Yeshivat Har Etzion

These Elm Trees in The Gush Gardens are really tough.
But they are mature and aging.
Their canopy of branches protected us from the sun kept us cool in the summer and protected us from the rain in the winter as we ran from the dorms to The Beit Midrash.

But, the weight load on their main trunk limbs got too high.
Elms are susceptible to a phenomenon called "Summer Branch Drop"

During hot, dry summer days (Tamuz in Gush Etzion for instance), large, seemingly healthy limbs can suddenly snap and shatter under their own weight without warning—posing a severe threat to anyone walking underneath.

So, their branches have been severely cut back leaving only their trunks.
It is possible that they will recover and begin to safely grow again.

As Tamuz is a month in Jewish History where things begin to crack and fall apart This lesson in forestry management was particularly apt.
Sometimes we all need to review carefully - cut back, cut down, cut it out and regroup.

Saluting Gush Alumni who stepped back into the Yeshiva for Zman Kayitz
to continue learning in The Gush Beit Midrash!

Their return to the Beit Midrash is so seamless - its as if they never left!

The Tourist are Back!

What a zechut to hear The Gush's Story as told by
Gush Alumnus Amos Safrai - machzor BET - he was a student in the second year of The Yeshiva!

Amos learned in The Gush in 1969 when the Yeshiva was in huts in Kfar Etzion, moved with the Yeshiva to Alon Shevut, went from The Yeshiva in 1973 to defend Israel in The Yom Kippur War.
Amos lives nearby and continues to learn in the Yeshiva.

This. Shirt.

Because we all need a bit of good shtick at least once a week!
#גושניק

The Gush String Quartet playing: String Quartet No. 14 (Schubert)
known as 'Death and the Maiden', it is a piece that has been called
"one of the pillars of the chamber music repertoire"

https://youtu.be/U02trjSJqIc

It is important to The Gush talmidim in the quartet to let you know that no shiur or seder time was used to practice. They put this together during their breaks.

With broken hearts, The Gush Family deeply regrets to inform you of the passing of
our dear friend
Rabbi Jonathan Cohen (JoCo) z'l

Rabbi Cohen served as The Assistant Director of Admissions of
Yeshiva University's Israel Office
It is a Zechus and a blessing for us to call him a friend.

May Hashem send comfort to all those who mourn
for Zion and Jerusalem

An Evening of Conversation
hosted by The Ner Yisrael Community - Jewish Ethics Project
Rav Mosheh Lichtenstein and Dayan Eliezer Zobin
'Beyond our Community: Jewish Ethics and Contemporary Crises'
chaired by Rabbi Michael Pollak

It is said that Breakfast is the most important meal of the day
So,
A celebratory 'Its NOT the End of the Year' Breakfast
with a siyum
honoring Gush overseas Talmidim who are departing the Yeshiva this month.

The Gush Family regrets to inform you of the passing of
Mr. Sandy Kestenbaum zl

Beloved father of
Moshe '78 and David '82

Here is a photo Moshe and his father, Mr. Kestenbaum learning together in The Gush Beit Midrash.
For the past few years, Moshe and his father join us in The Beit Midrash
every Wednesday afternoon to daven and learn together.
They have become part of the Torah learning landscape of The Gush Beit Midrash.

In the words of Rosh Yeshiva, HaRav Mosheh Lichtenstein:
How blessed were we - to see the actualization of 'VeShenantam LeBaneicha' - at the autumn of life!
Mr. Sandy Kestenbaum will be missed.


May Hashem send comfort to all those who mourn
for Zion and Jerusalem