Yarchei Kallah: Retrospective and Prospective
(from the Pesach 5761/2001 Newsletter)
For the past six years the Darche Noam Institutions
has held a Yarchei Kallah immediately preceding
Tisha B'Av. Our Yarchei Kallah consists of
three days of learning devoted to a particular
topic. The learning takes place through various
modalities: lectures, chevruta learning followed
by shiurim, workshops, and panel discussions.
Each year we have chosen topics that are not
only interesting but are concretely relevant
to our daily lives as committed Jews. The
faculty of the Yarchei Kallah is composed of
world-renowned experts, from Israel and the
United States, as well as our own outstanding
"in-house" scholars. For three intense days
of learning, over 100 men and women come to
our Beit Hakerem campus to grow as Jews.
Last year's Yarchei Kallah was devoted to the
topic of "Fashioning the Torah Personality:
The Challenge and Imperative of Character
Development." We were especially honored that
Hagaon Rav Shlomo Wolbe, shlita, the foremost
contemporary proponent of the Mussar movement,
delivered the opening remarks. Rabbis Yitzchok
Adlerstein and Yitzchak Breitowitz, who were
invited scholars-in-residence for the program,
joined Rabbis Moshe Berliner, Leib Kelemen,
Berel Wein, Reb Uri Kaploun, Mr. Yonoson Rosenblum,
Dr. David Koenigsberg, and Mrs. Miriam Levi,
together with the Darche Noam staff, to make
up a remarkable stellar faculty. As in each
of the previous years, the program met with
rave reviews.
Rav
Shlomo Wolbe with Rabbi Shaya Karlinsky
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R.
Hirshfeld, R. Shurin, R. Wolbe, and
R. Karlinsky
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Such a complex and many-faceted issue had
to be dealt with using a variety of educational
approaches. For instance, on the first morning:
after an inspiring talk by Hagaon Rav Wolbe
on the Jewish people as "a nation of friends"
and a thorough, groundwork-laying shiur by
Rav Breitowitz on, "The Centrality of Character
Building in Torah," students divided up into
chavrutot for independent study of sources
on the subject of simcha, joy, followed by
a text-based shiur using those sources. The
afternoons were devoted to workshops - one
day a back-to-back Mussar Vaad (led by R.
Leib Kelemen) and Farbrengen (led by Reb Uri
Kaploun) and one on "Engendering Self-esteem
in our Children" (with psychologist and counseler
R. Moshe Berliner). The Yarchei Kallah concluded
with an evening panel discussion on "Raising
our Children to Have Good Midot," where an
overflowing crowd heard different perspectives
on this topic from Rabbis Yitzchok Adlerstein,
Yitzchak Breitowitz, Dr. David Koenigsberg
and Mrs. Miriam Levi.
This coming summer our theme will be "The
Power of Prayer." The Torah formulates the
most basic and profound demand that G-d makes
of us with the words, "You shall serve the
Lord your God" (Shmot 23:25). The Sages tell
us that this refers to prayer, as we find
in the verse "And you shall serve Him with
all your heart," to which they comment "What
may be described as service of the heart?
Prayer!" Prayer is the most fundamental mode
of worshipping G-d and can, and should, be
a profound emotional and intellectual experience.
Yet, we must be candid and admit that more
often that not, we are frustrated with the
quality of our "davening," rendering it one
of our least satisfying Jewish experiences.
We will attempt to improve our prayer experience
through a multi-modality exploration of the
structure and meaning of the prayers, their
historical background, techniques in creating
proper kavanah, Chassidic insights into prayer,
and many more issues. Check our website (www.darchenoam.org)
for further information on the specific topics
for this year's sessions along with the names
of the outstanding and inspiring guest scholars
who will be joining us. Meanwhile, hold the
dates, July 23-25, 2001, for a challenging
and invigorating three days of Jewish growth.
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