The Dee Pirkei Avot Project

This week’s idea on Mishna 6:8 is written by Alain Bornstein. Alain got to know and befriend the Dee family when they moved back to London to be the associate Rabbinic couple in Hendon. He has fond memories of all the family.

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This week’s idea on Mishna 6:7 is written by Rayut Hasleton. She studies at Yavneh Girls high school in Manchester where she has been running a learning programme with her friends called ‘Nish Nosh Parsh’, named after a project Maia Dee had launched during her national service. Rayut says, “I find it so special to come together and learn with all the Yavneh Girls to do what we can to help.”

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We wish everyone a wonderful Shabbat and an enjoyable Pesach as we daven for the final redemption with the coming of Moshiach!

Our hearts and minds are also with the Dee family as we mark the second yahrzeit since the passing of Lucy, Maia and Rina on the second day of Pesach. We daven that the neshamot of these three incredible women are continuing to be elevated by the wonderful legacies that continue to be perpetuated.

This week’s idea on Mishna 6:6 is written by Laura Sykes who was raised in Dublin “by the most committed and giving parents who instilled a deep love of both learning and living a Jewish life.” Now living in London, Laura and her family have been engaging with the Dee Pirkei Avot project since the start, enhancing their Friday nights with family discussion on the mishnayot. She was inspired and encouraged by her children to be an active participant in the project and share her ideas this week.

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This week’s idea on Mishna 6:5 is written by Tsipporah Lax. Tsipporah has warm memories of the Dee family, having attended the same primary school as Maia and Rina during the family’s years in London. She now works in occupational therapy and is a current participant in the Rabbi Sacks Learning Fellowship, at the London School of Jewish Studies. Tsipporah says: “It’s been a privilege to hear Rabbi Dee speaking in person several times over the last two years. The conviction, vigour and urgency with which he delivers his messages never fail to have a profound impact.”

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This week’s idea on Mishna 6:4 is written by Phil Chernofsky who taught limudei kodesh and math & science in the United States, before making aliyah in 1981. In Israel, he was educational director of the OU Israel Center in Jerusalem, founder and longtime editor of Torah Tidbits, and in retirement, continues to give Zoom Shiurim and maintains PhiloTorah.co – a weekly Torah website (in English).

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We are honoured to have Rabbi Elan Adler, Rabbi Leo Dee’s chavruta, write this week’s idea on Mishna (6:3). Rabbi Elan Adler made aliyah from Baltimore, MD in 2010 with his family. He is the Rabbi of YTA Girls in Beit Shemesh, and teaches in his community of Efrat and beyond, including teaching Christian Zionists. He has treasured his weekly chavruta with Rabbi Leo Dee which has continued for several years.

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This week’s idea on Mishna 6:2 is written by Judy Keiner, who had the good fortune to grow up in a Yiddish speaking household in the heart of the postwar East End of London, where she was given the priceless treasure of a Jewish upbringing by her Galitzianer refugee parents. She learnt modern Hebrew on a totally secular English Kibbutz and from her secular relatives in 1960s socialist Israel and was stunned to realize that this enabled her to understand most of the Siddur and the Machzorim as she began to return to Torah learning in the 1970s. She spent most of her professional life training teachers and helping schools, including Jewish schools, improve. She has recently been involved in analyzing the way the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is being taught in English schools.

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We are amazed at the journey we have been on together so far and feel privileged to be embarking on learning the final Perek in Mishna Avot with this dedicated group.

This week’s idea on Mishna 6:1 is written by Libby Levey, co-founder of The Dee Pirkei Avot Project. Libby and Maia were childhood friends when Maia lived in London and stayed close since. Libby went on to co-found the project having been inspired by learning Pirkei Avot with the Dee family on a Friday night in their home.

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We are honoured that as always, Rabbi Leo Dee has written the idea for the final mishna of the Perek (5:23). As we enter into the final Perek of Pirkei Avos, we want to invite those who may not have participated in a while to use this as an opportunity to begin learning with us again. 🩵💙

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This week’s idea on Mishna 5:22 is written by Eliana Greenbaum.

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