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MIZRACHI SCHOLARS-IN-RESIDENCE                      TORAT MIZRACHI

























       looking at you and soon translators   of people who said ‘I wrote you letters.’   •   ּורֹמ ְ ׁש ִּ ת י ַ תֹת ְּ ב ַ ׁש ת ֶ א ְ ו – You shall
       will come up here to translate the ques-  People from many countries, including   keep My Sabbaths.
       tions, because you do not even have a   the countries you come from. Men and
       common language between you... So    women, young and old, housewives and    •   ּובֹנ ְ ג ִּ ת אלֹ – You shall not steal.
       what unites you all?                 professors, Rabbis and even those who   •   ֹותי ִ מ ֲ ע ַּ ב  ׁשי ִ א ּור ְּ ק ַ ׁש ְ ת אלֹ ְ ו – neither
                                            did not know aleph bet. Each person
       I was once a Prisoner of Zion. I lived   different from the other, but united.   shall you lie to any of your
       in a country that,  Baruch Hashem,   They knew there was a Jew out there         neighbors.
       no longer exists – the Soviet Union.   whom they didn’t know, and perhaps    •   ך ֲ ע ֵ ר ת ֶ א ק ׁש ֲ ע ַ ת אלֹ – You shall not
                                                                                        ָ
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       I taught Hebrew and Judaism. I did   would never know, but they had to fight     oppress your neighbor, nor rob
       not have knowledge like yours, but I   for his release.                          him.
       knew a little, and that was enough to
       teach other Jews in secret. It did not   We do not need false unity, but true   •   ל ׁש ְ כ ִ מ ן ֵּ ת ִ ת אלֹ ר ֵּו ִ ע יֵנ ְ פ ִ ל ְ ו – Do not
                                                                                         ֹ
       end well. I was put in jail and then in a   unity, and you already have it – unity   put a stumbling block before
       labor camp. I was completely discon-  around the most authentic common           the blind.
       nected. I knew nothing about what was   denominator we have: the Book of
       happening outside, beyond the barbed   Books, the Bible. I ask you, on Yom   •   ט ָּ פ ְ ׁש ִּ מ ַּ ב ל ֶ ו ָ ע ּוׂש ֲ ע ַ ת אלֹ – Do not
       wire fence, at the end of the world in   HaAtzmaut: keep spreading this          pervert justice.
       Siberia. One day we returned from hard   common denominator of ours. If we       ָ
       labor in the woods. After 11 hours in   know it and internalize it, we will   •   ך ֶ תי ִ מ ֲ ע טֹ ּ פ ְ ׁש ִּ ת ק ֶ ד ֶ צ ְּ ב – Judge your
       the freezing cold, I crossed the camp   achieve true unity.”                     neighbor justly.
       with a row of inmates when the officer                                       •   ךי ֶּ מ ַ ע ְּ ב לי ִ כ ָ ר ך ֵ ל ֵ ת אלֹ – You shall not
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                                                 For the Glory of the State of
       in charge of  discipline – a man you   4                                         gossip among your people.
       wanted to avoid – called me out.          Israel  |  Perhaps we should ask       ָ     ָ
                                                 Israel the typical birthday ques-
       I approached him and he said: ‘Just so   tion: What do you want to be when you   •   ך ֶ ב ָ ב ְ ל ִּ ב ךי ִ ח ָ א ת ֶ א אָנ ְ ׂש ִ ת אלֹ – You
                                                                                        shall not hate your brother in
       you know, the safe in my room is full of   grow up? After birth and adolescence,   your heart.
       letters for you from all over the world.’   after the wondrous physical construc-
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       Then he smiled such a sadistic smile   tion of the State, where are you going   •   ך ֹומ ָּ כ ך ֲ ע ֵ ר ְ ל  ָּ ת ְ ב ַ ה ָ א ְ ו – Love your
       and said: ‘By law, you are not allowed   now? What are your aspirations and      neighbor as yourself.
       to receive letters from abroad and you   goals? It seems to me that in Parashat
       will not see a single letter.’       Kedoshim we have part of the answer.   Sounds like an excellent manifesto for
                                            We may know the verses by heart, but   the glory of the State of Israel.
       No-one could have been happier than
       I was at that moment.                in Iyar we can read them again as the
                                            basis for building a regenerated Jewish
       He didn’t know it, but thanks to him   society. Here are just a few examples:  Sivan Rahav Meir and Yedidya Meir are
                                                                                 popular Israeli media personalities and
       I suddenly learned that Jews from all   •   ּוי ְ ה ִּ ת םי ִ ׁשֹד ְ ק – You shall be holy.  World Mizrachi’s Scholars-in-Residence.
       over the world were writing me letters.
       He was right, this sadist. I never did   •   ן ֵ קָז יֵנ ְּ פ  ָּ ת ְ ר ַ ד ָ ה ְ ו – You shall respect   A member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau
       see a single letter, but later I met a lot   the elderly.                      mizrachi.org/speakers








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