My name is Lia Bedarida Manning and I am originally from Rome. I grew up in Munich – Germany, New Haven – CT, and eventually my family moved back to Italy, where I attended high school. I came to Midreshet Harova in 2015-16 because of how passionate the teachers were about Torah and the variety of students that attend the Midrasha yearly. By the end of the year I had made Aliyah and continued my journey to become truly Israeli in Sherut Leumi. I served as a medic in Magen David Adom for a year and as a Madricha for a Bnei Akiva gap-year program for my second year. All the while I kept coming back to the Midrasha for night seder and different events. I always felt welcome as a Bogeret and I gained so much from being able to continue frequenting Harova. As I yearned to be back in an environment of learning I proceeded to do Shana Bet in Migdal Oz. I am currently in the middle of Medical School at Hebrew University which I have been attending since 2019. I got married to Asher three years ago and we have a little baby called Meital. The Midrasha continues to represent a place of inspiration for me and the rabbis have been a part of my Aliyah and life journey for the past six years. I am truly grateful to Harova and all its staff for all their dedication.
