Mazel Toy!

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Bracha Leeba Kroll is honored for
completing a "little" reading assignment.

SUSAN TAWIL
Special to the Jewish News

B

racha Leeba Kroll just read the
Torah — all 79,976 Hebrew
words of it.

Not bad for a 7-year-old.
To celebrate, she was crowned Malka
Torah (Queen of Torah) and honored
with a special class party at Yeshivas
Darchei Torah in Southfield. Her par-
ents, Dr. Henry and Ruth Kroll of Oak
Park, attended along with her sisters,
grandparents and cousins.
Classmates sang and danced, and
listened to divrei Torah (lessons) and
stories.
Second-grade teacher Breindy Weiss
presented Bracha Leeba with a certificate
of recognition, and Sara Kahn, principal
of Yeshivas Darchei Torah's Girl's
Division, awarded her a set of
Chumashim (Bible and commentaries).
The event was part of Darchei Torah's
Hebrew reading incentive program,
Chatan Torah (Groom ofTorah)/Malka
Torah. Beginning in first grade, students
are encouraged to sit with their parents
and read through the Torah in Hebrew,
at their own pace, on their own time.
"The program is totally voluntary"
says Weiss. "There's no pressure on the
students, only the positive rewards as
they accomplish."
Kahn says the program is non-corn-
petitive and rewards diligence and hard
work. Its not only for the smart kids,"
says the principal. "The children who
participate are definitely better readers.
Most of all, they feel great!"
In the Darchei Torah program, a class
party is held when each of the Five
Books of Moses is completed. "This
way, the excitement continues," says
Weiss. "Virtually all of the students get
through at least Bereshit (Genesis) by the
end of second grade."
She estimates 70 percent of her stu-
dents each year complete the entire

Chumash. Bracha Leeba is the third girl
in her class to become a Malka Torah; in
the Darchei Torah Boy's Division, 12
students have already attained Chatan
Torah status.
"It's a really wonderful program," says
proud mother Ruth Kroll. "It really
motivates the children to practice read-
ing. It's a huge goal, but if they do a
little each day, they finish.
"Besides," she notes, its a nice
way to spend time together."
Bracha Leeba is actually
the fifth child in her family
to complete the
Chatan/Malkah Torah
program, preceded by
brothers Moshe
Aharon, 13;
Yitzchak Tzvi,
12; Yaakov
Yona, 9, and
sister Penina
Rochel, 10.
r
From
,
her experi-
ence, Kroll
has noticed ,
a "huge dif-
ference between
the first psukim (verses)
of Bereshit and the end of
Dvarim (Deuteronomy)," by which
time the children are able to read fluent-
ly "By Deuteronomy, they're already
familiar with a lot of the words, and start
translating, too," she says.
What's next for these Darchei Torah
students is participation in the
Chatan/Malka Rashi reading program.
Alongside their parents, older students
gain fluency in reading the unique script
of Rashi, the 12th century Torah com-
mentator, by tackling his commentary
to the Book of Genesis.
Bracha Leeba's brother, Yaakov
Yona, followed in the steps of his
older siblings and just became a
Chatan Rashi with his third
grade class. ri

h

Bracha Leeba Kroll
, is congratuLtted
by her dad,
Di: Henry Kroll.

5/21

1999

Detroit Jewish News

53