Ariella Freedman is from Lawrence, NY. She attended Yeshiva University High School for Girls (Central), followed by a year of learning at MMY, and is currently a senior at Stern College for Women. Ariella went on Michlelet as a camper and is so excited to be back as a madricha!
Ariella has the utmost privilege of having Leah Feder (West Hempstead, NY), Arielle Miodownik (Highland Park, NJ), Sophia Fromme (Hollywood, FL), and Leora Trencher (Silver Spring, MD) in her chaburah!
Ariella’s chaburah is based off the Tomer Devorah, a sefer written by the great kabbalist Rabbi Moshe Cordovero zt”l. We are focusing on the first chapter, in which he identifies Hashem’s 13 Attributes of Mercy and explains how we can practically emulate these middot in our own lives. Throughout the summer, we will discuss middot such as patience, forgiveness, and generosity. B’ezrat Hashem, we will gain greater clarity in seeing the tremendous chessed Hashem does for us in our lives through internalizing these attributes and applying them to our own relationships.
How have you felt closer to Hashem through learning His 13 Attributes of Mercy?
Leah: When learning the 13 middot, I feel like I am building a relationship with HaKadosh Baruch Hu. These middot are Him; They are what I hope to emulate and be. Hashem is powerful and loving and everything else. He judges favorably and is merciful and truthful. Through learning these middot, I know what to strive for. This summer I have the incredible opportunity to be on Michlelet. Here, I am given the tools to become a better me. Through this chaburah I hope to grow as a bat yisroel. L’Shana HaBa’ah B’Yerushalayim!
Arielle: The more you know about a person, the closer you feel to them. In our chaburah, we had a list of deep questions to discuss with the person sitting next to us. This made us feel closer to each other because we knew more about our partner. The same is with Hashem. The more we know about Him and His attributes, the closer we feel to Him.
Sophia: I have felt closer to far to Hashem by learning the 13 middot of rachamim! Since by emulating the attributes of Hashem, you can have a closer relationship with Him. Also, just knowing them doesn’t do justice, by knowing how to apply them to life can impact you as a person.
Leora: The more you learn about someone, the more you understand them and the closer you feel to them. We, as Jews, are supposed to do our best to try and emulate Hashem’s middot. So, by learning the 13 middot of Hashem, I am learning more and more about the characteristics of Hashem and how to emulate them in order to be my best self. I feel closer to Hashem because I am learning a seder in my chaburah that helps me understand just the kind of middot Hashem has unconditionally towards us, the Jewish people.