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Author: Rivka

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A day before the Memorial Day I did a big produce shopping in anticipation of an Independence Day which follows it. There is a very popular produce store in Tzfat own by Y, and they deliver. It is the store where I usually do my big grocery shopping. But this time the delivery didn’t come. Neither it came in the morning. At 11 am a women called. “Are you Leah?” “Yes.” “I am Leah too, and they left your shopping  by my door." I am a frequent customer at Y. store, and they know me well. Another Leah lives on my street a few buildings down. Why did they deposited my shopping at her door? They knew my address.

I called Y. “Don’t worry, I will send somebody to bring the shopping to you.”

This was a beginning of my very memorable Israel Memorial Day. It was 12pm, and I have invited my friend Rivka and  her husband for lunch. Expecting my delivery, I wanted to see whether it was left outside my door. I tried to open the door - it didn’t budge. I tried harder, and harder. It did not help. What can I do? Rivka can come any time now and I am locked down!  I heard voices outside my door - my dear next door neighbor Hadassa was there. By the way, nobody in my building speaks English. It is a big problem for me since my Ivrit is very so-so. In this stressful situation my tiny Ivrit became activated. “Wait!”- Hadassa shouted.

We needed a translator. Hadassa called another neighbor - Yael who used to live in our building and moved away. We  spoke on the phone, all three of us. Hadassa spoke to Yael in Ivrit, Yael translated it to me, then translated to Hadassa what I said. “You need a locksmith, It costs 500 shekels.” “500??? I will call my locksmith.” It took a few minutes for me to realize I did not have my locksmith's telephone  number, but at that very moment there was a knock on the door. In a good English a man said: “I am a locksmith. How much are you willing to pay?” ”300 shekels.” Fine. Can I come to your apartment through the window?“ "I live on a second floor. Do you have a ladder?” Then I heard Hadassa’s voice: “Through the kitchen window!”

Our kitchen windows are about 2 meters apart. The balcony underneath is for drying laundry only, but there is a concrete step about 30 cm wide that runs along the wall. The locksmith crawled from Hadassa’s kitchen window, moving slowly along the step with hands on the wall to my window, and I pulled him inside. He removed the door and started fixing it. My neighbors and their children were looking at what the locksmith was doing. Then I saw a tall  Hassidic man in black hat and a black coat. “Mayim!” he said , “Mayim!” (Water!) ”Do you want a cup of water?“- I asked.  In perfect English, the man said: “Water is running in your apartment. Is your washing machine running?” I returned to the kitchen. The water  was running into my kitchen sink. It almost reached the brim. In a  few more minutes there would be flood in the apartment. I wanted to say “Thank you” to the man, but he was gone.

The locksmith finished his work, and charged only 200 shekels. Then there was a knock on my door- my shopping delivery. Then it was another knock on the door- my friend Rivka and her husband came for lunch. It was at 1pm – exactly the time they were invited. It is remarkable, that all these events happened in less than two hours timeframe. About an hour later Y. called : “we will bring your shopping.” ”Thank you. It has  already been delivered.”

Nothing could surprise me anymore on that very memorable Israel Memorial Day.

By Leah Zolotarev

April 2021

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The Jewish Holiday of Passover is called in Jewish Liturgy “Zman Heruteinu” – “Time of Our Freedom”. 

In Hebrew there are several words for Freedom, and their meaning is slightly different. There is a word “Hofesh”, that describes physical freedom, and is used in Torah in the description of the slave that goes free at the end of six years, accordingly to the Jewish Law. The word “Herut”, associated with Passover, is a different type of Freedom – freedom of spiritual nature, freedom of the soul that knows its truth and is not affected by external ideologies. 

As pointed out by our Sages, there is a close connection between the word ‘Herut” as Freedom to the same word used in The Scripture in the description of giving of the Torah – the Word of G-d being engraved (“Herut”) on the Tablets. Another linguistic connection ( pointed out by the famous 12 century commentator Rashi) is that of “Herut” in its meaning of Engraving  – being a synonym for another term for Engraving – “Hikuk” – which in its turn has the same root as “Hok” , which denotes a category of Divine Laws that have no rational explanation – a Mystery.

All these linguistic connotations bring out an idea of Divine truth being engraved, imprinted in the nature, and in our souls as well. Accordingly, the Freedom of Passover is a freedom to be attentive to this deep truth, which is imprinted on our souls, and which is the truth of the Torah. To be sure, the liberation from the slavery of Egypt was also a physical liberation, but the final goal was always a spiritual freedom, described by the word “Herut”.

