“Now that you are in Eretz Yisrael, girls, you need to learn how to keep your room clean the Israeli way"

Thursday night, there was an announcement over the PA system: “Sponja demonstration by Rebbetzin Rosenfeld in the hall outside the laundry room!”

It turns out that even though seminary had a cleaning crew that did our hallways and the shared bathrooms for each wing, each room was in charge of cleaning everything inside it — floors, windows, showers, mirrors, sinks, and shelves. And that was on top of doing our own laundry!

I don’t know about you, but as a girl from a typical home in Kew Garden Hills, I had never before cleaned a shower or a floor. It was only me and Gila at home, and as the older sister, Erev Shabbos found me really busy; from the minute I came home from school I’d pitch in with gefilte fish, kugel, cakes and cookies… you name it. Sweeping, emptying garbage cans, setting the table, sure. But mopping a floor? Doing a bathroom? That was what Betty did on Tuesdays! Who could have guessed that I would be learning balabusta skills in seminary? And what did sponja mean anyway?

From every corner of the building, girls converged on the small hallway. I could tell that a lot of girls were as curious as I was. We piled in, leaving a small space in the center of the room for our teacher. When the room seemed like it was positively bursting, Rebbetzin Rosenfeld took the sponja stick in her hand, smiled up at the human wall around her, and started to speak.

“Now that you are in Eretz Yisrael, girls, you need to learn how to keep your room clean the Israeli way. I have been doing sponja on my floors for 40 years. I have a special method. Pay close attention.” Then she paused. There was a thoughtful look on her face. “You never know, girls. Some of you might use this skill for longer than just this year. One talmidah called me up a few weeks ago and said, ‘Remember your sponja demonstration that first Thursday night? I’ve been living in Eretz Yisrael for 15 years already and I still do sponja that way.’”