At the Dirshu Convention, the Women of Dirshu Celebrate “His” Torah… in “Their” Zechus
There was an aura, a spiritual energy of kedusha and tahara, pulsing through the lobby.
That pulsing energy accompanied a pure, lechtig glow emanating from the many hundreds of women whose hands were covering their faces as they welcomed the Shabbos Malka; the flames of their lecht dancing, reflecting the flames of Torah that they had all come to celebrate.
The sight of so many Yiddishe Mammes whispering tefillos, gazing in wonder at the lecht that they had just kindled in the lobby of the Armon Hotel in Stamford, Connecticut. The sight of so many Yiddishe Mammes ranging from newlyweds to young mothers, to grandmothers and even great-grandmothers, all united by the light of Shabbos and the light of Torah, literally took my breath away!
And then I spotted one of my “Dirshu friends”, a woman whose husband, learns in Dirshu and who comes to the Dirshu Shabbos for a spiritual boost. This time, however, I noticed that she was wheeling a very, very newborn baby.
“Mazal tov!” I lean over, offering to hold her precious bundle. “Wow! This baby looks really new?”
“He is three weeks old.”
“Three weeks old and you still came?!”
“Well,” the smile doesn’t leave her face, “we discussed it back and forth but really, I decided that there was no way I could miss this Shabbos!”
And that said it all. Every woman in that hotel was there because, “There is no way we can miss this Shabbos!”
Greeting Shabbos Together
They came in droves, women from all walks of life and all corners of the country, women of all ages and from all different backgrounds, all came with one goal: to return home rejuvenated! To return home infused with chizuk to continue in their mission of doing everything possible to enable and empower their husbands to learn, review and learn more Torah! To gain an even deeper appreciation for their role as the eizer kinegdo.
One by one, the women finished their whispered tefillos, raised their heads, gazed lovingly into the hundreds of dancing flames and headed into the Crowne Ballroom to raise their voices together l’kras Shabbos with a medley of song and inspiration.
The evening was opened by the MC, Mrs. Miryam Swerdlov, whose simchas chaim injected an uplifting feeling of joy into the assemblage, eliciting smiles and laughter interspersed with her messages of chinuch tailored to the theme of the Shabbos, “Nashim b’may zochyon.”
A heartfelt, melodious Kabbalas Shabbos followed, led by the sweet and powerful voices of the Harmonies Choir led by Mrs. Hindy Ausch. The entire assemblage accompanied the young girls, singing the age-old words of the tefillos with Yiddishe niggunim.
It was a magnificent start to a Shabbos replete with food for the soul, opportunities for growth, passion and inspiration, complimented by a remarkable array of delectable seudos and oneg to please the palate as well.
The Kochos of the Four Imahos Implanted… in US!
In one of her speeches, Rebbetzin Slovie Jungreis-Wolff passionately and emotionally described how each of the four imahos implanted unique kochos into the DNA of every single Jewish woman.
“Yes!” she exclaimed, “Each one of YOU has the koach of the imahos!”
She then poignantly described how Sara Imeinu gave us the koach to always look at everything as good, as fresh. The Torah tells us Sara Imeinu’s years were kulo shavin l’tov! “Really? Was Sara’s life good? She left her family and home… to famine! She was barren for so many years! Then Hagar came and immediately bore Avrohom a child! And finally, her husband took her son to the akeidah! Good?! Yes! Sara looked at everything in life as good and therefore WE have that koach!”
“Rivka gave us the ability to go. When everyone tried to convince her to stay, she said, ‘eilech – I will go’. With those words, she gave us the ability to go and do, to never give up on a child just because the world tells us to!”
She continued by explaining how Leah engrained in the psyche of Yidden to sincerely thank Hashem for no reason other than to say thank You! Until Yehuda was born, people did thank, but with a selfish bend, such as when we thank our children for cleaning their plates off the table, in the hopes that it will encourage them to clean up again next time. And Leah said, “Hapaam odeh es Hashem – this time, I am just thanking Hashem!”
“And Rochel? She gave us the koach to cry! Rochel Mivaka al baneha! Each of us has inherited that ability, of a mother crying for her children!”
Our Support for Our Husband’s Torah = Their Ticket to Gan Eden!
Rebbetzin Aviva Feiner magnificently portrayed how it is a woman’s koach to spread Torah. Just by being there for our husbands, just by supporting our husbands and sons, encouraging them to committed learning, we become their ticket to Gan Eden.
She shared the story of Rebbetzin Lopian who had nine sons and was poverty stricken. Another woman asked the Rebbetzin, “You have nine boys! Can’t you send one to work to ease your poverty?”
“You know,” the Rebbetzin answered, “in this world, I don’t need my children, but when it comes to the next world, BOY will I need them!”
“Write it Down… and Burn it!”
Mrs. Miryam Swerdlov said, “One summer, a staff member came to give me the honors of dealing with a bunk that had misbehaved terribly. ‘Girls,’ I announced. ‘Meet me in back of the bunkhouse at midnight but first, write down e…x…a…c…t…l…y… what happened and bring it along.”
Mrs. Swerdlov explained that as the girls gathered around, she had someone ignite an entire garbage can of paper. Then she had each girl put their letters in the burning fire. “Finished! Hashem forgives you also!”
“That is what everyone can do when you are feeling upset – write it down, burn it in the sink and poof! Gone! Sad – write it and burn it! Get all your feelings out and then burn them! Then you won’t be weighed down by your feelings, and you will be able to be b’simcha!”
The spiritually uplifting Shabbos was brought to a close by Mrs. Devoiry Ginsberg, who painted a picture of her most remarkable daughter, Hindy, a”h, a sixteen-year-old girl stricken with cancer who fought valiantly, with tremendous kochos hanefesh, simchas hachaim, emunah and bitachon. Anyone hearing about such a young girl losing her life might think, “Tragic!” But Mrs. Ginsburg tells a story that is anything but tragic. In fact, the words Rebbetzin Jungreiss-Wolff quoted from her father, encapsulate young Hindy’s story: “A long life is not good enough, but a good life is long enough!”
The climax was the Melave Malka where the women were treated inspiration, musical interludes by Mindy Blatt and the Harmonies Choir along with practical, take-home messages!
One of the many highlights was when a granddaughter of Mrs. Hofstedter emotionally described how when she dreams of a worldwide movement of Torah, she pictures one person standing behind it, “My Bubby!” Enthusiastic applause filled the room as Mrs. Hofstedter came up to receive a stunning gift presented by her very own granddaughters.
Torah: The Ultimate Simcha!
The main speaker, Rabbi Joey Haber, drew a magnificent picture of the confusion clouding today’s world. The Bnei Yissoschor highlights that the difference between the word echad in Shema and the word acher in the aseres hadibros, ‘el acher’, is the last letter: daled or reish. The confusion between echad, Hashem and the Torah and acher, all the avoda zarahs of the world is the biggest obstacle to happiness. Torah brings clarity! Someone who commits to learning Torah for real, with Dirshu, gains clarity!
The night wound to a close, tying up the ‘mishloach manos’ of a wonderful, uplifting Shabbos that will serve to inspire and encourage all the remarkable Dirshu women for many weeks to come!