Like One Man, with One Heart

One theme that is especially prominent during the forthcoming festival of Shavuos is that of achdus, Jewish unity. 

At Har Sinai, the entire Jewish nation stood together, as Rashi comments, ‘like one man with one heart’. It seems particularly appropriate therefore that the run-up to Shavous represents a date in the PaL calendar when we work closely together with a number of other Jewish institutions and organisations.  Our mutual goal of bringing Jews together from across the spectrum of the community, to learn Torah and strengthen their connection to their Jewish heritage, is a deeply rooted and binding one.

On May 14^th, just 10 short days before Shavuos, I will once again have the privilege of representing PaL at the Tribe ‘Closing the Gap’ dinner in Jerusalem. There, I will offer returning gap year students the opportunity of signing up to PaL on their return to the UK, ensuring that their Jewish journey doesn’t end when the plane lifts off from Ben Gurion airport. During the same trip, I will also visit a variety of different seminaries to sign up new volunteer tutors to the PaL programme. These young women have had the benefit of a rich and long-standing Jewish education, and their enthusiasm for sharing their knowledge with others is one we are extremely grateful for.

Finally, I will also be paying a visit to the Jerusalem office of our sister organisation, the USA-based Partners In Torah, with whom we work very closely as their ‘European branch’.

If you know anyone who is spending the year in Israel and would be interested in meeting with PaL there to find out more about what we do, and registering as either a partner or a tutor, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Wishing you a chag sameach

Judy