Living in Israel, the week of Passover Is a Holiday week, and many people go to the nature reserves and parks. We too spent several days hiking on the mountain trails, and found it to be the best way to experience the harmony between the Divine Truth and Mystery engraved in the nature and that of our souls. During this week, you don’t even want to look at the world news, which always brings you back to all the falsehood…

Of course, the process of the inner liberation does not happen overnight, and not even in one week. In Jewish tradition, Passover is a starting point of the 50 days period, at the end of which we arrive to Shavuot – Holiday of giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai to the Jewish people. During these 50 days ( called days of “Sephirat Ha Omer”) we work on ourselves, peeling layer by layer everything that is un-authentic, anything related to foreign ideologies and influences, hoping that at the end of this cycle we’ll be truly free to receive Torah.

 This is a period of introspection, and it brings memories of all the previous miracles of liberation in our life.

In my case, I experienced a celebration of Passover in Russia in mid-1980s, with more than 100 people having Passover Seder together in a small Moscow apartment, and miraculously there was enough room for everybody. Late into the night we talked about how Russia of that time period resembled Egypt, and we felt presence of G-d there during our Seder. It was a first experience of spiritual freedom, shaking off all the communist brainwashing I received in school and College. But it was only a beginning of the long transformation, which continued after I emigrated to the US, when it was still a relatively free country, and of which the logical result was our Alyah three years ago to the real home of Jewish people – the Land of Israel.

Now, watching the moral and cultural decline in America, we only can pray for the Jews not to be affected by it, and to have Divine assistance in finding a real freedom.

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History of my Aliyah to Tzfat is tightly woven into the history of Bas Medrash. It started in 2013 in Judy Paikin apartment on Rehov Yerushalaim where I met my new friends and became engaged in half-day study of Torah and Jewish Scriptures taught by the prominent Tzfat teachers and Rabbis. Since then every Monday, the Bas Medrash day, became my very special day. Regardless of the weather – in a heavy coat in the winter, or under large umbrella in rainy season, or climbing icy stairs during raging snow storm, I rushed to this special place on Rehov Yerushalaim – Bas Medrash. It gave me special spiritual energy and joy which lasted the whole week.

With time the locations changed, new people came on Aliyah and joined Bas Medrash, but the spirit which drove all of us to Bas Medrash remained. We became an ever growing community of Jewish women of different ages and different streams of Judaism (Litvaks, Breslov, Chabad and others), united by a great desire to come close to Hashem, to learn how to do it, to know more about Halacha (Jewish Law) and Mitzvot (Commandments), and to learn how to love each other as we are despite our personal preferences.

Leah Zolotarev

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I made Aliah to Tzfat in July of 2016. Before my arrival i was very “successful” to rent an apartment. Unfortunately, upon my arrival, I found that it won’t be available for a month.  In the interim, I was advised to stay with a roommate, which I did. Shortly after, a woman who lived upstairs warned me that my new roommate is unstable, and I better not stay with her alone at all. That was my introduction to Tzfat - you never know what you end up with! I did not know what to do until, Boruch Hashem, same woman from upstairs recommended that I talk to Judy Paikin. I was not yet familiar with Tzfat, so my friends’ daughter Rochel took me to Judy on Rechov Yerushalaim. Judy told me that I could stay with her until my apartment becomes available, but on Mondays  she has Torah classes, so I would have to get up early and clear the room for class. I ended up staying with my friends, but on Monday I came to the class.

And, honestly, that was the day when my good life in Tzfat began. Bas Medrash is the place for everybody irregardless of your Torah knowledge, or even no knowledge at all. You feel at home. It’s so welcoming, all women are extremely nice. You make friends, and there are tons of classes offered that you can choose from.

And in The Good Days, B.V. (Before Virus)- and I hope that they will come back soon - a delicious healthy breakfast is served which actually turns into All-Day-Eating thanks to Judy’s generosity. This woman, bless her heart, is a Perpetuum Mobile!!! She never stops doing things for people! I could write a book about my encounters with her and so many miracles that happened! Now, during all this C. T. (Corona Time) in the world, you would think that she would stop. Think twice!!! We have classes on Zoom every Monday, regular schedule.

We had our sensational pre-Yom Kippur BootCamp thirteen straight hours learning!

I can go on and on and on... But when I told my friend from Beit Shemesh about Bas Medrash he said "It's phenomenal! On that scale It doesn’t exist anywhere in Israel" I felt so proud! Thank you Judy for creating and keeping Bas Medrash alive and well! Happy to be part of it!

Tatyana /Tanya/Yassenov.

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There is a tradition that when second Jewish Temple was destroyed, the Shechina (divine presence, also referred to as the feminine aspect of the Divine), retreated to Tzfat, and is waiting to be redeemed in this city. When women in Tzfat connect with each other in the context of Torah and Mitzvot, it awakens the Shechina, thus accelerating Messianic process of rectifying the world.

Tzfat has a detectable feminine aspect, with its landscape of soft contours of hills extending as far as one can see, reminiscent of the waves of the ocean, the curving streets, circling the mountain on which the city is built. Another feminine aspect of Tzfat is its hiddenness. Often an unremarkable looking door opens to the beautiful arched room or an exotic garden. Women complete the picture of this city, many of them dressed in flowing dresses and colorful scarfs, so fitting in Tzfat. The religious women's aspiration is to have a large family, and there are many young women in Tzfat with numerous kids. It's good to live in the place  where life is of a highest value. 

