SPIRITUALITY

Making The Connection

Hebrew Day School second-graders read from actual Torah scroll.

Ann Arbor
very year, second-graders
at the Hebrew Day School
of Ann Arbor mark the
beginning of their Torah studies
with a Chagigat Torah, a celebra-
tory event involving friends and
family. This year the ceremony
took on new meaning when the
children read directly from an
actual Torah.
"We wanted the children to
associate their learning with the
actual Torah," said Dina Shtull-

E

Leber, head of school. "We want-
ed them to make the connection
between their workbooks and
our ancient scroll!'
The Torah scroll was lent to
the school by Ann Arbor's
Reconstructionist Chavurah.
"I had this big question in my
head when I saw these little girls
and boys in front of the open
Torah, reading by themselves,"
said parent Milka Eliay."But after
a few moments, I realized that
this is how it should be. The

Torah should not be distant,
closed and just passing through.
It should be near to us, open and
accessible."
The children chanted verses
from the creation story in
Genesis. Their teacher, Aron
Kaufman, taught them the tradi-
tional biblical chanting.
"This was an extraordinary
event for me and for the stu-
dents, and it was a milestone in
the history of the school;'
Kaufman said. "It was a moving

Watt.-

Above: Second-grader Eva Kramer Rosenfeld of Ann Arbor reads from

the Torah as teachers Bev Warshai and Aron Kaufman look on.

Left: Ann Arbor second-graders Louis Teitelbaum looks at his mini-

Torah as friend Ori Bareket checks it out, too.

experience that went beyond the
classroom and connected our
families to Jewish ritual and
Torah study in a deep and organ-
ic way"
The decision to have children
read directly from the Torah
relates to the school's newly
adopted goal that students will
be astute readers of the Tanach
in Hebrew. This standard was
adopted by the school as part of
its participation in a national
pilot study to establish standards
for biblical studies.
In additiori to reading from the
Torah, the children recited their
own questions about the Torah
text: "How many rooms were in
Noah's Ark?" "Were there bath-
rooms in the Ark?" "Are the sto-
ries in the Torah true?" "Why did
God create light on the first day
before creating the light from the
sun on the fourth day?"
The emphasis on asking ques-
tions about the text is connected
to a second standard for Torah
studies the school has adopted,
namely, that children should see

December 1 • 2005

themselves as a new ha in the
long chain of Midrashic Inter-
preters of the Torah text.
Parents also were involved in
their own Torah study as part of
the celebration. Before the begin-
ning of the Chagigah, parents
met in hevrutot (small study
groups) to discuss the lessons of
Torah taught to them by their
parents and the lessons they are
passing on to their. children.
At the end of the Chagigat
Torah, each parent presented his
or her child with a mini-Torah,
and then all enjoyed a sweet treat
-- a cake in the shape of a Torah
made by parents Laura
Hirshbein and Matt Kaplan.
"Some day:' said parent Laurie
Leflein,"our children will look
back on this day and remember
it as their first real connection
with the Torah.
"Hopefully all these things we
do for them will bind them to the
spirit of our wonderful religion
and give them the meaning they
need to create order in their
lives."

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