MHA-FYOS Dean's Blog

This week’s parasha , Parashat Beshalach, presents the splitting of the Red Sea - b’nei yisrael was saved from the Egyptians who drowned while b’nei yisrael was safe on the far shore. In response, Moshe led the Jewish People in shirat hayam – the Song of the Sea – a song of praise for Hashem for His miraculously saving b’nei yisrael . In Masechet Megilah 10b, the gemara cites a well-known midrash – “As the Egyptians started to drown in the Red Sea, the heavenly hosts began to sing praises, but G-d silenced the angels, saying, ‘The works of my hands are drowning in the sea, and you wish to sing praises!’” I discussed this gemara this morning with my students and we focused on one question – if it was improper for the angels to sing praises in the face of the death G-d’s creation (the Egyptians), why was Moshe and b’nei yisrael not subject to criticism? To answer this question, we examined a law in a very different context – but one that has a connection to Tu BiShevat which falls out...

This week saw the arrival of two Bat Ami   shluchot   – Hinda Leah Felberman and Yocheved Morgenstern. Immediately upon their arrival, Hinda Leah and Yocheved began making an impact on the school community – meeting our students and quickly acclimating to their important role at the MHA.  Please help welcome them to Memphis!  This week also saw the final three Upper School overnight trips.  GMSG went on a rafting trip on the Spring River (CYHSB went the previous week), the Junior High boys camped at Meeman-Shelby State Park and the Junior High girls had a unique “lock-in” program at the Midrasha.  Thank you to the teachers and staff who helped organize and supervise each of these outstanding programs. This week’s   parasha , Ki Tavo, describes the blessings and curses that HaShem will visit upon b'nei Yisrael in response to our adherence to or disobedience of the   mitzvot .  One blessing that the Torah assures us of is, “HaShem   ...