She said that it would always stay in the family.

Parshat Chayei Sora is about family continuity. (Berel Wein) It talks about the death of Sarah, (Bereishit 23:2) the marriage of Yitzchak and Rivka,(Bereishit 24:67), the passing on of Avraham’s belongings to Yitzchak (Bereishit 25:5) and of Maarat Hamachpeila to keep it forever for the Jewish People. (23:16)

Family was so important to Sarah that at the beginning of the Parsha, she dies at the age of 127, (Bereishit 23:1) because she heard that Yitzchak was going to be sacrificed to Hashem (Rashi Bereishit 23:2) and Yitzchak was the only one who could continue the family. (My Dad)

Avraham immediately came back from Beer sheva “livkot al Sarah vilivkota” to cry and mourn for her. The Torah says she was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years. Rashi explains that when she was 100 years old she had no more sins than a twenty year old and she was as beautiful as a seven years old. Avraham went to bnei Chet to look for a place to bury Sarah. Ephron Hachiti owned a cave called Machpela, or Cave of the Double which comes for the word “kaful” and was told he could have it for free. He paid “Arba Meot kesef,” four hundred silver coins. (Bereishit 23:4-17) But Avraham insisted on paying to make sure that no one in the future would say it was theirs. It belonged to the Jewish People. (Bereishit Rabba 79)

Why did Avraham choose Maarat Hamachpeila instead of anywhere else? One reason could be because according to the midrash, (Bereishit Rabba 79) Adam and Chava were buried there and they were his original ancestors.

Another reason is the fact that it was “kaful” or double. Rav and Shmuel disagree about what “double” means. Rav said i=t means two levels and Shmuel said it meant double couples on each floor. (Eruvin, page 53B) Either way, Avraham was interested in its two floors because it would allow more room for family after he died.

After the burial, Avrohom tells his servant to go find Yitzchak a wife He saw that he needed to continue the family. He said that the wife must be from his family. The servant asks Hashem for a way to figure out how he will know who is right for Yitzchak. Hashem gives a test says the woman would not only feed him water but offer the is camels a drink too. The servant finds Rivka, ho passes the test. She was Avraham’s niece, staying inside the family. He brings her home she marries Yitzchak. (24:2-67)

At the end of the parsha, Avraham remarries Ketura and has six children. Before he died, he left Ketura’s children gifts and sent them away, but Yitzchak, who was descendant of his own family, got the belongings. There are people who are not shomrei Torah Umitzvos but light the candlesticks left by their ancestors every Friday night. That shows why belongings are also so important. (My Dad)

Avrohom dies at the age of 175 and is buried next to Sarah in Maarat Hamachpeila.(Bereishit 25:8) A full generation passes from the beginning of the parsha until the end.

I learned in Chayei Sarah that families are so important that even from the days of Avraham, Jews were concerned about who their children marry and what will stay in the family. I think about how important my family is to me but now I also think about how I have to make sure it continues.

People say that the Jewish people are getting smaller and smaller. The main reason is because they married non-Jews and didn’t make their families continue as Jews. Family continuity is what makes Jews go on and on and has made the Jewish People the longest lasting people in the world.