by Channa Megyeri Peckermann
I’m from Budapest, Hungary and I was a student this past year at Machon L’Yahadus, a women’s yeshiva in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
Both of my parents became Torah observant as teens. My parents had actually both drifted away from religious observance but then became religious again through Chabad, thanks to the Oberlander and the Kovesh family. Today my mother runs the Chabad Nursery, Kindergarten and High School in Budapest. My father is a rabbi and teaches Tanya (the basic book of Chabad Chasidic philosophy) every night online. He is a translator from Hebrew and English to Hungarian and a chief editor of a Jewish news site called Neokhon. My parents are my role models and my biggest supporters. I have two amazing brothers, they both go to my mom’s schools.
Rabbi Baruch and Batsheva Oberlander were the first emissaries of the Rebbe in Hungary. The Kovesh’s have had and still has a big influence on my family, they were with my family from the beginning of their journey in Chabad and they are like family to us. Mushky Kovesh is my age, and she is like my sister.
My parents let us decide if we wanted to follow in their path. Being in a religious home we did everything, but it took a few years until I decided to own my Judaism.
But how did I end up in Machon L’Yahadus?
When I was a kid my biggest dream was to be a doctor. When I was in High School I took extra classes in biology, Chemistry and Physics. I was preparing for the final exams from 10th grade. In Hungary if you are in medical school, you cannot miss more than three days, so even before starting university I was worried about how I was going to be in medical school and observe the Jewish holidays. Little did I know that G-d had a totally different plan for me.
I took my exams and I got good grades, but I missed the cut-off mark by three points. I am not going to lie—I actually felt relieved, but at that time of my life I didn’t know why I was relieved. Only later did I come to understand where my relief came from, I got to know it later.
Because all of my focus had been to get into medical school I wasn’t even thinking about going to seminary. Even though all of my friends were telling me to go it was a new idea to me...
Every summer our family goes for a week to the Hungarian countryside. Màd is a resort area that a lot of Jewish people come to. Chabad organizes a Shabbaton there for people to learn about Judaism. Both of my parents give classes there.
During that week we always visit the resting place of Reb Shayele of Keresztir. Last summer when we were there a thought passed through my mind that it would be such a good idea to go to Seminary in the States. My parents were very excited and supportive.
Thanks to Gitty Rosenberg, Rabbi Oberlander’s daughter, we found Machon L’Yahadus. The whole process was very smooth and took less than a month. I could see that G-d was helping me with every step I took.
So I came to the United States in September, 2022. Soon after I arrived my brother called to tell me that the required number of points had been lowered on exam to get into the Medical University and I was in.
My decision to study at Machon L’Yahadus didn’t waiver. At that time I knew that medical school wasn’t the right thing for me and for my future.
When I first stepped into the Machon L’Yahadus school building I met Rabbi Shloma Majeski, the principal. The personalized study schedule he gave me enabled me to maximize my learning. The amount of effort that the teachers and staff put into the school and every student is amazing. Whenever I had a question, Rabbi Majeski, Mrs. Yehudis Cohen and any other teachers I reached out to were available and ready to help, even when I called them at night or on the weekends.
Machon L’Yahadus is not just a school, it’s a big family. I feel blessed that I came to Machon L’Yahadus. I met amazing girls all around the world. I know that many of these girls are going be my friends for life.
Even though I didn’t live in the dormitory, I heard from my friends who lived there how special the dorm mother Mrs. Shterna Rodal and the dorm counselors are. I also met a lot of welcoming and amazing Crown Heights families when I was invited for Shabbos meals. And of course, I became even more connected to the Rebbe.
Before Passover I was introduced to my husband Shalom Peckermann. Meeting Shalom was one of the many blessings I experienced this year once I decided to spend a year studying in seminary. We were married this summer in Hungary and finished our Sheva Brachot (seven days of celebratory meals) in New York.
If you know any young women who you think would benefit from studying at Machon L’Yahadus, I encourage you to get in touch with the school!
Learn more about Machon L’Yahadus at womensyeshiva.org, email [email protected], or call 718-552-2422.
