Kindness and Torah Intertwined: A Lindenbaum Review

April 8, 2025

By Tamar Dahan ’24

This article is the third installment in our Alumni Ba’aretz series that shares perspectives from Berman alumni in Israel. You can see the first two issues in Edition 2 or Hamodiya Online on the Berman website.

Credit: Tamar Dahan ’24

It has been five months since I first stepped foot into Midreshet Lindenbaum, and ever since then it has become my second home. Naturally, I spend a good deal of my time here learning Torah. I have Tanach classes that teach me how to approach familiar texts in new ways to uncover deeper meanings. I’m learning many new halachot, with topics ranging from Shabbat and Kashrut, to Shmirat Halashon, and even to mental health. And for the first time, I am taking the time to learn Machshava, delving into different perspectives on the purpose of our lives as individuals and Jews, and what values should be most important to us. 

After spending hours in the Beit Midrash every day, I am amazed at all the knowledge and insights I am discovering, yet at the same time, I come to realize how it is just the tip of the iceberg. A quick peek at the bookshelves in our library clearly reminds me how there is still so much left to learn. 

From everything I have learned here so far, one core value has been emphasized across most subjects, and that is kindness and sensitivity to others’ needs. In addition, I have had many opportunities this year to be involved in Chesed — both as a giver and a receiver. Even very early on in the year, the combination of learning and experience has started to really instill in me the importance of Chesed. I was always aware of it, but I have recently gained the confidence in my ability to help others and the drive to be more proactive about it. 

Credit: Tamar Dahan ‘ 24

Each person has so much to contribute, and every act of kindness brings so much good into the world, whether it’s something small like thanking the bus driver or lending a friend an egg, or something larger like babysitting for a family in need or raising money for Tzedakah. Being an active, giving member of a community is one of the things that I wish I took a lot more to heart in high school, but now that I value it so much more, I hope to take it with me for the rest of my life.

Aside from the tremendous privilege of learning and growing in a Midrasha, it is a gift in and of itself to be living in Israel, our homeland. To continue appreciating it, I find myself constantly needing to remind myself that I live in Eretz HaKodesh, and — even more than that — Yerushalayim Ir HaKodesh! This city has been the center of Jewish life for thousands of years: This is where David HaMelech valiantly ruled and was continued on by his many successors. This is where both Batei Mikdash stood in all their glory (and Be’ezrat Hashem where the third one will soon stand too). This is where the Jews made Aliyah LaRegel and celebrated every Chag. 

Those are just pieces of the rich history of Yerushalayim, and whenever I pause and really think about it, I’m in awe how as a Jew living here, I am the next link in a very very long chain of history. And of course, Judaism continues to imbue the culture and every other aspect of life. And I really feel it all around me: Every other street is named after a figure in Tanach, an amora, a leader in Jewish history. As everything closes early on Fridays, you can feel the Shabbat energy in the air. “Hashem Yitbarach Tamid Ohev Oti” is played anywhere and everywhere. And on and on. Furthermore, there is every kind of Jew here, from all different backgrounds and with varying levels of formal observance, and still there is the feeling that we’re all one family. 

Of course, going to seminary in Israel comes with its challenges too — homesickness, actual sickness, struggling to navigate in a foreign country, waking up to the occasional siren in the middle of the night, just to name a few. Still, the positives without a doubt outweigh the hardships (and they can even be used as springboards for further growth). To sum all of this up: this year has been awesome. 

Nevertheless, I miss the Bermunity so much! I hope everything is going well and that the rest of the school year will be full of happiness, growth, and success.