Pirsumei Nisa- Inward or Outward? 
By: Mrs. Mali Brofsky
(current MMY Teacher)
What does Chanuka mean to you?
When it comes to Chanuka, we are all aware of the concept of pirsumei nisa - the obligation to publically commemorate the miracle of Chanuka, which we fulfill by lighting our candles and placing them in a window with a view to the public sphere. But to whom are we doing the publicizing? Who is the audience?
According to Rav Moshe Feinstein, it is clear that we are publicizing the miracle of Chanuka to our fellow Jews. Indeed, Rav Moshe believes that if one publicizes the miracle to non-Jews only, one does not fulfill the mitzva of pirsumei nisa!
DeLIGHTful חנוכה:
A Lesson in Balance
By: Sarah Broniscer
(current MMY student)
When people talk about their year in Israel, they often talk about how magical חנוכה is. With חנוכיות everywhere, it's hard not to feel something special in the atmosphere. Psychology suggests that there's a direct correlation between the amount of light a person experiences during the day and their overall levels of productivity and happiness. But to me, there's something more to the light than the popular interpretation of פירסומי ניסא. The רמב"ם in הלכות חנוכה 4:13 says that the command of הדלקת נרות של חנוכה is so precious that if one lacks the money to buy lights, he should sell something or borrow money in order to fulfill the mitzvah. So there's no doubt that the mitzvah is central to the holiday. The question then becomes what the light signifies on a deeper level, and what it means to us.
Listen to MMY's Library of Shiurim about Chanuka
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A Different Brand of Thanksgiving-
From Mourning to Celebration
(Elisheva Taragin, MMY student, to the left behind the bride, in lavender)
Normally, MMY does not celebrate Thanksgiving as a school event. This year, however, we "celebrated" a very unusual kind of Thanksgiving. In theme with the current challenges and resulting tragedies, the entire Yeshiva and Seminary world gathered together at Yeshivat Ashreinu in Beit Shemesh, to pay tribute to Ezra Schwartz, HY"D, the recent young victim of yet another cruel act of terrorism. In a juxtaposition that only Am Yisrael is capable of, the entire contingency of young adults boarded busses straight from the Azkara (memorial event) to attend the wedding of Ariel Biegel and Sarah Techiya Litman, whose father and brother were murdered just two weeks earlier.
Rabbi Katz recounts the following:
"'Tov Lalechet El Beit Evel M'lechet El Beit Mishteh' - It is better to go to a house of mourning than to a house of joy. The wisest of all men, Shlomo Hamelech, obviously knew what he was talking about. But he also wasn't in MMY last week - so I would like to paraphrase that Pasuk in Kohelet (7:2). 'Tov Lalechet Gam L'beit Evel Ul'beit Mishteh' - it is best of all to go to both in the same day. But really , and maybe unique to Israel, it is best to go to a house of mourning which can also be a house of joy - even if that seems like a contradiction. Sad realities are still sad. But, to quote Rav Meir Lichtenstein's D'var Torah from the Azkara (quoting his grandfather - Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, Z"L), we don't squelch the sadness. But it is up to us what we do with it.
I can only speak personally - but only every so often does one participates in an event that has so much impact that it can be life-changing. In my 20 plus years in MMY I can identify a few such events. That Thursday night was for sure one of those few."
Serena Shmulewitz, and Aliza Hersch, current students at MMY, describe the feelings that were colliding within as they made the transition from one place to the other.
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Mystery Maccabi-
Kiddush Hashem on Chilean Court
(Teaneck, New Jersey, Maccabi USA Volleyball Team)
I've lived in Teaneck, New Jersey for most of my life, with my parents and four siblings- two brothers and two sisters- and I am very much a family person. I attended Ma'ayanot high school in Teaneck and then went to MMY for my seminary year. I am currently studying in Stern college, and majoring in psychology, with the hopes of going into informal education and working for the Jewish community in some capacity. I'm on the basketball and volleyball teams at Stern as well, which takes up a lot of time but is also really fun and rewarding. Additionally, I'm involved with NCSY, which I really enjoy being a part of, and I've done a few Torah Tours with YU (YU sends students to communities who could benefit from the influence of religious young adults over the holidays).
One of the most special and unique attributes of MMY is, no doubt, how MMY presents to its students a variety of completely different ideas and with guidance, empowers the students to decipher and pick apart the issues with confidence and independence. While in MMY, I was challenged to grapple with the idea of complexities and how to resolve them. Many different subjects were raised and one of them in particular stands out in my mind. We discussed the idea of how one can fulfill multiple roles at a time: for instance, a daughter who has obligations to her family, while also being a young adult who yearns to be in Eretz Yisrael with all of Am Yisrael. We also took a look at another angle of the same topic, when the struggle arises from a person having one role that drives her to straddle the line of two opposing traits.
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MMY Reunites 
By: Leora Sherman
(MMY, 5775)
As I walked into the unfamiliar Student Union building of Queens College, on Friday night, November 6th, I had this immediate sense of belonging. Greeted by Rabbi Katz, Mrs. Katz, Miriam (Alumnae coordinator) and the Charnoffs (the OU-JLIC family), I knew that for the next twenty-five hours, though I was physically in Queens, I was actually back in MMY again. MMYers from many previous years, and of course from 5775, travelled from great distance, including universities such as Penn, Barnard, Brandeis, Maryland, Binghamton, Stern and more, in order to attend the MMY 5776 Alumnae Shabbaton.
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Torat Emmett- Torat Chayim
Rabbi Emmett joined the MMY faculty three years ago. Originally from England, Rabbi Emmett showed extremely early signs of devout Zionism by making Aliya at the tender age of six, some thirty years ago.
After completing the five year hesder program, combining Torah leaning and army service at Yeshivat Shaalvim, he proceeded to embark on a seven year journey in pursuit of rabbinic ordination officiated by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. Simultaneously, Rabbi Emmett made his first "conversion", joining the faculty of the overseas program where he subsequently taught for 10 years.
Having exhausted his eighteen year Yeshiva experience, Rabbi Emmett made his second and life-altering conversion to the seminary world by joining the prestigious MMY faculty, finding a warm home and a newfound passion for teaching Torah while forming long lasting relationships with his students.
Rabbi Emmett often finds meaningful expression to his profound ideas through poetry and writing. He has shared his latest Chanuka piece with us, Cohen Katan, Cohen Gadol. |
Tikvah comes to MMY!
Is an unexamined life truly not worth living? If there is an ideal, does one have a right to compromise on that ideal? Is equality a Jewish value?
These questions, and others, are discussed, contemplated, and argued over in מסורת עתיקה ושאיפות מודרניות , Ancient Tradition and Modern Aspirations, a new class being offered at MMY this year. This class is taught by Mrs. Rachel Besser, of Clifton, New Jersey, as part of a series of programs sponsored by the Tikvah Overseas Institute for Yeshiva and Midrasha Students.
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