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Chaburah Spotlight — Zahava Rothberg

michlelet August 6, 2018

Zahava Rothberg is from Teaneck, New Jersey and went to Bruriah High School followed by MMY for a year and a half. She currently attends Stern College and is majoring in biology. Zahava went on Michlelet as a camper and was so excited to come back as a Madricha!

The amazing Rebbetzins in Zahava’s chaburah are Alicia Russo (Bronx, NY), Anna Gross (Manhattan, NY), Aviva Sulkin (Chicago, IL), and Rachel Shmuel (Edison, NJ).

Zahava’s chaburah is on Gedolim and specific middos we learn from them. Everyday in chaburah, we learn about a new Gadol; a bit of his biography and share impactful stories which themselves serve as great mussar. After that, we learn a specific middah they embody from different seforim such as Alei Shur and Sifsei Chaim. Everyday is ended with a game plan for each of us with practical tips to help us work on that middah.

Each of the girls were asked: “What is one thing you learned that you are going to take with you from Michlelet?”

Alicia Russo- My summer on Michlelet has been so much fun, but the best parts were not what Michlelet did for me but what they enabled me to do for others. Michlelet made sure that every experience had a deeper meaning and an important takeaway. We learnt in our chessed activities that the action doesn’t have to be big in order for it to matter. Whether you are helping to organize a soup kitchen, visiting a woman with ALS, or making a wedding for an underprivileged bride, every little bit matters. The highlight of my summer was visiting the hospital and learning to be a clown for a day. There was nothing more rewarding than eliciting a smile and bringing some joy to people who have been through so much. Placing yourself in someone else’s shoes enriches our lives and broadens our perspective. Most importantly, I acquired an appreciation for all the small blessings in my life.

Anna Gross: One of the many things I have learned on michlelet is that one should always strive for improvement rather than perfection. One should not try to become one’s role models but rather emulate their best qualities. Every person has faults, even if they are not so visible to the outside person. This is why it’s much more of a healthy and realistic goal to strive for improvement in one’s personal state rather than perfection with another’s, which will likely be quite impossible.

Aviva Sulkin: A lesson I’m going to take with me from michlelet is that there are so many different types of Jews but we are still one big family and we have to love every jew no matter how different we might be.

Rachel Shmuel: Something that I will take away from michlelet this summer is that when I want to learn I now have the tools and resources from all my madrichot, teachers, and rebbeim and not to only learn in a class oriented situation. I now know that I can learn just because I want to learn.