There is a large community of "Anglo" women: English speakers from US, Europe, Canada, South Africa. Many of these women regularly get together to learn Torah in "Bas Medrash" . There are different classes and modes of learning: classes by excellent teachers, learning together original Hebrew texts in smaller groups, discussion sessions etc. The learning always begins with a different woman giving a talk on the subject of her choice, and it is never only intellectual, but sharing something very important to each one, and often the speaker is so moved, that she starts crying, and the listeners respond in kind, and the tissues are passed around. Of course there is also a lot of laughter, and during text learning - sometimes there are loud arguments about meaning of texts, as in any normal yeshiva with interested and involved students. Everybody is passionate about Torah learning, and it is always a moving and rich experience. The learning is preceded by an excellent breakfast, prepared by volunteers who come early to prepare food and set the tables. Rosh Chodesh is celebrated with women singing together, led by talented musicians among us. There is an atmosphere of sharing and mutual support that extends beyond the place of learning, and is valuable in times of joy as well as sadness. Many happy occasions are celebrated together, and in difficult times there is a mutual support and help. It’s a blessing to live in an accepting, caring community, where each woman can find her own voice, forming together a harmony of women voices, awakening Shechina, and affirming hope of a better world.

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Tzfat is one of four Holy cities of the Land of Israel, besides Jerusalem, Hebron, and Tiberias. Each of these cities is associated in Jewish tradition with the four essential  elements of nature, of which Tzfat is a City of Air. (Other three cities represent, respectively,  Fire, Earth, Water)

Being a mountain city, the air is pure, and the light has a magical quality. The height of the mountain and the purity of light allows to see far away. It has been also called a city of “Vision”, and, not accidentally, from Talmudic times, it has been known as the location of growing the most  beautiful Hadassim (myrtle) - one of the 4 species used on Sukkot Holiday, that has leaves resembling shape of the eyes, and representing vision.

Besides the ability to clearly see surrounding areas, the air of Tzfat is also conducive to the clarity of perception, and it attracted from medieval times great Torah sages, and  became an important center of Torah learning. 

The first printing press in the Land of Israel was set up in 16th century in Tzfat,  and Torah works started to be printed and propagated from here.  The local library of the Breslov Synagogue still has those first editions of books on Jewish Laws and Kabbalah. 

Rabbi Joseph Karo completed, in 16th century in Tzfat, his 20-year long work of unifying previously existing Torah codes and commentaries, and creating the Shulhan Aruch - a most influential book of Halacha (The Jewish Law) in the world today. His contemporary Rabbi Moshe Cordovero evaluated and systematized  all previously existing work on Kabbalah, creating several masterpiece works. He also emphasized importance of Kavannah - inner vision of deep meditative concentration. Here in Tzfat the saintly Rabbi Luria (Arizal) taught his students the mysteries of the Zohar, and his teachings were written down by his major disciple, Chaim Vital. 

Arizal’s understanding of Kabbalah and his clarity of vision were beyond normal human abilities. He understood the chirping of the birds, the rustling of leaves, and the speech of angels. By looking at a person he could tell everything that happened to him in his lifetime and previous incarnations, his purpose in the world, and prescribe a remedy for his soul.

Those great Torah lights, and others that followed them through the centuries, left their imprint on the city, and today the desire to clearly “see” the truth of the Torah and its deeper meaning is very much alive in Tzfat. 

Even the taxi drivers are well versed in Talmud. The average person here is well aware of Kabbalistics concepts. One of the local book stores has a sidewalk display, which include books on how to read the lines on foreheads and palms,  the spiritual significance of precious stones, the interpretation of dreams, and many books on Segulot (spiritual remedies and protections). Almost every Torah class in the city has multiple references to the Zohar (the major work on Kabalah) , and it is assumed that listeners understand its basic ideas. One of the local wine makers trains every vine he grows to create a shape with kabbalistic significance, the basics of which would take too long to explain in a short post. If you want to know more about holy and mystical aspects of wine-making, you have to go to the “Ancient Tzfat Winery” and contact Rav Moshe. 

Not surprisingly, Tzfat is a place that attracted Rabbi Meir Sendor, formerly Rabbi of Young Israel of Sharon, MA, whose major focus of interest is authentic Jewish Meditation using kabbalistic approach. (http://www.talorot.org)

We are attending his by-weekly Friday morning meditation sessions. We meet in a typical ancient stone room with high arched dome ceiling, with simple seating on rugs and divans, and large arched windows. The entrance to the room is from the garden with beautiful trees and flowers.

Guided by Rabbi Sendor, we start with five minutes of silent meditation, followed by Kabalistic meditation with specific spiritual goals. After the session is over, we return looking at the world in a different way: the Tzfat way.